Question About N. America Broadcast Quality

[toonybrain]

It's me again.

This time I have a question regarding settings for North America television TVPaint settings. I'm lost. What's with the NTSC DV 4:3 or D1 4:3?

My instructions are NTSC 4:3, best quality possible, save to Quicktime (for TV commercial).

My confusion comes when I open a new project in TVPaint. In the New Project setup box, what do I put in for the ASPECT RATIO? (I made a very time-consuming, agonizing error one time by not paying attention to what was in this box; I don't want to do this again.)

If I want the final output to look the same as the one I'm working on - no characters stretched tall or squished squat or a picture with black borders on top and bottom - what aspect ratio ought I to use? .9, 1.1, square?

Both NTSC choices in the drop-down menu say 4:3 next to them; aren't these aspect ratios? Why do I have a box for Aspect Ratio at all? Isn't this redundant?

Bottom line: if I need to create an animated commercial in NTSC 4:3, best quality, what settings exactly ought I to input in this New Project box?

Thank you all in advance.

[slowtiger]

In a professional workflow, none of your renders out of AS would be boradcasted. Instead, they'd go into a video editor first. Because of that you render with no compression/highest quality in NTSC dimensions with square pixels.

[toonybrain]

Ah hah. So SpeedEdit is where the broadcast quality comes into play.

Square pixels, NTSC it is.

Thank you SlowTiger; I'm starting to count on you.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Have you been told explicitly that it should be NTSC 4:3? I believe that all US TV these days is 16:9 (and progressive in your case for animation).
4:3 is the old analog square format and 16:9 is the pretty much standard digital HD format these days -- To be absolutely sure you should ask the station or whoever will be receiving your finished work.

But don't draw on the NTSC D1 16:9, but use the 1080p setting to make sure you have HiDef quality, and yes, export as Uncompressed (BGR24) AVI. At least these are the parameters I've been using. And don't forget to strictly abide by TV cutoff limitations for text and also characters in the picture. You will find this under "Display" at the bottom of your project window.

[idragosani]

I believe North American broadcast is now 1080p 16:9 HD, you have to have a special converter to even watch broadcast TV on an older NTSC analog TV. You should produce for the highest resolution that it could be displayed in. It can always be converted into lower resolution if needed (like for DVD, which is standard definition video).

[Paul Fierlinger]

Following are the current PBS specs:
As a point of curiosity, PBS has from its very upstart in the early 1970's held to the highest technical standards of all the networks -- and still does. If you follow this, you can't go wrong -- basically it amounts to just what I had posted earlier. If anyone is interested in the Audio specs, I will be happy to post those here too. These came to me courtesy of Tony Dusko.

1.1 Video Image Quality
1.1.1 All programs must be produced with modern component-digital acquisition and editing
systems, with careful attention to technical detail throughout the acquisition and post-production
process.
1.1.2 For standard definition, the image must have the high quality resolution associated with
modern 3 CCD chip cameras and must not be derived from a smaller image area (such as the
widescreen mode in some low cost DV cameras, which samples less than 480 vertical lines)
except for special effects. The CCD chips must have at least a 1/3” diagonal with a minimum
resolution of 640 x 480.
For High Definition, the camera must use 3 CCD chips, each with at least a 1/2” diagonal and a
minimum resolution of 1280 x 720. If the video is being captured and edited in 720i/p, then final
delivery product must be up-converted to 1080i.
1.1.3 Programs submitted as “1. Video
Digital Widescreen” must be content that was originally created in
a minimum frame size of 1280 x 720.
1.1.4 Programs submitted as “High Definition” must be content that was originally created in a
minimum frame size of 1280 x 720.
1.1.5 The image must be free of aliasing such as the artifacts associated with low cost scan
conversion.
1.1.6 Compression artifacts must not be obvious when viewed on a professional standard
definition monitor for 4:3 shows, and when viewed on an HDTV monitor for widescreen shows.
1.2 Video Level
1.2.1 Video levels must be measured with direct digital waveform monitoring equipment
calibrated to represent video levels on the final submission.
1.2.2. The luminance level in black areas of the program must fall as low as 0%, but not below
0%. Objectionable black clipping must not be evident. Black setup is not allowed in any digital7.5 IRE units.
1.2.3 The luminance level in white areas of the program must reach as high as 100%, but not
above 100%. Objectionable white clipping must not be evident. When measured as derived
composite signal, the white level must not exceed 100 IRE units.
1.2.4 Derived standard definition NTSC peak chrominance plus luminance gamut must not
exceed 120 IRE when measured with a flat filter on a digital waveform monitor.
Component digital derived GBR values must remain within the legal gamut of 0-700 millivolts.
1.3 Color Gamut
The allowable color gamut (range of values) for GBR signals in NTSC is 0-700 millivolts for
Green, Blue, and Red.
Serial Digital 601 signals provide an Y Cb Cr component signal that can contain invalid colors
when it is converted to GBR. Signals outside the GBR gamut range may lead to clipping,
crosstalk, or other distractions in encoders and other processing devices designed to operate
within the legal gamut.
A diamond arrow or equivalent display should be used to detect illegal gamut levels.
1.4 Video Blanking
1.4.1 Horizontal Blanking must not exceed the limits specified, per SMPTE standard:
Format Maximum
480i (170M) 11.0 μsec
1080i (240M) 3.94 μsec
1.4.2. Full-screen content should fill the raster in each field as shown.
Format Field 1 Field 2
480i 23-262 22-261 (285-254)*
1080i 21-560 21-560 (584-1123)
*This field 2 blanking represents common practice. In contrast, SMPTE RP202-2000
recommends lines 23-262.
1.5 Field and Frame Rate
The field rate for both standard and high definition is 59.94 fields per second. The frame rate for
both standard and high definition is 29.97 frames per second.

[toonybrain]

Wow, thanks to everyone for the input.

This is exactly what the e-mail read: "...720x480. it is standard SD 4x3 format..." I know this is strange. I was going to start to work in HD widescreen format, but then I sent a verification e-mail and the above is the response I got.

And as for Paul's response, would you clarify this:

But don't draw on the NTSC D1 16:9, but use the 1080p setting to make sure you have HiDef quality, and yes, export as Uncompressed (BGR24) AVI. At least these are the parameters I've been using. And don't forget to strictly abide by TV cutoff limitations for text and also characters in the picture. You will find this under "Display" at the bottom of your project window.

When you say "don't draw on the NTSC D1 16:9, but use the 1080p setting, where exactly am I setting this up? (I'm utterly ignorant about video formats and aspect ratios, etc.)

As far as the "TV cutoff limitations for text and also characters in the picture," ought I to remain strictly within the safe area? If so, which of the two boxes, the outer or inner? I don't get this either.

Thank you.

[toonybrain]

Holy Mackerel, Paul, that's a fine guideline, although I don't know what most of it means.

I'll print it out with the hopes that it will all come together for me . . . eventually.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Most of this information pertains to live action productions shot with video cameras and assembled in a video editor (NLE) and has little to do with our work. I highlighted all the important parts for you. You should still find out if your client wants color bars and a countdown (most don't need that anymore yet like to ask for it) and how many frames of black before and after the piece. I think that's going to be all the info you will need.

[tonydusko]

You might also notice that PBS still asks for output to be interlaced even though this no longer applies to digital TV. This makes me wonder if they want to be able to also broadcast in other countries that have still not converted to digital and that still primarily use the CRT televisions of not so long ago. I know they also require that I deliver the dialouge on a seperate and removable audio track which I assume is for the purpose of replacing with dialogue in other languages. I use the Apple HiRes 422 codec for this which is the only codec they will except. This codec has the ability to keep all audio and video tracks seperate while mainaining great quality and small file sizes, all in one nice little package. It is actually a pretty neat invention.

[toonybrain]

With regard to the safe zone, should I not draw at all in the outer gutter of the safe zone, or ought I to carry the art right to the edges, in case?

[slowtiger]

You should always draw into all edges. "Safe zone" only means that parts otside of it may not be visible on older tube TV sets, so don't put important stuff there. "Title zone" is even more restricted and means "don't put any title outside of this".

[toonybrain]

Will do. Thanks ST.

[artfx]

I use the Apple HiRes 422 codec for this which is the only codec they will except. This codec has the ability to keep all audio and video tracks seperate while mainaining great quality and small file sizes, all in one nice little package. It is actually a pretty neat invention.

Is this different from the Apple Intermediate Codec? I have been using this for almost everything I do. It is allegedly visually lossless.

[tonydusko]

I think that is a different codec. The one I use is ProRes 422 and I think there is some loss of data but still nothing I can ever tell or see from the original uncompressed file. I will take a look at your codec though now that you have sparked my curiosity.