If they’re shooting film, provide dailies specs for the lab to process the film to video. Dailies specs are guidelines that are given to a film lab technician so that he or she can prepare your film and transfer it to videotape in a way that fits your editing workflow. Spec sheets are also useful for video shoots, either on tape or tapeless. Here is a copy of dailies specs that I have used over the years, though every editor or facility may have variations. You should build a sheet of your own specs based on some of the finer points you can glean from other people’s specs and your own needs and experiences.

You should provide contact information for you and your assistant, if any, or anyone else under your supervision. This should include cellphone, email, AIM or iChat, or anyone else that matters to your operation. It is not wise to give out home phone numbers unless you are OK with being hounded by people while you are eating dinner at 1:00 a.m.

You should provide the producer an email that summarizes the editorial-relevant procedures outlined in the pre-production meeting. Nothing covers your ass better than good communication, no matter how redundant it may seem. It should include a summary of the specs for graphics and sound mix prep, rough cut screening, mastering format, and things like that the client has OK’d doing final color correction on FCP in-house and so forth. If you don’t do this, then you have no recourse other than your word against your client’s that you agreed to do things a certain way. This could end up costing you money or time or both. You want your clients to spend as much money on you as possible and be happy with what they’ve gotten for it, so if they look at your summary of pre-production and decide they want to “upgrade,” this can also serve to your benefit.

You should describe how you want the production team to document the shooting process in the script or shooting notes. You won’t always get script notes that indicate favorite takes, but if someone is going to do it, tell them how you want it. Ask to have the script notes sent to you along with the tapes, not after. You will need the notes for digitizing and organizing selects.

How will the final project be delivered? Digital file, HDCam, HDV, DVCProHD, Digital Beta, Beta-SP, DVCam, DVD, online video? The answer to this question can be as simple as whatever the standard procedure is for a particular client. On the other hand, some clients don’t have a clue about what mastering format they should be finishing to. And it isn’t always the same format as what was shot.

You should be the expert opinion about how the final master should be delivered based on how the master will be used. For example, you may online a master sequence in HD 1080 23.98p, but the delivery specs require only to deliver on Digital Beta, not HDCam. You may also be called upon to speak with an engineer at a facility to discuss what the delivery specs should be and be able to understand the options based on your material.

I suggest you become familiar with all of the formats in current use, and under what circumstances they are primarily used. You should know, for example, that digital formats are better master tapes as a source for dubbing than analog, that component formats are better than composite, and that wide screen does not necessarily mean HD.

For web video, I can assure you that if you ask the client or producer what online video format do they want for use on their website, they won’t have a clue. Worse, if you speak with the client’s webmaster, there a good chance they won’t know either. Without a clear answer, my policy is that I render out the final master in Flash Video, WMV, and QuickTime h.264, in at least two different bitrates. Given six different options, one is likely to work without a hitch. Also, videos are often used in PowerPoint presentations, which requires WMV files, so you can cover that base too with the same batch of renders.

Even though FCP and Soundtrack Pro have good tools for doing sound mixing, there some situations where a “real” recording studio and a talented mixer is needed. Recording studios can run as high as $500/hour, but there are ways to work with some mixers for around $500/day. But you get what you pay for – not necessarily in terms of talent, but in services and equipment. If your project is intended to be finished in the same chair as the edit, you should know about it ahead of time. Sound studios have expensive mics, speakers, and sound proof rooms that most editing rooms can’t come close to in terms of accuracy. So if your client is OK with mixing in the edit room environment, they should be prepared to accept a mix that might sound great on your system, but not necessarily as well on another playback setup. That is what mixing studios are for.

The same applies for video color correction. Who will be doing it, on what machine/software, and where? Color correction work is time consuming and highly subjective. Sometimes it is considered an afterthought. But then later on, it can turn into a monster that makes the edit come to a standstill. It’s like trimming hedges or using a chainsaw – once you start, you find it hard to stop.

Color correction is a highly specialized skill that requires a sharp eye and a strong sense of aesthetics to create the right “look”. And often times clients and directors don’t have the ability to communicate exactly how to guide the colorist to achieve a satisfactory result. In other words, it is not as simple as saying “make it bigger” or “move it up and to the right”. Someone can know what they want, but have difficulty expressing it in terms of the color correction jargon, such as “less green in the midtones”. Nor is it easy for a non-colorist to look at an example and to try to match the exact look.

If the director, DP, client or anyone else intends to color correct every scene, you should find out if that means that they think you are doing it or someone else is doing it in a special studio. FCP includes excellent on-board color correction tools, and now includes Color for more advanced techniques. Synthetic Aperture makes a plugin for FCP and Adobe AfterEffects that has many of the tools used in full-blown color correction suites. If you are comfortable with doing color correction, then do it. If not, don’t fake it. It’s not easy.

Second, although editing systems are becoming much better at doing color correction, they are not as capable as specialized systems such as the DaVinci (which costs millions). In a true professional color correction suite, you will find a great deal of time and expense has gone into equipment and lighting control so that the video is accurate. This includes TV monitors that cost over $45,000, multi-million dollar consoles and calibrated ambient light engineering. And accurate projection systems can be equally expensive.

Most if not all typical edit suites cannot compare to the controls of a true color correction suite. Although a decent broadcast quality monitor and decent lighting control can do a job well enough, it is still not the same as the real thing. The bottom line is that great results can be created with either setup, though one is clearly designed for better results above all. This should be expressed at the outset of any discussion so that the client has the ability to decide how much they are willing to spend and still be satisfied with the results. (Typical color correction suites, by the way, can cost upwards of $1200/hr. Chances are you will be doing a lot of the work yourself, so bone up!).

If there is a discussion about visual FX or graphic animation of some kind, there’s a chance that everyone is assuming you will be doing it. That’s fine, except that if it isn’t, someone has to say who will be doing it. And then, how do you coordinate with that person to be sure their work will be compatible with your editing specs?

You should take the lead in establishing how the graphic design and animation effects workflow will proceed. Most designers don’t know much about codecs for editing systems or legal color/luminance gamut for TV. You should “shake hands” on a format that will allow the designer to work in the proper resolution and aspect ratio, and a format that they can render out to so that you will receive it in its best quality possible.

The process of digitizing video footage, exporting it to a graphics program like AfterEffects, rendering out a movie, and then importing it back into FCP can cause subtle changes in the video footage depending on your presets. Keeping track of the proper settings is complicated but necessary.

There will be more details on how to export/import for graphics work later in this guide.

It’s not like the old days where every rough cut was dubbed to a VHS or 3/4″ tape and Fedexed to a bunch of people. Now, compatibility with everyone’s computer and browser has to be considered along with their Internet connection speed to stream a video. And authoring a DVD is not as quick and easy as making a dub. But that’s the way it is.

In what format will rough cuts be screened? DVD, QT, WMV, RealPlayer, FLASH? No one seems to think about this factor until it is about 2:00 a.m. and someone tells you that the client can’t play QuickTime movies on his PC, and you don’t have the codec to make a WMV file. The best thing to do is to make a recommendation first, or ask what everyone would prefer for a screening format, and then to do a test to be sure that what you create actually works. This applies to both DVDs and compressed file formats. It is rare now these days but there are still some old computers that don’t play burned DVDs, only manufactured ones.

If you are uploading a compressed file format for others to stream or download, find the file format(s) that take up the least amount of bandwidth but still meet decent enough quality standards. I prefer h.264 in Quicktime at 650kb/sec, though Flash Video has become almost universally accepted. Flash, however, requires being embedded in an HTML page, so it would require a little web savvy to implement.

But the reality is that you should be given a ballpark estimate for how many total hours of footage you can expect to receive. How else will you be able to estimate the amount of digitizing time you will need, or how to manage how much disk drive space you will need? If it is too much footage for your disk drive space, you may need to buy more disk drives, or digitize in a lower resolution, which could affect the rest of your workflow, especially if you are working with green screen or jobs where graphic animators need your footage to do compositing work.

What are video recording best practices? Even though it is standard procedure for video camera operators to record bars and tone at the head of each tape (or even the palm of their hand), some of them don’t. Sometimes, in run-and-gun type shooting, it is impractical to do this. But emphasize that it is for the safety of the footage that they do it when they can. I have had numerous problems with DV tapes getting jammed in various clamshell or small VTRs such that the first 20 seconds of the videotape are destroyed. The tapes can often be salvaged, but the video from the first 20 seconds cannot.

Shooting non-drop frame vs. drop frame timecode: There is no real reason to shoot in drop frame timecode if the footage is being edited and then mastered to tape. It’s the MASTER whose timecode format matters, not the source footage. So I suggest shooting in non-drop since the numbering is easier to follow. If they shoot drop frame anyway, no big deal. Just be sure they know NOT to mix drop frame and non-drop timecode on the same tape. This will cause your editing system to reject the tape after a switch in timecode format. In this case, you will have to give the tape an alternate reel ID for the portion of the tape with the other timecode format.

On multi-camera shoots, there will sometimes be a “line feed”, and then individual recordings for each camera in use (known also as an “iso”). The line feed is a recording of what has gone through a live video switcher and edited on the fly by the technical director. Be sure that the tapes have been numbered according to camera or line feed, or that there is a guide to indicate the source of the recording for each tape. I like to label my tapes as follows: Cam A series = 101, 102, 103, etc; Cam B 201, 202, 203, etc., and anything else, such as a layoff compilation with some other series, like 1001, 1002, etc. This will distinguish your tapes as being camera originals or “created” by dubbing from other sources. There are lots of methods to accomplish the same thing, and this is merely one example.

DO NOT label tapes in repeated series according to date, such as September 5 #101, 102, 103, etc., then September 6 #101, 102, 103. This will create confusion. Use a number first in your reel ID so that you can sort your reels in your bins easily, then if you have any other date or identification data, use it after the number ID, or use another column in your bin for it.

Advise your DP not rewind any video tapes after they have been ejected from the camera. Let a studio quality VTR do the delicate tape rewinding rather than a camera. Even before you place a tape in a VTR, ALWAYS check that the record tab has been set to PROTECT. Each tape should be labeled according to agreed upon specs, and make sure they do not place the adhesive label on or near the flip-up tape protector part of the cassette. Labels should be placed ONLY on the specified labeling area of the tape. Misplacing the label can cause the flip-up bar to jam making it impossible to insert into the VTR.

With inexpensive cameras, if the DP will be powering off the video camera, or stopping and rewinding frequently, the timecode will sometimes revert to zero on the tape somewhere in the middle, which will make digitizing exceedingly difficult. If this is the case, you must request that the camera masters be cloned to another tape with unbroken ascending timecode. Although cloning a tape is a waste of time in the pure sense, compared to the aggravation of digitizing a tape with broken timecode, it is the lesser of two evils. Nothing will slow a log and digitize session down to a crawl than a badly recorded videotape.

There is nothing you can do in the digitizing process that will make your life easier except to clone the tapes to another set of tapes. This will negate any timecode issues by generating new wild timecode, and, if done through a proper digital connection, will not incur any generation loss on the footage. It is wise to spot check all of your videotapes for this problem if you suspect that the shooters powered off frequently. That way, you can be cloning bad tapes while digitizing good ones. The decision to do this is should be weighed against wasted money because if there are 40 bad tapes, it will cost a lot of money and time to clone them all. So if there are only a few problems with each tape, you might have to bite the bullet and babysit the capturing process. Again, it is best to warn against this potential problem before it happens.

However, if there will be more than one camera shooting simultaneously on the same subject, there are a few contingencies which can make your digitizing and editing go more smoothly.

Ideally, you want all cameras to be slaved to the same timecode generator so that each camera contains identical timecode. This will allow you to log your footage once and apply the clip data to all tapes (with a few quick modifications) – a huge time saver.

Second, you can take advantage of FCPs ability to link clips together into multiclips for “switcher” style viewing and editing. It is a good idea to mention to the producer that it is your intention to do this so that the camera operators can start and stop their cameras together properly. You want to avoid having full coverage on one camera and partial coverage on another. They should know that once a take has begun, the cameras should not be stopped until after the end of the take. Otherwise your multiclip sync will be lost in the middle where one of the cameras was stopped and restarted. For shooting long events like sports, suggest that all cameras manage their tape stock so that tape changes can be made at coordinated times such as during a timeout or half-time. You do not want either camera to run out during live action.

If there is no timecode sync on multiple cameras, the same shooting principles apply, though you should ask that all cameras point to a pre-arranged target area where someone can clap their hands together, use a clapstick slate, or record a mutually accessible motion such as a clock. This will be your only visual means to accurately gauge sync between cameras. Once you have captured each camera’s footage, you can still make multiclips by using a mark-in point based on the sync event even if the timecode is different. Another technique is all cameras to synced to an exact time of day as accurately as possible, then record in “free run” mode so that timecode is recorded according to the time of day on a 24 hour system. You can then use timecode as a sync measure, though it might not be 100% accurate down to the frame.

Another important consideration is pre-roll and post-roll if they are shooting tape. Pre- and post-roll is refers to the amount of clean video and timecode that is needed prior to and after the logical beginning and end of a recorded scene. If the action begins too soon after the cameras have been started or too soon after the cameras have been stopped, the editing system will have a problem digitizing the clip. I recommend 10 seconds pre- and post-roll so that you can log in-point/out-point marks that will work for ALL tapes without running into broken timecode or bad video glitches during camera start/stop.

Will audio be recorded as a “single” or “dual” system, and will it be post-synced prior to delivery to you?

If you don’t ask this question, don’t be surprised if you get a box full of videotapes with no sound and a box of DAT tapes or digital WAV file discs, and are asked to post-sync all of the production sound to the video. This is not only a slow and dreary task, but it will take away from the valuable time you have allocated for editing.

In a single production system, the output of the sound mixer is sent directly to the audio inputs of the video camera so that whatever audio is recorded is presumed to be good enough to be used in a final mix. If they are shooting film, this process cannot happen, so a dual production system is always used, meaning separate recording systems for picture and sound. This means that, at some point, the DAT audio or digital audio files will need to be synced to the picture. (Sometimes dual systems are used in video shoots because of logistical difficulties connecting sound mixers to the camera. The same issues associated with film shoots applies in this case).

Normally, this process is done while the film is being transferred to videotape (either in the form of dailies, or as final color corrected transfer masters). This is called post sync, and requires the use of a SMPTE timecode enabled, RS-422 controllable DAT player (which is a rare commodity) and an editing system that can synchronize the DAT or digital audio files to the dailies/transfer video masters. Some low-budget productions will try to avoid the expense of doing post sync in-session at a film transfer, so they will attempt to do post sync in the offline edit. You want to avoid this for more than just that it is annoying to do, but if you have to, be sure that you have accounted for it in your budget and schedule.

Another thing to consider is that when you log and digitize a clip off of videotape or import an extracted QuickTime movie, you create a record in your project of where that clip came from. If you ever need to recapture that clip for some future revision or disk drive failure recovery, you will want the process to be as streamlined as possible. If you do post sync in the edit rather than prior to capture, then you may have to do double the digitizing work since you will have to do video and audio separately. Also, if the client wants to see dubs of all of the footage for their own viewing, you will have to output from the editing system rather than videotapes, which will further delay your editing time. Try to arrange for working with tapes that are post synced prior to being delivered to you.

Last, if you digitize on-the-fly from a non-SMPTE timecode DAT player, then there will be no possible way to recapture the audio exactly as you had done the first time if you lose the media, so you will have to do manual post sync all over again. Believe me, this is a bad situation to be in. Luckily, DAT recording is phasing out in favor of digital file recording.

Clarifying shooting formats matters because DPs and directors often think about what will look aesthetically pleasing to them without taking into consideration what the editing equipment or the delivery specs will be.

There is often a push to shoot DV NTSC at 23.98p for the “look” of that frame rate, although the master will be finished at 29.97. But there may not be any advantage in shooting at 23.98 if the added pulldown will look the same as if shot at 29.97. You might want to suggest a test to see if it makes a difference either way. Why does it matter outside of aesthetics? Because if the camera is a Panasonic model that can shoot DV NTSC in 23.98fps in the “24pa” format, you need a Panasonic deck to capture the footage via Firewire 400 with your FCP system set to capture in the 24pa format. You cannot use a non-Panasonic deck to do this, and it can only be done via Firewire directly, and not through a capture card such as an AJA Kona or Blackmagic card.

If the footage will be acquired in HD, you must determine precisely which “flavor” of HD will be used. There are many formats, frame rates, and codecs, and each of them has an effect on your digitizing capability and the management of digital files for visual FX. Some cameras are able to do overcrank recording for slow motion. There are specs for how this footage should be managed, and you need to provide them to the production company in your shooting specs.

Also, most people refer to shooting 23.98 fps as “24p” when it is not actually pure 24 fps. But you must still make absolutely sure that this is understood one way or the other. The reason for this is that shooting at pure 24 fps is never done unless the final product will have a “film out”. So if it is done by accident, it will cause a great deal of inconvenience in the editing process because of the speed changes needed to make screenable rough cuts in NTSC. NTSC requires exactly 29.97 fps, and a conversion from pure 24 fps will mean that your audio will have to be modified.

There are many popular shooting formats that deliver excellent results, but if you don’t have the VTR needed to digitize the tapes, a rental deck will be needed and its cost should be included in the budget. Do not accept being told that you can digitize from the camera because some cameras do not have the proper connectivity options to make a digital path to your editing system, and it is a bad idea to incur wear and tear on the playback heads of any camera as a result of the demands of a log and capture routine. The tape transport systems on cameras are slow and are not designed for capturing. Sometimes camera transport systems can cause multiple playback failure during capture.

For tapeless acquisition, such as with P2 cards or FireStore, you need to establish the line between where the production company’s responsibility ends and yours begins. Simply put, this means that the production company is responsible for:

• Checking that all scenes were recorded properly ON SET, not after the shoot is done
• Checking that all of the raw MXF files have been extracted to QuickTime (sometimes files get skipped in the import process)
• Providing ALL of the footage that will be used in the edit on a firewire drive, and retaining their own copy as a backup
• Checking that all QuickTime footage clips are playable and retain audio sync throughout
• Assuring that original MXF files are backed up – MXF files are the equivalent of film negative and are not the editor’s responsibility

Do not accept receiving a bunch of drives with the only copies of the MXF files with the expectation that you will be responsible for all aspects of the footage from then on. You did not shoot it – just like shooting film – so there is no reason for you to deal with it prior to being in an editable form. There are legal repercussions between the production company and client for lost or destroyed footage, so stay out of middle of it.

I can say this from personal experience: If the production company does not do their part as I described above, they are risking having to pay for a re-shoot perhaps for as little as one scene. That means renting the set, paying the talent, hiring the crew and equipment, etc. This can easily make a profitable job unprofitable.

The pre-production meeting, or “pre-pro”, is perhaps the most important stage of the project because it outlines the process, resources, and expectations involved. It usually takes place in the presence of the advertiser or sponsor, director, director’s producer, production designer or other technical staff, writer, art director, corporate management from an ad agency or film company, a graphics compositor or animator, and perhaps others. As the editor, it is vital that you take notes, listen carefully, and bring a stopwatch to use for timing out storyboards if necessary. It is your job to articulate the repercussions of certain decisions if they affect any aspect of the editing or finishing process, and to gather answers for how the production process will be done.

Your opinion may be solicited for your creative input, but not always. Be sensitive to the egos involved in the pre-pro meeting because some participants see it as their only chance to defend their idea before it gets “corrupted” by others. They may not want to hear your ideas even if they are good ones, but if you have something to contribute, by all means make your best play. Often times I have found myself in the role of being the person who says what no one else wants to say since it might involve a budget, time or staffing problem, or something that would affect some aspect of the creative execution that is critically important to the director or writer.

For example, if the production company decides to shoot Sony HDCam-SR rather than HDV or DVCProHD, you will have to account for how the workflow will proceed from that point. Will the HDCam-SR tapes be downconverted or cross-converted? If not, will your editing system handle the power and speed to work with HDCam-SR footage, or a compressed ProRes version of it? Will there be a final re-assembly of the final rough cut in uncompressed HDCam-SR or left in ProRes as final? Who will pay to rent the HDCam-SR VTR?

There are time and cost variables associated with these decisions, and often times the editor’s time and money is considered lower priority compared to the costs of production and talent. You should defend your “territory” at the outset, during the pre-pro, before they become a headache you can’t get away from. Well, how do you do that?

You must also learn to tactfully state the effect of certain proposals so that the ultimate decision can be made by those who serve that role, and in the process not embarrass anyone or be a pain in the butt. For example, if you have provided an estimate for editing a project, and then an idea is brought up to shoot a scene on green screen for compositing, and compositing is not in the budget, there are good ways and bad ways to voice this issue. It would be bad to say out load, “No way, man! That wasn’t in the budget. Can’t do it!” It’s not your money to spend. If they want to spend more, that’s good news for you, but you need to make it clear that that is the case. My rule is, whenever someone suggests doing more than what was proposed, the answer is always “yes…however…”.

My response in this situation would be to turn to the producer, who is responsible for budgets and schedule, and say to him or her, privately, “Compositing was not in my last estimate. Do you want me to give you a revised estimate after the meeting?” or, “We have enough time in the schedule to get the editing done as promised, but I will need to bring on a compositor overnight to make the composite. I can give you a revised schedule and estimate later if you want.”

What these statements do is respect that the producer knows that what is being proposed will blow away your estimate (even if they don’t), and that you have deferred to their role in deciding whether or not the proposed change in the shooting technique will happen or not. You are simply trying to make their decision making process easier. If the producer says, “No, thank you. A revised estimate won’t be necessary,” then you need to ask whether the proposed suggestion will be killed, or completed by some other means. You need some confirmation from the producer that the proposed idea is not your responsibility if it is not including in your estimate, without sounding like a schmuck.

Be sure to obtain an up-to-date storyboard or shooting board (a shooting board is more of a literal description of the scenes to be shot), look it over, and try to play the scenes in your head so that you can imagine what is NOT indicated in the scenes. This includes transitions, space onscreen for graphics and logos, cutaways, continuity issues, and “registration time”. Registration time is the time that is necessary for the viewer to absorb the visual information long enough to comprehend what they just saw before moving onto the next scene. Storyboards often times include voiceover copy and graphics which are easy to absorb when the reader has the luxury of time to finish reading them. But this is not always the case in a :30 second commercial, for instance, where the writer may have written too much dialog for there to be enough time for a voiceover tagline.

Be aware that producers and directors tend to promise more to their clients rather than less, and then worry about the repercussions later. Try to staunch these potential headaches at the outset, in the pre-pro meeting.