Is a 30 second commercial really 30 seconds?

[David Bertinelli]

I'm in the process of cutting a 30 second commercial, on Final Cut Pro, that will play on a couple of cable channels.
Does the piece need to be exactly 30 second or do I need to leave a little room on the front and back?
Is it different for different cable stations?
Is there a standard duration with blank tags that stations accept or do I need to contact the individual stations to find their requirements?

Thanks,
D

[Don Bloom]

all of the commericals I've done were to the exact time the client bought. Of course I put a slate up front with the color bars and tone but this was on the head before the actual commerical. If the call for 30 seconds give them 30 seconds otherwise you MIGHT mes up their time slots.

Don

[Jim Montgomery]

Normally the station will have 0.00.31.00 allocated to a commercial spot. Fade out from show .15 fade in to commercial .15 commercial 30.00, and then the fade out, in repeated.

Jim

[David Bertinelli]

Great, Thanks for the response.

One other thing, I've been told that they'll accept the spot on MiniDV tape; is this becoming more the norm?

Will I lose any quality?

I shot this on the XL-H1, so it'll be on it's original medium; obvious no gain by going to a Beta tape and digital is digital but if I print to tape (using the H1)am I going to lose anything?

Cheers,
D

[Benjamin Hill]

David, I do some TV spots here and there and at my local ABC affiliate they don't want MiniDV, they'd actually rather take a DVD (if do you use a DVD just be real careful with compression). Although they prefer Beta, which I may just do in the future for simplicity.

If you shot in DV, and print to DV, you won't lose quality.

[Sean Lander]

Well in Australia they must be exactly 30 seconds. Used to be with 12 frames of not critical audio at the head and tail but nowadays with digital technology running everything they will usually accept 6-8 frames before audio.

[Allen Williams]

Be guided by the stations standard. Contact them personally to be sure. If you submit the comercial on the wrong format, it will not be accepted. Be sure to lay down 60 sec of color bars and tone signal and count down. Make sure your audio is in direct relation to the tone signal
Allen W

[Trent Morrison]

Originally Posted by Allen Williams

Make sure your audio is in direct relation to the tone signal
Allen W

Could you explain what you mean by this?

[Allen Williams]

Originally Posted by Trent Morrison

Could you explain what you mean by this?

Make sure your audio is in direct relation to the tone signal
Allen W

Your tone signal of 1kHz is a reference signal so the proper volume may be set at the broadcasting station based on that signal.
Example; the tone signal is set and recorded at -20db. The volume of recorded video should fall between -20 & -12 with the highest volume going no higher than -12. This gives you head room so un-expected peaks won't lead to distortion. On analog units, to momentarily red line or peak is not a problem. Digital is less forgiving.

If your audio volume is is not in direct relation to the tone signal as described above, when the program is broadcast, it will either be to high or to low.

Allen W

[David Bertinelli]

Great info.

Thanks so much.

Cheers,
D

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Hill

If you shot in DV, and print to DV, you won't lose quality.

That's a common misconception. The only time you wont lose quality is if you do absolutely nothing with the video except cuts. As soon as you add transitions, effects, titles, etc., you will lose quality, because it must be recompressed. I would prefer to use a less compressed codec (especially for a 30 spot).

[David W. Jones]

Yep.... That's why they call it a 30!

For SD NTSC in FCP, just lay a slug on the timeline at 29.29 for a limit mark.

[Matthew Rogers]

Originally Posted by Jim Montgomery

Normally the station will have 0.00.31.00 allocated to a commercial spot. Fade out from show .15 fade in to commercial .15 commercial 30.00, and then the fade out, in repeated.

Jim

So for a 30 second commercial I should make sure I have .15 on each end just for fade, equaling :31? The :30 spot music I just got is actually :31 and 6 frames, which makes me think that the spot should be :31 instead of :30 (which is what I have now.)

Thanks,

Matthew Rogers

[David W. Jones]

Originally Posted by Matthew Rogers

So for a 30 second commercial I should make sure I have .15 on each end just for fade, equaling :31? The :30 spot music I just got is actually :31 and 6 frames, which makes me think that the spot should be :31 instead of :30 (which is what I have now.)

Thanks,

Matthew Rogers

No!
All you get is :30 seconds.
Not 31 and 6 frames.
Not 31.
just 30.

[Don Bloom]

Nope 30 seconds is 30 seconds of air time no matter whats up front not 31 not 30.1- station have a very tight schedule to follow and they really prefer cuts at the front and back not fades at least the stations I've supplied commericals to prefer it that way.
If the music isn't 30 seconds then you'd better cut it or have the client send you different music.
I've done enough to know that every station has a set of criteria to follow and if you don't they'll in most cases kick it back to be done correctly-my suggestion is to contact the station it's to be aired on and ask for their criteria.
BTW most station still want BETA some SP many will accept DVD but almost none will take mini or even full size DV tapes.

Don