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How Different Is Posting HD? Learn From the Pros Who Deliver Whoopi, Smallville, and Hope & Faith

Roger Doran

Company 3's Pat Kelleher is responsible for finishing Whoopi and Hope & Faith.

Making Whoopi
For Whoopi, the process starts on Tuesdays with a five-hour, four-camera studio shoot. The footage is mastered to four HDCAM decks with embedded audio. On wrap, the HD masters are couriered to Company 3, where the offline tapes are made and delivered back to the editor the next morning. Offline begins around 10 a.m. with about 50 percent of the material already digitized. The show is rough-cut for the following Monday’s viewing by the producer and director and then shipped off to Los Angeles for the studio’s review, which is followed by the network’s review back in New York.

Mat Beck

Once the necessary changes are made and picture is locked (a seven-to-10-day process), an EDL and BetaSP rough cut are delivered to online. The rough cut is upconverted to HDCAM 24p and recorded to the master as a reference track, and then a 4x3 show is conformed. Next, the show is sent to tape-to-tape for a final color-correct with resident colorist Roger Doran, and then titles are added (for Hope & Faith, the titles are added before color correction). A clone is made and used to create the 16x9 master. A 30 fps DigiBeta is struck for delivery to audio, which, like offline, is negligibly impacted by the additional HD workflow requirements. Once the mix is complete, the stereo mix is delivered back to Company 3 on a CD for relay to the HDCAM master (Hope & Faith’s mix is returned to Company 3 on a DA-88 as a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix for relay to D5). The entire process takes approximately three weeks from shoot to air, though the scheduling can be compressed significantly if necessary.

“HD definitely has a big impact on the look and feel of [Smallville], though there isn’t a big difference in the general workflow,” says Modern VideoFilm’s Cliff Armstrong.

Let’s Get Smallville
Smallville shoots in Super 35 and is transferred to HDCAM. The offline is done in 24p and the framing emphasis remains 4x3. Since this is an effects-laden show, after the first rough cut is complete, a spotting session is held to verify the effects as planned and to compile the list of shots required. “We’ve always worked with HD images (and very large files), so the process for us is really no different from compiling effects for HD or SD shows,” says Mat Beck, president of Santa Monica’s Entity FX and senior effects producer and supervisor on Smallville. “The real task for us is to be equally aware of the framing requirements imposed by HD or SD. We always work in 16x9 and then impose a 4x3 aspect grid to see how the effect holds up for SD, making whatever adjustments are required. This is analogous to our work in film, [where] we create the effects for 1.85:1 film projection, but always remain mindful of the 4x3 requirements for a later television release.”

Tim Scanlan

Richard Russel and Cliff Armstrong are the tag-team online editors at Modern VideoFilm who collaborate with colorist Dan Judy to handle all of the challenges the dual workflows impose. Due to scheduling, the heavy effects, and constant tinkering to get the show right, the post process is usually in a state of flux up until the air date.

Pat Kelleher

The regimen starts with an anamorphic transfer of film to HDCAM, which provides the master for the effects and conform. The offline, once complete and locked, is transferred as an Avid sequence delivered on a CD to an Avid Nitris, where it is converted from the Media Composer’s AVB format to Nitris’ AFE format. At this point, about 80 percent of the offline has been accurately transferred and the HDCAM masters are used to conform picture, removing any need for dubs. As the show is being mastered and tweaked by the editors for SD and 4x3, many shots will require repositioning from the 16x9 orientation.

Richard Russel

Once the conform is locked, the repositioned shots are collectively de-reposed and tagged at the end of the show for color correction. A D5 is struck and color-correction and titles are completed. The 16x9 master is conformed atop a clone, trading the reposed shots for the de-reposed ones and readied for air. “HD definitely has a big impact on the look and feel of the show, though there isn’t a big difference in the general workflow,” says Armstrong. “It is, however, more complex and does offer its own challenges — mainly in handling the greatly increased amount of information associated with processing HD.” The schedule normally takes three to four weeks, though, if pressed, it can be completed in as little as 12 days.

Dan Judy

Cliff Armstrong

Despite all the challenges, Scanlan says the dual workflow process is a clean one and has become a natural adjunct to the contemporary post environment. He knows the process will be improved as HD becomes more entrenched, but the value of HD, even at this stage, is evident. “Clearly I am bullish on HD and find that working in both formats simultaneously inspires everyone to do their utmost creatively and technically,” he says. “It really does bring out the best in the entire production team. The process is definitely harder, but it forces everyone to pay closer attention to all the details. Because the HD image is so pristine, you can not get away with visual flaws like you could in SD, so SD ends up benefiting from the extra attention as well. Still, I wish a lot more people would get to see the show the same way I do every day — in glorious high-definition.” 

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