Archival and Remastering Preparation for Film-Born/Video-Mastered Content

Background:​

​

The introduction of video workflows into the creation of film-born productions was influenced by a desire for expediency and cost savings. As a result, editorial workflows became video-centric and lacking in consideration for the possibility of returning to the film negative after the original deliverables were completed. As an example, a common misconception about remastering film-born/video-mastered productions is the EDL-deliverable from the original editorial process is a critical tool for remastering. By their very nature those EDLs are relative not to the original camera negative, but to the video transfers of that negative, and based upon that fact the capture of metadata feeding them was never particularly concerned by the "rules" of film. The fact of the matter is that original EDLs can rarely be translated for the purposes of efficient or exact remastering.

By extension, the handling of the film negative itself was done more for the values of video processes than film. For example, during the Digital Intermediate era of feature filmmaking (approximately 2001-2012) many productions employed a hybrid of "negative cutting" methods, such as assembling rolls of “select takes”, which commonly introduced version-control issues with EDLs; some were relative to the original camera rolls while others were relative to the select takes. Consequently inventory-metadata connections were commonly severed.

The first obstacle one faces when attempting to identify, access and assemble film negative for any "secondary postproduction" efforts, such as remastering, extracting value-added media, or creating "director's cuts" is that neither the editorial documentation nor the film negative exists in a condition for those goals to be accomplished efficiently.

​

When approaching a project such as the remastering of film-born/video-mastered productions, MCAF believes the greatest return on investment is made possible by reverse-engineering the original editorial process in such a way as to provide for efficient creation of any potential content. MCAF’s recommendation is for content owners to embrace the holistic approach archival and remastering preparation for film-born/video-mastered shows with a workflow that results in achieving the following four objectives:

1. Physical storage efficiency: segregating high-value assets from low-value assets.

2. Geographic separation and/or redundancy: enabling efficient preservation-scanning of high-value content.

3. Repeatable and efficient remastering: EDLs and finishing instructions prepared for the archived negative, enabling mastering facilities to automate reconstruction of the shows, now, again, and again, without redundant preparation expenses.

4. Improved access: organization, delivery and storage of media and its metadata at either a gross-volume level or a dynamic cross-relational level via a DAM.
    

The minimum set of deliverables offered by MCAF are as follows:

• Consolidated negative rolls, either as gross/uncut or select takes and trims/outs.

• Film-centric inventory metadata of all negative assets, whether gross/uncut or select takes and trims/outs. MCAF recommends the negative be cut into select takes, i.e. preserving every frame of content between "slates", in order to segregate high-value negative from low-value negative. MCAF does not recommend fine-cutting (frame-accurate negative cutting). 

• 24 fps C-Mode Mastering EDL for the purposes of scanning from within negative rolls any content used in the edit of the program, with or without handles.

• 24 fps A-Mode Mastering EDL for the purposes of assembling the scanned content to match the assembly of the reference master.

• Scanner specs documentation; instructions for assigning timecode to the preservation scan to ensure accurate correspondence with the EDLs.

• "Exception Notes" documenting any non-VFX exceptions between the EDL and the reference master, i.e. missing content.

Additional deliverables offered by MCAF:

• Inventory-record data entry into the customer's inventory control system.

• Scanning to PDF of relevant editorial documentation for either remastering or reference purposes, such as lined scripts, stock footage usage reports, VFX documentation, credit lists, etc.

• Proxy-level scans of the negative, of either gross volume, select-takes, or both.

• Proxy-level matchback edit representing the product of the Mastering EDL relative to the reference master.

• Dynamic cross-relational DAM for any media or documentation relative to the reference master.

• High resolution film scanning up to 6.5K as DPX or ProRes 4444.

Opticals and Visual Effects:
A considerable dilemma for content owners is how to approach the remastering of visual effects. The common cost-savings choice is to upscale the original effects to the remastered resolution. Alternatively, a variety of re-creation efforts are possible. MCAF's role in this area is limited to the identification and supply of any negative-based source elements, and the optional PDF delivery of related editorial documents. While simple effects such as fades, dissolves, speed changes and simple composites are included in the Mastering EDLs, more complex effect identification, such as wire-removal, muzzle flashes, etc, are beyond the capabilities of MCAF to address. Content owners must expect and plan for the time and resources required for these efforts, however, from the foundation of MCAF's deliverables, downstream vendors can be immediately prepared with every available reference media to aid in that work.

What elements do we need?
At a minimum, MCAF will need to receive the gross volume of film available, including negative, print, internegative and interpositive, and a video reference of the master that you wish to replicate. Additional elements that can be useful are editorial paperwork packages, Avid project backups, and dailies tapes. Workflows are dictated by the available assets, the quality or condition of those assets, and the archival and remastering goals of the content owner.

How long does it take?
The typical feature film can be turned around in about eight weeks on average.
For episodic content, it is rare for conditions to allow for piecemeal (one episode at a time) delivery, rather it is most common to deliver in packages of individual seasons, and in some cases entire series’. These variables are the byproduct of how the negative was identified, labeled and stored after the original editorial, and occasions where content is shared between episodes and seasons. The typical turn-around time for a 22-episode season is six months, however when working on a series (or multiple series’) seasons commonly complete at a rate of one every two months.

What is the cost?
Considering variables such as the number of deliverables, the workflow necessitated by the quality and condition of the elements, and scheduling allowances, the average cost for a typical 90-minute feature is $40,000, and the average cost for a typical hour-long episodic is $15,000 per episode.

​

Why work with MCAF instead of keeping everything under one roof at the mastering facility?

First, we know what NOT to do. It's not just that we're confident in our ability to identify the best workflow for your show, we're confident that we won't waste your time or your money scratching our heads and going down dead ends. Second, our goal is to enable efficient remastering, time and again; we won't make shortsighted decisions like those made during the original editorial process. Our workflows have evolved over time, in reaction to and in reflection of the experience we have gained on these projects over the past 20 years. For these reasons, as compared with many vendors who have approached this kind of work in the past, we're still in business.