How Digital Technology Impacts

TV Production and Post – 20144 Examples of Recent 4K / TV Workflows that are

affected by… or made possible by recent advancements in technology.

Phil Squyres, SVP, Technical OperationsSony Pictures Television

Since 2013’s HPA Tech Retreat...

Sony Pictures TV has shot the following shows in 4KThe 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 4KMORE THAN HALF COMPLETED IN 4KANOTHER 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 OverviewNetTV-Cable Productions

Scheduled Viewing (weekly)

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

OTT Productions

View Anytime – All the time

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

CAPTIONSEnglish

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

CAPTIONSEnglish

Neutral Spanish

Brazilian Portuguese

Parisian French

German

Norwegian

Danish

Finnish

Swedish

Dutch

Luxembourgish

+ 21 days !!

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 BlacklistLast year I presented the workflow for

the pilot of this 4K production

The BlacklistWe 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

HD PROXY FILES FROM SXS CARDS + SOUND

FILES, AND ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE PUSHED VIA

ASPERA TO LAB SERVER IN LA

DOWNLOAD TO DAILIES LAB SAN

AS SOON AS PUSH IS COMPLETE

FILES ARE TRANSFERRED FROM LAB SAN TO WORK RAID ON CORTEX DAILIES

SYSTEM

HD FOOTAGE IS COLOR GRADED FOR DAILIES –

CDLS GENERATED

COLOR INFO EDITORIAL DNX PLUS

DELIVERABLES AS USUAL

ALL OCN (AXS + SXS) + SOUND FILES, ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE ARRIVES

POSTWORKS NYC

AXS CARDS WITH 4K OCN PUT ASIDE TO GO OUT

NEXT DAY

AXS CARDS WITH 4K FOOTAGE PLUS - CF CARDS

WITH SOUND & ANY ANCILARY CAM CARDS

SHIPPED TO LAB NEXT DAY

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

LAB SAN

ARCHIVE RAID

TO TV POST BACKBONE

FOR CONFORM/COLOR

NYC

LA L

AB

SHOOT DAY NEXT DAY

TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO

VIA

ASPER

A

AXS CARDS VIA COURIER TO LA LAB

PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING

BLACKLIST DAILIES WORKFLOW

HD PROXY FILES FROM SXS CARDS + SOUND

FILES, AND ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE PUSHED VIA

ASPERA TO LAB SERVER IN LA

DOWNLOAD TO DAILIES LAB SAN

AS SOON AS PUSH IS COMPLETE

FILES ARE TRANSFERRED FROM LAB SAN TO WORK RAID ON CORTEX DAILIES

SYSTEM

HD FOOTAGE IS COLOR GRADED FOR DAILIES –

CDLS GENERATED

COLOR INFO EDITORIAL DNX PLUS

DELIVERABLES AS USUAL

ALL OCN (AXS + SXS) + SOUND FILES, ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE ARRIVES

POSTWORKS NYC

AXS CARDS WITH 4K OCN PUT ASIDE TO GO OUT

NEXT DAY

AXS CARDS WITH 4K FOOTAGE PLUS - CF CARDS

WITH SOUND & ANY ANCILARY CAM CARDS

SHIPPED TO LAB NEXT DAY

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

LAB SAN

ARCHIVE RAID

TO TV POST BACKBONE

FOR CONFORM/COLOR

NYC

LA L

AB

SHOOT DAY NEXT DAY

TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO

VIA

ASPER

A

FILES TO LAB VIA 10-GIGE CONNECT ?

PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING

BLACKLIST DAILIES WORKFLOW

COLOR INFO

TO TV POST BACKBONE

FOR CONFORM/COLOR

TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO

PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING

BLACKLIST DAILIES WORKFLOWSxS FILES AXS FILES

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 XAVC4K 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 multi-cam 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 GB45 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