Swan
16th October 2002, 15:34
Today I called SVT, Sweden's National Television (http://www.svt.se/inenglish/index.html), to clear up some questions I've had about things we discuss here. I got to talk to a very nice guy who gladly answered all my questions, although he thought they were odd to come from an ordinary citizen. :D
The answers were (at least to me) highly interesting and I thought I'd share.
Question 1: In what format does SVT get sitcoms, movies, music videos etc? Is tape still a standard or is material delivered on DVD? Is Betacam the format used?
Answer 1: No material is delivered to us on DVD. Tapes are still used, and there are various standards. Sony Digital Beta and Panasonic DVC Pro are two common formats. SVT has equipment for all sorts of tape standards. Betacam gives lesser quality than Digital Beta and DVC Pro, but we have machines to deal with that standard too.
Q2: How many lines must a a video tape standard carry for it to be considered broadcast quality? I am aware that there are 625 lines in the PAL standard, but not all are used for the actual video. Some lines are for Text-TV (teletext) etc, right?
A2: Correct. In my opinion a format that carries fewer than 625 lines is not of broadcast quality. Some tape (video) formats have many more than 625 lines, but we of course only transmit 625, and of those, only about 580 contain the video (the image you see on the TV). The remaining lines are used for Text-TV, time codes, etc.
Q3: So, you would not agree that SVHS is broadcast quality (I've seen some people suggest this)?
A3: Absolutely not!
Q4: Is it true that most American Tv-series, music videos, sitcoms and so on are still being produced on film, not filmed with modern digital video cameras, but progressive film cameras?
A4: This varies a lot. Some is shot on high-quality digital NTSC video, others on progressive film. Since it's easier to sell a production to Europe (PAL countries) if the source material is film (because transfer from film to PAL is a lot easier than transfer from NTSC to PAL and also the quality is kept), big, costly productions like "the Sopranos" for example, is shot on film. A mass produced, cheaper, "soap" series like "the Bold and the Beautiful" is more likely to be shot directly, in NTSC, with a video camera.
But a lot of music videos today are shot on digital video (using HD cameras which have approx 1080 lines). It's common today to shot music videos against a single colored background, so called blue screen. The big stars' videos are less likely to be shot on film.
Q5: Is this the same technique that was known as "chroma key" in the 70's?
A5: Yes, same thing. The video is then brought into the computer and digital effects, new backgrounds, etc is added to it. Then it can be exported to NTSC for example. If film or digital video is used depends on the cost a lot. How big the production is.
Q6: So, a big name, like Madonna.. Are her videos filmed with an analogue, progressive film camera or with a HD camera?
A6: HD for sure. But there is a lot of variation here. It is not a general rule that all US material is shot with (analogue, progressive) film cameras.
Q7: When you buy a series from the US, do you (SVT) take care of the NTSC to PAL conversion or the Film to PAL conversion?
A7: No, this is not done by us, but by the company we order the production from. But we have the equipment to do it.
Hope anyone else found this interesting. If you have any further questions, I'll be glad to call the guy up again and pester him some more. He didn't seem to mind. :-)
/Swan
The answers were (at least to me) highly interesting and I thought I'd share.
Question 1: In what format does SVT get sitcoms, movies, music videos etc? Is tape still a standard or is material delivered on DVD? Is Betacam the format used?
Answer 1: No material is delivered to us on DVD. Tapes are still used, and there are various standards. Sony Digital Beta and Panasonic DVC Pro are two common formats. SVT has equipment for all sorts of tape standards. Betacam gives lesser quality than Digital Beta and DVC Pro, but we have machines to deal with that standard too.
Q2: How many lines must a a video tape standard carry for it to be considered broadcast quality? I am aware that there are 625 lines in the PAL standard, but not all are used for the actual video. Some lines are for Text-TV (teletext) etc, right?
A2: Correct. In my opinion a format that carries fewer than 625 lines is not of broadcast quality. Some tape (video) formats have many more than 625 lines, but we of course only transmit 625, and of those, only about 580 contain the video (the image you see on the TV). The remaining lines are used for Text-TV, time codes, etc.
Q3: So, you would not agree that SVHS is broadcast quality (I've seen some people suggest this)?
A3: Absolutely not!
Q4: Is it true that most American Tv-series, music videos, sitcoms and so on are still being produced on film, not filmed with modern digital video cameras, but progressive film cameras?
A4: This varies a lot. Some is shot on high-quality digital NTSC video, others on progressive film. Since it's easier to sell a production to Europe (PAL countries) if the source material is film (because transfer from film to PAL is a lot easier than transfer from NTSC to PAL and also the quality is kept), big, costly productions like "the Sopranos" for example, is shot on film. A mass produced, cheaper, "soap" series like "the Bold and the Beautiful" is more likely to be shot directly, in NTSC, with a video camera.
But a lot of music videos today are shot on digital video (using HD cameras which have approx 1080 lines). It's common today to shot music videos against a single colored background, so called blue screen. The big stars' videos are less likely to be shot on film.
Q5: Is this the same technique that was known as "chroma key" in the 70's?
A5: Yes, same thing. The video is then brought into the computer and digital effects, new backgrounds, etc is added to it. Then it can be exported to NTSC for example. If film or digital video is used depends on the cost a lot. How big the production is.
Q6: So, a big name, like Madonna.. Are her videos filmed with an analogue, progressive film camera or with a HD camera?
A6: HD for sure. But there is a lot of variation here. It is not a general rule that all US material is shot with (analogue, progressive) film cameras.
Q7: When you buy a series from the US, do you (SVT) take care of the NTSC to PAL conversion or the Film to PAL conversion?
A7: No, this is not done by us, but by the company we order the production from. But we have the equipment to do it.
Hope anyone else found this interesting. If you have any further questions, I'll be glad to call the guy up again and pester him some more. He didn't seem to mind. :-)
/Swan