Category: QCC Blog

QC Central is now monitoring audio loudness in the LKFS scale as well as dbfs. Loudness levels are a more accurate way to discern a show or movies audio average, monitoring loudness is also mandated by law. President Obama recently signed into law the Calm Act. The purpose of this is so that all television program and commercials are being broadcast at the same audio levels. The law is designed to stop commercial content from being played louder than television programming. You may have noticed this at some point, you are watching a show with the volume low, and when a commercial comes on it is much louder, this is no longer allowed. The Calm Act is in force, throughout North America and Europe.

We are using the Dolby LM-100 Broadcast Loudness Meter to achieve the most accurate possible measurement. The LM-100 is a dedicated piece of hardware that measures many things including Loudness in the LKFS scale. It works by analyzing the entire audio content of a show and figuring out the dialogue average using algorithms. The acceptable range under the Calm act is -24LKFS +/- 2 LKFS, so a range of -22 to -24 LKFS.

Some networks and distributors have adopted the loudness specification as part of their audio production, and many more will soon follow. Many QC facilities are not reporting loudness levels as part of their reports, we are. Don’t risk getting a job kicked back due to inadequate Audio reporting on a quality control report. Call QC Central or the latest and most up to date QC’s in the industry.

As the owner of a video and film post production quality control facility I frequently get calls from independent film makers who need a Quality Control Report for their films. When I talk to them I ask some questions such as will the QC be done of file (such as quicktime, or avid) or tape? (such as HDCAM SR) What is the run time of the feature, and what kind of audio configuration (Stereo Comp tracks, 5.1, M&E etc.) will it have. These are questions that I need to have in order to quote a price.
OK so I have all the information that I need and calculate the price of the QC and tell the film maker, they are very happy with the price as we have the best prices in town, (as well as the fastest turnaround time in the industry) the director, or producer or whomever I am talking to tells me they will be sending over the material to start the work.
Then I get a call back usually the next day telling me that my company cannot do the work because the distribution company that they signed up with will only allow “their vendors” to do the QC, the film maker is now upset because he found out that the company that they will now have to use charges more than twice as much money as we were going to charge them, and they have no choice but to pay as they have signed a deal that they cannot get out of.
But the trouble doesn’t end there, after the film maker waits at least one week to get his QC done (our company has a 1-2 day turnaround) the report comes back, it is several pages long listing many problems that the movie is “rejected” for. All of these problems must be fixed before the QC report can be changed to approved. The problem is that many of these “problems” that must be fixed are not really rejectable but subjective issues that could have been left as is.
Now the film maker has to spend several thousand more dollars to “fix” all these problems usually with the same company that did the report. I have had film makers come back to me with their rejected reports and asked me for a second opinion. When I tell them that most of the things their movie was rejected for were really OK they are stuck and have to spend the money anyway. Often what ends up happening is that the film maker ends up spending all the money they got on the distribution deal on the post work and ends up giving up his movie for free. That is not right after you spent years of your life on your movie.
My advice to film makers when they sign a distribution deal is to make sure that you are free to do your post work where you want, and not where the distributor wants you to. This will save a lot of money, time and hassles. Shop around and you will find a wide array of prices and services, you can figure out what the best deal for you is, which will make your life a lot easier. Good Luck.

YuMe Taps Booming Growth in Mobile Video Advertising in Europe
He explains how in this video interview.Hanks joined YuMe via acquisition of his company Appealing Media in 2011.Ashley Swartz is a principal of the New York-based consultancy Furious Minds. Beet.TV's correspondent Ashley Swartz caught up with Hanks in this video inteview taped at the DMEXCO conference.
COLOGNE – Digital video isn't quite a four-screen proposition yet in Europe, but mobile video is growing quickly in places like the United Kingdom, says Owen Hanks, General Manager for Mobile-Europe for ad network and technology company YuMe. As an example, mobile video and connected TV are strong in France, while Spain is widening its focus to mobile, connected TV and online, he says. She is a regular contributor to Beet.TV. In addition, the type of arrangements and partnerships with publishers in Europe can be very different than in the United States. In the last year, YuMe in Europe has worked on more than 300 mobile ad campaigns with more than 500 publishers, Owens tells Beet.TV. She is former head of the interactive television practice at Digitas. "We have to understand the needs of [each market] before we launch in each market," he says. The growth rate for mobile video in the United Kingdom has been around 400%, he adds.

FCC Chairman Wheeler revises broadband proposal ahead of vote
The uncirculated first version has come under heavy fire recently by a wide variety of parties, from the public, tech companies and government officials to the other FCC commissioners, all of whom have registered objections. The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Chairman Tom Wheeler, is said to be according to the revising his proposal on broadband rules, according to the Wall Street Journal. Changes to the proposal will include language that would allow for FCC oversight on deals, in order to keep providers from separating traffic into two lanes of speed based on paid agree…

Extreme Reach Cross-Media Reporting Suite Lets Advertisers Measure Video Campaigns Across All Screens
But advertisers are still facing problems when it comes time "to measure their campaigns across all those screens—to find out what’s working, how those screens work together, to create business, to drive consumers to their brands, etc." Extreme Reach’s new cross-media reporting suite solves this problem, by helping marketers understand how their campaigns are working across all of those screens, how they can effectively split media budgets between TV and online video advertising, how they can optimize reach and more.
Earlier this month, video campaign management platform Extreme Reach launched a new cross-media reporting suite that enables advertisers to measure their video campaigns across all screens, from television to mobile and across the web. We had the opportunity to sit down with Extreme Reach CMO, Robert Haskitt, to find out more about how the service is enabling brands to measure live TV and online video campaigns together. This "represents a great opportunity for advertisers to reach those audiences," says Haskitt. Megan O’Neill Haskitt tells us, "The television audience isn’t just viewing TV programming on TV anymore." They’re viewing on mobile devices, connected TVs, Smart TVs and more.

GroupM’s Cary Tilds on the Imperative of Standards Around Mobile Video

PHOENIX — Once mobile video standards are developed and adopted, the next step will be retooling the mobile ecosystem to implement those standards, says Cary Tilds, Group Innovation Officer at GroupM, in an interview with Beet.TV at the annual IAB Leadership Meeting. We caught up with her to discuss challenges and opportunities in mobile measurement, as well as second-screen apps. On the second-screen front, some of the players to watch include Zeebox and Shazam, she says."When we get an app-like ecosystem developing for the second screen, that's when the marketplace will explode," she says. "[In mobile video] there is the technology infrastructure being used and deployed by brands and agencies on a day-to-day basis, and we still have alot of work to do to identify those technologies that will help us in the mobile ecosystem to make sure we can properly measure mobile video views," she says.Understanding standards and infrastructure will help drive more ad dollars in mobile. "The consumers are there and there is inventory to be had," she says. Tilds points out too that she's keen on advertising opportunities in connected devices, and expects those may lie in tablets used in tandem with TVs or on the connected sets themselves.

Shira Lazar: How ‘Whatâ??s Trending’ Web Show is Powered by Brand Advertisers
I think that with the right brand, that understands the importance and value of that, we can create great content together." Megan O’Neill
What’s Trending has made a name for itself as the source for all things trending online. One of the ways that the daily, live, interactive web show is able to stay up and running is with the support of brands. "Brands power what we do," says Lazar. Lazar explains that when working with brands, it’s important to find the perfect equilibrium to meet the brand’s goals without compromising your own goals. "We talk to [brands] about what they’re working on, their focus and their initiative, and we figure out interesting, creative ways to focus on their goals while also being loyal to our editorial and our community. We caught up with host Shira Lazar at SXSW to find out more about What’s Trending’s work with brands. "We wouldn’t be around still as a startup, and as a brand ourselves, if it wasn’t for companies like Samsung powering us." What’s Trending partnered with Samsung on their live coverage of SXSW on the ground in Austin.

The Emergence of Kaltura: Open Source Video Concept to Pervasive Enterprise Solution
He was championing the notion of an "open source" tool box for video producers to create their own video platform.
It was back in 2007 when we first met Kaltura CEO Ron Yekutiel on the Sanford campus, at an AlwaysOn conference. As several companies launched proprietary, online video platform solutions, Kaltura styed on its mission and has found considerable success as a provider of software and consulting to many large enterprise and academic clients around the globe, explains Yekutiel in this on-stage sesssion from the recent Beet Retreat in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

BrightRoll Beats Google/YouTube by 5X in Video Ad Viewing Time, comsCore
Andy Plesser More on the the "neck to neck" race between BrightRoll and Google in this Bloomberg report. Here at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, we spoke with CEO Tod Sacerdoti about the growth of the company and the outlook ahead.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – BrightRoll, the San Francisco-based video advertising services company, has been ranked by comsScore as the second largests video ad network, after Google, but ranked first in time spent around ads by margin of 5X over Google.

Native Video Presents New, Creative Challenges to Agencies and Publishers

While publishers like Dailymotion, and big advertising agencies like Digitas are getting fast-increasing demand for native or branded video projects from agencies and brands, the creative direction, or the "brief" on these opportunities, are generally open ended. Saraofian suggests that some of the most effective solutions around branded advertising must happen in real-time, often in reaction to breaking news. This is an exciting challenge and opportunity says Joe Tartaglia, SVP of Sales in this on-stage conversatin with moderator Ashley Swartz. The segment was from the Beet.TV executive retreat in Vieques earlier this month. Also in this segment are Kevin Gentzel, of NDN and Digitas SVP Stephanie Sarofian.

Digitas’ Sarofian: Native Advertising Allows Brands to be “Commentators”
She also talks about Digitas’ Brand Live offering, a service that Sarofian describes as "part technology, part process, and a lot people," which operates 24/7 to help brands monitor everything that’s happening online, determining what’s relevant and interesting for consumers, and using this information to respond and engage. They still want their return on investment to stretch. They’re looking for us to create content in any form that they can use over and over again, that they can see that return. They still use buzz words.
Social media has caused a shift in advertising. On a panel at the Beet.TV executive retreat earlier this month, Ashley Swartz of Furious Minds sat down with Digitas SVP and Managing Director Stephanie Sarofian to talk about this trend. Sarofian explains that native advertising gives "space for a brand to become a commentator." Incorporating video, photographs, written word, tools and utilities that already exist in the space of the social web, brands are able to become a part of the conversation that’s going on online, not only about their specific brand, but about news, causes and other issues related to their industry. They still want that reach, they still want that scale." Megan O’Neill In the interview, Sarofian also talks about brands movement away from seeking out "viral videos." She says, "Our clients are at a point where they know better, they’re not asking for viral videos. Whereas the advertising experience used to be one-sided, with brands simply pumping their messages out to consumers, today brands are able to become part of the conversation and actually interact with and engage their customers.