Video & Audio Post Finishing & QC Fixing Services

At L.A. Post, we offer Video & Audio Post Finishing & QC Fixing Services; to get your project complete and delivered. After the Quality Control Report is complete, a Movie or show will often need additional work done, a.k.a. "Fixes." These fixes must be made In order for the final QC report to be free of any issues that will cause the program to be rejected. The director, or editor can fix all items noted on the report which are classified as rejected or on hold, (through our rating system) and resubmit for a follow-up fix check. If the client wishes, L.A. Post can fix any issues that exist and, upon completion, issue the Approved QC Report. We will then output a final master file, which will be the file that will be handed over to the distributor or network. This file will be the one that is used for any subsequence post-work or output, such as Aspect ratio transfer or dubbing to a foreign Language. Here is a breakdown of things we can help with.

Video Finishing Services

Fixing & Finishing Post Production Issues for your movie
L.A. Post Finishing Suite

L.A. Post's Video Finishing Features Include:

Color Correction:
Often, lower-budget movies are not fully Color Corrected. This can lead to numerous issues, which include: Elevated Black Levels, which causes the black to look less dark; this can make the entire picture lose definition, and cause a "washed out" look. We can optimize black levels to make the picture "Pop." Other Color correction issues include colors not matching between shots & scenes. Colors and levels should match in all similar shots throughout the show. Undersaturated colors are another potential anomaly, in which the colors are muted. We measure color on a vector scope, and we can adjust all colors to be full and consistent.

Incorrect Video Levels:
A program can be rejected for high or low black levels, or high luminance (white) or chroma (color) levels. There are specific measurements that must be met for these specifications to be considered "legal." The SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) has specifications that were set long ago for the purpose of broadcasting. In high definition and UHD, these levels are:

Luminance: level must not exceed 700 mV (millivolts); this is also referred to as the white level; this is measured using a waveform monitor.

Black Level: Also measured with a waveform monitor, the black level must not go below 0 mV. Black levels may go above 0 mV but should stay close to zero, as high black levels will cause a washed-out look to the picture.

Chrominance Levels: High Chrominance (or Chroma) levels will also cause a show's QC report to be rejected. Chroma is the color levels, which is measured on a Vector scope. There are six colors that are measured: Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow.

Bad Edits:
Bad edits can happen when a program or film is being edited in a non-linear form. Films and TV shows are not usually shot in the order that they take place, which can result in bad edits such as:

Black Frames: Black frames are gaps left in the final edit between shots. If a gap lasts one frame, the duration of the gap is 1/24 of a second, which will cause the picture to "blink" between shots.

Repeat frames: Sometimes after an edit, the action will jump back a few frames and the same movement will be seen twice.

Freeze frames: The picture will "freeze" for one frame (or longer), meaning that the same exact picture is on two (or more) consecutive frames with no movement.

Jump cuts: Where a shot will jump forward causing missing movement. Example: Someone starts to open a door, then the picture jumps to the door already fully open.

Incorrect fade ups or fade downs.

and many other editing problems.

Incorrect Head Format:
The Head format occurs at the start of the file (or tape) before the program begins. TV networks and some film distributors & sales agents have specific requirements. The Head Format consists of:

Color Bars: These are the multicolored horizontal bars that TV stations use as test signals. These bars are used as a reference point to make sure that the color levels on the machines are set correctly; Color Bars are measured on a waveform monitor. In the post, a video operator, would have to "dial in" the video levels on the machine to make sure that the bars matched the correct specs. The program level (actual show) should match the bars. Bars are incorrect if they are not at 0 mV for black and 700 mV for luminance (white). The Bars also measure Chroma (or Chrominance), which is measured on a vector scope which will measure chroma levels are correct.

Tones: Along with Bars comes audio tones; these are also a reference point to make sure audio equipment is set up correctly. Audio tones specifications require -20 dbfs in The US and -18 dbfs in Europe.

Slate: This is a text card that comes up after the bars and tones, which gives relevant information about the upcoming program. It consists of Name of Show, format, standard, codec, time code type, audio configuration and date program was made.

Countdown: This is the piece of film we've all seen before that is directly before the beginning of a movie. It usually starts at 8 (8 seconds before the start of program) with a line that goes around in a circle counting down the seconds. When the countdown gets to 2, you will hear the...

2-Pop: This is a one-frame in duration beep that occurs exactly 2 seconds before the start of the program, which is used for the purposes of synching video to audio. This will be followed by 2 seconds of black, followed by the start of the program, which is the first frame of video or audio, whichever comes first.

Text out of Safe Text or Safe Action Area:
In video QC, there are two rectangular boxes superimposed over the screen that are used to make sure that text is within a safe area. Due to different aspect ratios and possible conversions, text that is too close to the edge of the screen may go off the screen on some TVs or other screens. The safe text box is consists of 80% of the entire screen (with 20% outside the box along the edges). All text should be within this box. Some distributors or networks will make allowances for text that is within the safe picture area, which is a box that contains 90% of the picture. If text is outside these boxes, we can fix it by moving the text (whether over black or a picture) to within the safe area.

We can fix also fix video problems, including issues with horizontal or vertical blanking, video hits, and many other problems that could pop up on a QC Report.

Audio Finishing Services

L.A. Post's Audio Finishing Features Include:

Incorrect Audio & Loudness Levels:
According to the Calm Act, which is a law passed by the US government, all programs (and commercials) should have a Loudness level of -24 LKFS (or LUFS) +/-2. This means that the loudness level should be between -22 and -26 LKFS. These measurements are made across the entire show to keep the average dialogue of all programming at the same level. We often perform QC for programs that do meet these levels. "Clipping" Audio Peaks is when audio levels peak above 0 dbfs, which is the highest acceptable level that the audio signal can reach. If the signal is any louder it will induce static in the audio. We can adjust these audio levels to legal specifications for both Loudness and Peaks.

Audio Tick, pops, & glitches
These can be caused by any number of reasons, including the use of "Lav" mics. We can remove the anomalies for a superior sound.

Out of synch dialogue & effects
Lip movement does not match dialogue; effects are not in synch. These can happen randomly, or throughout entire sections of the program. We can get the entire feature in synch.

Missing Effects in M&E
Effects that are present in stereo mix tracks or other audio tracks must also be included in the Stereo M&E (Music & Effects) track. Often, when doing quality control, we see M&E tracks that are not fully filled. This means that some of the sound effects that are in the full mix are missing. Usually this happens because Foley mixing (recreating all dialogue and effects in a studio during post-production) was not done, and effects were used that were taken through the mics during shooting. M&E tracks cannot contain dialogue. If dialogue & effects occur simultaneously in a full mix, they cannot be used in M&E tracks. We can fill in the missing effects or create an M&E track from scratch.

Incorrect Channel Assignments
Audio tracks that are not correctly set up or in the right order.

If L.A. Post does the QC, and fixes, we can immediately amend the report by noting the issues that were corrected, and changing the overall disposition of the report to approved. We also do fix checks, for clients who prefer to do their own fixes. In a fix check, we view the fixed areas and sign off if they are corrected. We are also available for consulting on any ad QC and finishing-related matters. Please contact us for more info on Video & Audio Post Finishing & QC Fixing Services

Call us for more info 323-316-8298
Email: laposthouse@gmail.com


Full Service Film & Movie Video Post Production & Quality Control:

Services Include: