POST PRODUCTION
Tips and tricks for Premiere and Post tools.
AUDIO FILE - NAMING GUIDE
Everything UPPER_CASE. No spaces. Underscores
For Protools sessions:
SHOWID_SHOWNAME_EPNO_WORKSTAGE_INITIALS_DATE
Workstage options are:
EDIT
MIX
INTQC
EXTQC
Eg. 6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_EXTQC_BK_220307
For Deliveries:
SHOWID_SHOWNAME_EPNO_DELIVERYTYPE
Eg.
Stereo Mix
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_STEREO_MIX
5.1
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_SURR_MIX
ME, DME
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_DME
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_ME
Stems
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_DX_STEM
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_MX_STEM
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_FX_STEM
6164_ASITHAPPENED_EP01_VO_STEM
ABC REVIEW WORKFLOW
ABC TV
Step 1: Finishing Team start
Conform complete
Graphics up to date
Sound Mix complete
Grade Complete
Credits completed and checked with Judy Tanner
Step 2: Wildbear Internal QC (Presentation Room screening in Canberra or via Vimeo BITC - book in with William Ward)
Complete Internal QC notes - notes to be listed on the Postboard
Step 3: Director Review (Presentation Room screening in Canberra or via Vimeo BITC) - send email link to Director, Judy Tanner, Haidee Brown
Complete Director notes and any credit fixes - notes to be listed on the Postboard
Step 4: Silvertrak Review (Send ABC Master as per ABC Tech Specs and Naming Convention to Silvertrak via Media Room) - send notification to Silvertrak when uploading
Darryl McKee: darryl@silvertrak.com.au
Matthew Christie: matt@silvertrak.com.au
DMZ: dmz@silvertrak.com.au
QC: qc@silvertrak.com.au
Complete Silvertrak fix notes
Step 5: ABC Sign Off (Send Vimeo BITC version for Kate Pappas and ABC approval - downloadable) - send email link to Judy Tanner, Haidee Brown. They will set review time with Kate Pappas. 2 options at this point
Kate Pappas approves for link to be sent to ABC for Sign Off. Judy Tanner & Haidee Brown to provide ABC the link and schedule screening
If corrections needed notes to be listed on the Post Dashboard. Once corrected a new Vimeo Clean to be provided to Judy Tanner & Haidee Brown to provide ABC the link and schedule screening.
Complete ABC notes if required
Step 6: Post Production Script Version (Vimeo BITC - downloadable) - send email link to Judy Tanner
Step 7: Mastering
Apple Pro Res 422 (HQ) HD 1080i50, 16:9FH, 25 fps, texted with textless elements, Full Mix Stereo on Tracks 1 & 2 and M&E on Tracks 3 & 4
Screener Clean: H.264 format MP4, 1920x1080 pixels, aspect ratio 1:1 square pixels, progressive, 25 frames per second, max bitrate & target bitrate 5Mbps, VBR, 1 pass.
Screener BITC: H.264 format MP4, 1920x1080 pixels, aspect ratio 1:1 square pixels, progressive, 25 frames per second, max bitrate & target bitrate 5Mbps, VBR, 1 pass.
Audio Deliverables
Step 8: Delivery
Deliver all files named as per ABC Naming Conventions via ABC Aspera
Send Screeners to Sandra Graham: Graham.Sandra@abc.net.au via the WeTransfer Pro Account
Once delivery completed email Nick Terakes: Terakes.Nick@abc.net.au to advise.
Step 9: Wildbear Delivery
Make a new Video Folder on Vimeo named "WildbearProjectNumber_ProjectName_Masters"
Add Screener Clean and BITC then change from ABC name to Wildbear Vimeo naming protocol (https://podio.com/wildbear/post-production/apps/wiki/items/3)
Step 10: Add Final XML to Post Dashboard. Notify Judy Tanner
ABC COMMERCIAL (ONLY TO BE COMPLETED ONCE ABC TV HAS BEEN DELIVERED)
Step 1: Reconfom to ABC Commercial Version
Re conform Sound and Vision from ABC TV version and patch any changes
Credits completed and checked with Judy Tanner
Provide timecodes of reconform changes
Step 2: Wildbear Internal QC (Presentation Room screening in Canberra or via Vimeo BITC - book in with William Ward)
Complete Internal QC notes - notes to be listed on the Postboard
Step 3: Silvertrak Review (Send ABC Master as per ABC Tech Specs and Naming Convention to Silvertrak via Media Room) - send notification to Silvertrak when uploading
Darryl McKee: darryl@silvertrak.com.au
Matthew Christie: matt@silvertrak.com.au
DMZ: dmz@silvertrak.com.au
QC: qc@silvertrak.com.au
Complete Silvertrak fix notes
Step 4: ABC Sign Off (Send Vimeo BITC version and timecodes of reconform changes for Kate Pappas) - send email link to Judy Tanner, Haidee Brown. They will set review time with Kate Pappas.
Complete ABC Sign Off fix notes
Step 5: Post Production Script Version (Vimeo BITC - downloadable) - send email link to Judy Tanner
Step 6: Mastering
Apple Pro Res 422 (HQ) HD 1080i50, 16:9FH, 25 fps, texted with textless elements, Full Mix Stereo on Tracks 1 & 2 and M&E on Tracks 3 & 4, Surround Mix on Tracks 5 - 10
Screener Clean: H.264 format MP4, 1920x1080 pixels, aspect ratio 1:1 square pixels, progressive, 25 frames per second, max bitrate & target bitrate 5Mbps, VBR, 1 pass.
Screener BITC: H.264 format MP4, 1920x1080 pixels, aspect ratio 1:1 square pixels, progressive, 25 frames per second, max bitrate & target bitrate 5Mbps, VBR, 1 pass.
Audio Deliverables
Step 7: Delivery
Deliver all files named as per ABC Naming Conventions (note this is different to ABC TV version) via ABC Aspera
Once delivery completed email Nick Terakes: Terakes.Nick@abc.net.au to advise.
Step 8: Wildbear Delivery
Make a new Video Folder on Vimeo named "WildbearProjectNumber_ProjectName_Masters"
Add Screener Clean and BITC then change from ABC name to Wildbear Vimeo naming protocol (https://podio.com/wildbear/post-production/apps/wiki/items/3)
Step 9: Add Final XML to Post Dashboard. Notify Judy Tanner
GREEN SCREEN TUTORIAL - PREMIERE PRO ULTRA KEY
Ultra Key Basics (Step By Step):
There are several keying effects in Premiere Pro. Ultra key is by far the best and most powerful, and includes most - if not all - the functions of the other keying effects in Premiere Pro.
Once applied to a clip, refer to the ‘Key Colour’ eye dropper. Choose the colour background (greenscreen) behind the interviewee. This will create an alpha channel/matte and will mask out your subject from the chosen key colour.
The Alpha channel is the matte (your subject/interviewee) that is left over after the background has been keyed out.
If there are varying greens on your green screen, pick the mid tone green for best key.
Tip: hold CMD (Mac) when using the eyedropper, to pick your key colour. This allows the picker to be a 5 x 5 pixel average around the spot you pick to key out - produces better keying results.
Once keyed, in the ‘Ultra Key’ effect controls, choose your ‘Output’ as ‘Alpha Channel’. This will allow you to clearly see how effective your key is, and therefore how clean your alpha channel is.
If there is grain or noise surrounding your subject/alpha channel, go to the ‘Matte Generation’ dropdown, use the ‘Pedestal’ tool to clean it up - one of the most important tools for ultrakey. This filters out noise from the alpha channel. Very effective for low-light footage.
These are the basic adjustments you can do to clean up your alpha channel. Refer to the resources below for further explanation on how to fine tune your key.
Now that you have a clean key, go back to ‘Output’ and choose ‘Composite’, to change from the ‘Alpha Channel’ view.
In the ‘Composite’ view, refer to the ‘Matte Cleanup’ dropdown. Use the ‘Choke’ and the ‘Soften’ tool to get rid of blocky edges around your subject (be careful with these tools, and closely monitor how they are affecting your subject’s hair).
Lumetri Colour Effect to help hide Motion Blur (Step By Step):
To get rid of green spill for moving hands due to motion blur, apply the ‘Lumetri Colour’ effect to your clip/interview. Mask the area in which the motion blur occurs. In the ‘Effects Controls’ for ‘Lumetri Colour’, go down to ‘Curves’. Scroll to the graph for ‘Hue vs Hue’. Using the eyedropper, target an area on the subject (most likely their hands) with an even skin tone that isn’t affected by motion blur or colour spill from the key. 3 dots will appear on the ‘Hue vs Hue’ graph. In most cases, increasing the hue of the right dot will directly affect the motion blur edges on the subject (for further explanation of how these graphs work, refer to resources below). Matching the hue to the skin colour of the subject will give you the best results - changing the motion blur from a green, to a more suitable skin tone.
Spill Suppression Tools:
The ‘Spill Suppression’ dropdown can be found in the Ultra Key effect controls.
Spill Suppression controls help to clean up green screen keys around light colours, such as blonde hair. Generally, it allows you to remove key colour spill in your scene by reducing the amount of that colour in the foreground, where it doesn't belong.
Desaturate:
Controls the saturation of the colour channel background colour. Desaturates colours that are close to being fully transparent.
Range:
Controls the amount of spill that is corrected.
Spill:
Adjusts the amount of spill compensation.
Luma:
Works with the alpha channel to restore the original luminance of the source.
(Refer to resources for further information)
Be wary, as adjusting the spill suppression can affect the overall grade/colour of the interview. Closely monitor any white areas, which will be clearly affected by the spill suppression.
Useful Ultra Key Resources:
Overall Ultra Key Basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDnhPpyko1c&ab_channel=MakeMediaStudios
Spill Suppression and Motion Blur Fix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdMhHtRJmgc&ab_channel=TaranVanHemert
General definitions and explanations for Ultra Key by Adobe: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-pro/how-to/ultra-key-effect.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/video-effects-transitions.html#keying_effects
NEAT VIDEO TUTORIAL - NOISE REDUCTION
Neat Video is a noise reduction plugin. What separates Neat Video from other noise reduction options is that Neat Video uses noise profiles to sample noise from details. It can be used to treat various video imperfections such as noise, grain, film artifacts, flickering and compression. Neat Videos Premiere Pro plugin is available here:
https://www.neatvideo.com/download
Wildbear has 5 licenses under the same account. These licenses are available under the email:
software@wildbear.tv
At the following link is a training video to Neat Video:
https://vimeo.com/635756862
Applying Neat Video
Once installed the plugin is available under Effects > Video Effects > Neat Video > Reduce Noise
Noise profile
A good profile needs to be made prior to noise reduction. You are looking to identify what is noise and what isn't. This can be done in 3 ways
Manual Profile
Drag a square over a flat, even part of the image (Sky, single toned wall, etc.)
Auto Profile
Neat Video will select a flat, even part of the image (Sky, single toned wall, etc.)
Generic Profile
Used when a good selection can’t be found.
Noise profiles can be saved and reused. This feature seems to be made with camera and lenses in mind rather than archive footage. Archive footage varies in look drastically
Viewing modes
Check to see if a good selection has been made.
At the bottom left select YCrCb+Enhanced Contrast to check the noise selection in Black and White and in Colour
At the bottom left select Y Channel Frequencies to fine tune the noise selection among Black and White detail
Check to see that noise is not visible in all Profile Check Windows and that the image details are still visible.
Adjust sliders under Profile Check and Tuning until the desired selection is made
Profile Check and Tuning
Luminance
Y: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Black and White channel
Cr: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Cr channel
Cb: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Cr channel
Frequencies: Fine tune black and white channel separated between fine details
High: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Larger details
Mid: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Middle details
Low: Adjust to add or remove noise profile in Finer details
Noise reduction
Once a noise profile is selected you can choose where and how much noise will be removed. This is done under Temporal and Spatial tabs.
Temporal
Radius: How many frames to compare before and after the selected frame
Noise Level: Where the noise reduction will be applied. Click the Noise Level Check button to visualise. Areas where noise reduction will be applied will appear to be blue. Areas that are ignored will appear to be yellow
Local Flicker Check: Adjust what differences there are between previous and following frames. Adjust until areas with no movement appear to be blue. Areas with motion should appear to be yellow. (For example: On a tripod clip a still background should be blue, a person running across the frame should be yellow)
Repeated Frames
Increase If noise persists in the same pixel locations over time. This is limited to the selected Radius:
2 Radius: 51%
3 Radius 67%
4 Radius 75%
5 Radius 99%
5 Radius 100%
If set to 100% you’re telling Neat Video that every frame is exactly the same.
Jitter of Details
Increase the threshold when details in the image appear to be moving when you know they’re a stationary object. For example: Jitter caused by interlaced footage, heat haze, drone flicker. This setting is further enhanced by increasing the radius.
Dust and Scratches
Neat Video checks for differences between frames before and after and attempts to remove dust, scratches and other film artifacts. Increase the sliders until film artifacts are removed.
Spatial
Rather than looking for differences between multiple frames, spatial noise reduction looks at an individual frame. The user will dial in what is and isn’t noise much like when preparing a noise profile.
General
If the noise reduction makes the image too plastic-y, you are able to mix with the original image to create a middle ground.
Further image treatment
Neat Video and for that matter all noise reduction isn’t flawless. The process is drastically changing the image and further treatment may be required to achieve a pleasing image.
Details can be smeared by noise reduction and so further sharpening can improve the image.
Textures can be removed by noise reduction and so adding further grain can improve the image.
Other resources
https://www.neatvideo.com/support/tutorials