| Traditional
Promo Production |
Producing syndicated promos is a relatively simple, but time-consuming, task
that every station that broadcasts syndicated programming must do several times
daily. For a single syndicated program, as many as ten to twelve promos must be
produced each day. Currently, there are two ways that stations can produce these
promos: Using the Control Room or a Dedicated Edit Room.
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CONTROL ROOM |
Stations can use a tape of the recorded promos and produce them through a
control room. The steps used in this process are as follows:
- Assemble a production team consisting of a technical director, audio operator
and a tape operator.
- Reserve a control room for the scheduled time when
the necessary staff is
available.
- Pre-screen the tape of the raw promos. (The production crew does this so they can
make the appropriate edits on the fly.)
- Produce each promo by manually inserting audio and video tags onto the ends of
the promos in real time.
- As the crew produces the promos, a tape operator records the promos on a second
VTR. The entire crew must back up and correct the promo if a mistake occurs.
- An operator must file the completed promos into the station’s playback system.
The operator manually enters all of the following information for each promo:
house number, SOM, EOM, air date and promo name. Filing of the promo then occurs
in real time.
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Challenges with this type of production:
- Inefficient use of a station's staff and equipment.
- Requires devoted time from three operators, two VTRs, and a production control
room.
- Occasionally leads to overtime labor when the control room is used for scheduled
productions or must be used for unexpected productions such as breaking news.
- Raw video must be pre-screened leading to longer production times.
- Potentially results in a lower quality product because edits are done on the fly.
- Manual insertion of audio and video tags is an inefficient and imprecise process.
- Wear and tear on Control Room equipment and VTRs.
- More time required to file into Station Playback System.
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DEDICATED EDIT ROOM |
Stations can use a tape of the recorded promos and edit
them through a dedicated
edit room. The steps used in this process are as follows:
- Schedule an editor and an edit room at several different times during the day.
- An editor must ingest the tape of the raw promos.
- Mark edit points on the tape of the raw promos.
- Edit appropriate audio and video tags onto the end of the promos.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each version of the promo
(i.e. Monday, Tomorrow and
Today versions of the same promo).
Render a timeline.
- “Dump” edited promos to tape.
- An operator must file the completed promos into the station’s playback system.
The operator manually enters all of the following information for each promo:
house number, SOM, EOM, air date and promo name. Filing of the promo then occurs
in real-time.
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Challenges with this type of production:
- Inefficient use of a station's skilled staff, and high dollar
editing equipment.
- Requires devoted time in an edit room for a significant portion of the day. (This
may lead to out-of-house productions due to the lack of available in-house edit
rooms.)
- Requires devoted time from an editor for a significant portion of the day. (This
can lead to the occasional need for free-lance editors to complete special
projects that could be finished by the station’s personnel.)
- Other staff (or free-lance editors) must be available when an editor is sick or
on vacation.
- Must capture video and lay back to tape.
- Wear and tear on edit equipment and edit VTRs.
- More time required to file into Station Playback System.
- Lower quality video because the process requires three generations of video to
reach a finished promo.
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