Anyone ever air a tv commercial?

[KariKnutzen]

What editing system did you use.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, lots.

In order of frequency of use: AVID MC, FCP, Premiere, Vegas.

Scott

[filmboss80]

What Cornucopia said, in that order. And it doesn't hurt to check with a targeted station or two to inquire of their preferred delivery format.

[KariKnutzen]

Someone did post me on customizing the format , rendering however some of it I still cannot get. I have Vegas 11 and this is what the cable company requires no exception:
Video Bit 12Mbps (this I don't know how to get)
Frame 29.97
Aspect Ratio 4:3
W/H 720 x 480
Chroma 4:2:0 (cannot find this at all)
Interlace: Upper Top Field First
Audio: Mpeg Layer 2 (cannot find this either)
Audio Sampler: 48000
Audio Bit 192k (cannot find this either)
So I recieved advice about customizing a video for a commercial. In order for me to customize it to the list above was through Project Properties. I thought it would be customized under 'Render as'. But I was unable to customize anything under 'render as' to fit the requirements above.

Basically I am planning to air a commercial for next summer so I do have time to figure it out which is why I am starting now. The cable company forwarded me two pages of do's. For example, the do accept a mini dv or a beta tape to hand to them but not a dvd or I can upload it to their site.

So I want to first get all their specs to what the cable company wants. I cannot take step two until I get that part.

Thanks.

[aedipuss]

their request is typical of cable channels. standard dvd mpeg-2. vegas pro has "render as" options for it, maybe studio does also, hidden somewhere?

[KariKnutzen]

It does have options but none of which match up to what is requested. I was told to go to customizing. However customizng was not an option under 'Render as'. I had to go to Project properties. However it doesn't give me all the options to customize that I need. For example, Video bit. I need it to be 12 mbps but I don't see that option anywhere. Chroma wasn't there that I noticed. So I am not sure if all that is required by the cable company for a tv ad is going to be available to me on Vegas 11.
Also, the cable company doesn't accept dvd anyway. If I wanted to physically turn something into them it can only be mini dv or beta tape.

[aedipuss]

dvd standard mpeg-2 is a file not a dvd. it would be in the render as section if the options are available, not in properties. it would look something like this in custom.


the audio bitrate would be adjustable in the audio tab. chroma 4:2:0 is normal dvd mpeg-2 as in the template. it would render as an mpeg-2 file(video + audio) you could upload or submit.

you can change it to upper field first, my mistake in the picture.

[KariKnutzen]

Thanks for the reply! I cannot seem to get custom settings on render. I pull up render as. I do see Mpeg 2. I click on that and then it asks for a template and gives a list.

There is no custom that I can see. I emailed Vegas but have yet to hear from them. I have Vegas 11 which I assume is the most modern of the consumer editing systems so its odd that it wouldn't have that. Or is it there but I can't see it , meaning I have to actually search for it somehwhere. ??

[poisondeathray]

aedipuss - You have to change the output type from "DVD" to "MPEG" to allow 12Mbps; otherwise the bitrate will be capped at 9.8Mbps as per DVD specs

Kari - it's available in Vegas Pro, the latest Pro version is 10. The "studio" version might not have some options accessible. The latest studio version is 11

[edDV]

On-air broadcast stations usually have strict standards since commercial breaks are mostly automated.

When you submit your work it is either accepted or rejected. If you have $$$ for them behind you, they will assign resource to help get the video/audio in conformance.

Big budget advertisers and their producers know the limits an keep within them.

[aedipuss]

i've never had a problem with the mpeg's i've submitted to cable channels as long as the audio is in mpeg-2 spec. i can't say any ever asked for cbr 12mbps for sd video though. it's a bit on the outlandish side, i didn't even look to see if vegas accepted it.

[KariKnutzen]

aedipuss - You have to change the output type from "DVD" to "MPEG" to allow 12Mbps; otherwise the bitrate will be capped at 9.8Mbps as per DVD specs

Kari - it's available in Vegas Pro, the latest Pro version is 10. The "studio" version might not have some options accessible. The latest studio version is 11

So just to confirm that customizing under 'render as' is available on the pro version? I can download it as a trial for a certain number of days. I think it retails for a few hundred.
I want to make sure that it doesn't matter what kind of camera I use? Anything from a $100-$1000? Because I have a limited time to fool around with Vegas pro in the trial period.

[KariKnutzen]

i've never had a problem with the mpeg's i've submitted to cable channels as long as the audio is in mpeg-2 spec. i can't say any ever asked for cbr 12mbps for sd video though. it's a bit on the outlandish side, i didn't even look to see if vegas accepted it.

The require nothing more and nothing less. They state that anything that doesn't comply with their strict requirements will be rejected. So much to learn!

[edDV]

i've never had a problem with the mpeg's i've submitted to cable channels as long as the audio is in mpeg-2 spec. i can't say any ever asked for cbr 12mbps for sd video though. it's a bit on the outlandish side, i didn't even look to see if vegas accepted it.

The require nothing more and nothing less. They state that anything that doesn't comply with their strict requirements will be rejected. So much to learn!

Is this for a broadcast station or cable? Cable is less strict.

[KariKnutzen]

Airings would be on networks such as The Travel Channel / Food Network ect.

[edDV]

Airings would be on networks such as The Travel Channel / Food Network ect.

Those channels are owned by scripps networks.
http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/our-brands

You can contact them and ask for advertising tech format specs. Best to talk to ad sales they will point you to the right place.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/advertise-with-us/package/index.html
http://www.travelchannel.com/About/Advertising

[KariKnutzen]

I was going through Comcast. I didn't know I could go directly to the networks. I actually wasn't sure who Comcast competed with when it comes to ad space.

[KariKnutzen]

I downloaded a trail version of Vegas Pro 10. It does allow me to customize the rendering but I cannot seem to find Chroma and Video bit. They require a video bit of 12 Mbps.

[aedipuss]

by definition dvd spec mpeg-2 is 4:2:0, you can't set or change that. bitrate is set in the custom panel. looks like you'd need to switch the field order also to upper field first.

[edDV]

I was going through Comcast. I didn't know I could go directly to the networks. I actually wasn't sure who Comcast competed with when it comes to ad space.

If your ads are inserted at the network, you deal with them. Those are national ads.

If your ads are local spot inserts, you deal with local Comcast.
http://www.comcastspotlight.com/how-advertise
http://www.comcastspotlight.com/advertising-solutions/on-air
http://www.comcastspotlight.com/advertising-solutions/on-air/spot-cable

[KariKnutzen]

Thanks Aedipuss! So I am slowly getting it I think . I had to manually change the video bit to 12 as it wasn't part of the choice. So simple yet so hard for me!


EdDV, yeah its Comcastspot. Its an ad I want to put out that will cover a certain area within the state. I have a choice of what networks (they are grouped together), what time and what areas I want to cover.

[edDV]

Thanks Aedipuss! So I am slowly getting it I think . I had to manually change the video bit to 12 as it wasn't part of the choice. So simple yet so hard for me!


EdDV, yeah its Comcastspot. Its an ad I want to put out that will cover a certain area within the state. I have a choice of what networks (they are grouped together), what time and what areas I want to cover.

The sales people will give you a tech spec for the ad. I'd like to see you post it here.

[KariKnutzen]

The one from the Comcast sales department? I actually would love to post it here if I could. Its actually two or three pages of do's and don'ts.

You know what the odd thing was when I spoke with the salesperson over the phone, she said they are also strict on content. She said they like strickly professional looking commercials. Nothing that looks homemade or in bad taste and all I could think of is an ad that runs all the time, its a used car salesman. He stands there and forms a fist and crosses it in front of him with this big cheesey smile saying he can outbeat anyone else when it comes to cars. He just remains in that pause until the commercial is over. So very 1960's used car salesman style. I told the salesperson that I know of a few cheesey commercials that air and she just laughed.

[lordsmurf]

Personally air it? No.
Submit to television station? Yes.

Shot DV, edited in Premiere (Windows), submitted on DVD-R as DVD-Video @ max bitrate CBR.

Specs vary quite a bit between cable and broadcast stations. The bigger the station/network, the more they don't care about you, and the harder they are to work with. That's been my experience. Smaller local TV and cable have somewhat easy specs, while cable networks can be difficult.

The specs you've been given are very basic MPEG-2 SD low-end broadcast specs.

Like edDV, I'd also like to see the specs. Very often, the local cable companies seem to have people who don't know their ass from their elbow, when it comes to video jargon/specs. You may have ended up with the Gomer Pyle of the office.

I'd suggest most cable inserts look cheesy and low-rent. The ones I worked on were absolutely terrible, but I did what I was told. I was just doing corrective editing to repair the bad editing done prior, and to put it into the proper submission format (another thing botched by the former editor).

[edDV]

The one from the Comcast sales department? I actually would love to post it here if I could. Its actually two or three pages of do's and don'ts.

You know what the odd thing was when I spoke with the salesperson over the phone, she said they are also strict on content. She said they like strickly professional looking commercials. Nothing that looks homemade or in bad taste and all I could think of is an ad that runs all the time, its a used car salesman. He stands there and forms a fist and crosses it in front of him with this big cheesey smile saying he can outbeat anyone else when it comes to cars. He just remains in that pause until the commercial is over. So very 1960's used car salesman style. I told the salesperson that I know of a few cheesey commercials that air and she just laughed.

They don't care about the content much for paying ad customers, only that it will air proper in tech spec.

[KariKnutzen]

Well when I spoke with the saleslady she was trying to direct me to production studios that could put together an ad for under a grand. She added that 'they' liked it when professional camera gear and sound equiptment was used.
I think I got what she was saying. I think they don't want it to look like it was filmed on juniors video camera using the camera mic and sounding like that tinny sound you get from camera mics.
While on the flip side, how would THEY know what kind of camera you used? You can use a professional camera that films in sd and you can use a flip camera in hd. I bet if the cameras were situated on a tripod correctly and shots angled the correct way you would never know.

Sound I understand. I am going to do a voice over.

But when I first spoke with her she went on about the professional standards of content (and tech of course) and I kept thinking of that cheesey so dated looking used salesman commercial (apparently it must work because the guy does the same style ad for years)

[Cornucopia]

Well when I spoke with the saleslady she was trying to direct me to production studios that could put together an ad for under a grand. She added that 'they' liked it when professional camera gear and sound equiptment was used.
I think I got what she was saying. I think they don't want it to look like it was filmed on juniors video camera using the camera mic and sounding like that tinny sound you get from camera mics.
While on the flip side, how would THEY know what kind of camera you used? You can use a professional camera that films in sd and you can use a flip camera in hd. I bet if the cameras were situated on a tripod correctly and shots angled the correct way you would never know.

Sound I understand. I am going to do a voice over.

But when I first spoke with her she went on about the professional standards of content (and tech of course) and I kept thinking of that cheesey so dated looking used salesman commercial (apparently it must work because the guy does the same style ad for years)

OH. YES. THEY. WOULD.

Anyone here who has worked on real PRO cameras could probably tell instantly between a PRO camera and a CONSUMER camera. Not quite as easy is telling between PRO and Pro-sumer, or between Pro-sumer and Consumer. And if I were given the choice between an SD PRO Camera (DVX-100b, for example) and ANY consumer HD camera, I'd choose the pro camera 9 times out of 10.

A LOT more goes into making a good shot than just the pixel count. There's Camera Optics, Sensor Latitude, Feature set/Options, and Storage format and workflow ease.

This makes me wonder that if YOU don't know the difference, you won't be able to put out a good spot. If this IS confusing to you, I'd suggest that the salesperson's suggestion of getting a production company to do it for you is probably a good one.

Scott

[lordsmurf]

You could fool somebody with a good DSLR rig.
But that's about it.

[KariKnutzen]

I will still go for it. This is for the local area. If they decline it because they don't feel its up to their standards than so be it. I am doing this for me actually and the price is right to advertise at the time I want to do it.
The suggestion of a production company makes sense of course but the worse they can do is reject what I offer. To be frank, my main thing is what I put together and that the sound is the most important. I realize it all goes together but from what I see published out there, I am not too worried about the camera I have. Its a Vixia hfs100. Someday when I learn more I can move up in the world but this is all a learning experience anyway. Besides as I mentioned, if you saw the local ads here you wouldn't be thinking about their equiptment before you would be thinking how cheesey they are.

[edDV]

I will still go for it. This is for the local area. If they decline it because they don't feel its up to their standards than so be it. I am doing this for me actually and the price is right to advertise at the time I want to do it.
The suggestion of a production company makes sense of course but the worse they can do is reject what I offer. To be frank, my main thing is what I put together and that the sound is the most important. I realize it all goes together but from what I see published out there, I am not too worried about the camera I have. Its a Vixia hfs100. Someday when I learn more I can move up in the world but this is all a learning experience anyway. Besides as I mentioned, if you saw the local ads here you wouldn't be thinking about their equiptment before you would be thinking how cheesey they are.

If you are going for the shaky home video + poor audio look go for it. If they don't accept it, post their reasons why.

It is rare that any TV ad lacks graphics.