Blackmagic Forum

My projects lately have been for web delivery, but right now we are making a broadcast :30 PSA.

These days, when delivering a ProRes file to the client (nothing on tape) is it still necessary to create a 5-second slate, or is this an antiquated practice?

JP Perry wrote:My projects lately have been for web delivery, but right now we are making a broadcast :30 PSA. These days, when delivering a ProRes file to the client (nothing on tape) is it still necessary to create a 5-second slate, or is this an antiquated practice?

I always include a slate, but it's more to alert the client as to which version we're dealing with and the date on which the project was completed. If we have 19 versions, but we only need Friday's version, it's nice to see that on the slate. They can always snip that out when the file is posted online or delivered for streaming or whatever.

If what you deliver is going straight to the broadcaster for tech review then you need to find out what the broadcaster requires you to do. VTR clock and slate are still asked for in digital files and the way these are done depends on their guidelines.

If the grade is going to an editor for them to online sound and titles etc, then they can sort out any clock and slate at the end. You could always put a slate on for reference in this case.

Paul Willis wrote:find out what the broadcaster requires you to do.

Because there is a ton of variation. Some will be okay with QT, some will want MXF (XDCam).... but broadcasters in almost 100% of instances will want a slate.

Here's a link to a distribution specification that I've been using for a while:

https://app.extremereach.com/Content/Ex ... tSpecs.pdf

jPo

JPOwens wrote:Because there is a ton of variation. Some will be okay with QT, some will want MXF (XDCam).... but broadcasters in almost 100% of instances will want a slate.

If it's a delivery master, there's almost always written specs that you have to follow to the letter. Some of them are crazy/intense, like the Discovery Channel.

I'm so old school, I still include at least 1 second of bars & tone prior to slate on everything. If nothing else, at least we can determine how and where things went off the rails during file conversion. I suspect this will become even worse in a world of five different HDR standards.

JPo, thanks for that document. Very useful.

I am delivering a single ProRes file to the client, and from there, the client is responsible for distributing to the broadcasters per their specifications. Should I still include a slate on this file, or leave it for them or their dub house to take care of?

JP Perry wrote:Should I still include a slate on this file, or leave it for them or their dub house to take care of?

Why not just pop one in there at least as a place-holder, whether you choose to identify it as a sub-master, final master, distribution master, grade master or whatever, your client will either delete or modify it to suit their needs. Going forward, you never know what is going to happen to the file as it is repurposed, revised, cannibalized, re-compressed for alternate means of distribution, alternate sound mixes.... subtitled, translated, converted for International...

jPo

I might skip the slate if it is an internal delivery, but I will put if it goes out of house.

waltervolpatto wrote:I might skip the slate if it is an internal delivery, but I will put if it goes out of house.

I kind of side with the world of VFX, where they put a very brief slate / date / description of what's there. Some VFX houses even have a frame of test pattern just to verify sizing, color space, saturation, hue, and so on. 99.9% of the time, it's perfect... but ya never know.

I agree, if it's all in one building, it pretty much doesn't matter. But I'm always handing out files to outside people, which is par for the course in the freelance world. There is no standardized format for slate, but I generally go with

PROJECT NAME
Client name
Version / aspect
run time
audio
date

and I'll slip in my company name at the bottom. I figure, it's like a message in a bottle... maybe somebody will read it and they'll understand what's going on.

Thanks everyone.

Does resolve have the ability to save a Title across multiple projects? So you can build a slate template?