Post-production

• 1. The Analog To Digital Shift

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  A studio video editing suite from the early 1990s shows a world where film editors physically cut and spliced strips of celluloid. This analog process required immense patience as editors manually joined frames to create a sequence. The transition began when non-linear editing systems replaced these physical tools with digital software. Editors could now manipulate scenes out of order without damaging the original footage. This flexibility allowed for creative changes at will during the shaping of a film. The ability to edit freely facilitated thoughtful, meaningful emotional effects that were harder to achieve with tape. Traditional first parts of post-production like analog film editing have mostly been replaced by modern video editing software. Non-linear editing systems operate differently than their predecessors by allowing random access to any part of the timeline.

• 2. Picture Lock And Handoff

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  Once the production team is satisfied with the picture editing, the editing is said to be locked. At this point, the turnover process begins in which the picture is prepared for lab and color finishing. Sound designers receive the locked picture to begin spotting audio elements for the score. Composers and sound designers take over the task of creating the auditory landscape after the visual structure is finalized. Laypersons unfamiliar with post-production are often frustrated to discover that an eagerly awaited film shooting right now will not be released until several months or years in the future. Post-production work requires anywhere from six months for a small film to over a year for a film laden with visual effects. The handoff marks the moment where the editor stops changing cuts and hands control to other departments. This phase initiates the complex chain of tasks required to prepare the final product for release.

• 3. Visual Effects And Color Suites

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  Adding visual effects mainly computer-generated imagery which is then composited into the frame defines much of modern cinema. When content is shot on film it is typically transferred to video, DPX, OpenEXR with a telecine or a more modern motion picture film scanner. Color grading tools allow producers to heavily influence the atmosphere of the movie through specific choices. A blue-tinted movie may evoke cold in one way or another depending on how the color suite handles the footage. Stereoscopic 3D conversion happens in the case of content that was shot in 2D which is scheduled to have a 3D release. These processes integrate seamlessly into the final frames to create the desired visual impact. The addition of music and sound further alters the dramatic effect of the scenes they accompany. Professional audio equipment and software handle these intricate details during the finishing stages.

• 4. Sound Design And Mixing Rooms

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  A sound control room at Tainted Blue Studios, 2010 illustrates the environment where audio professionals balance multiple tracks. Writing, recording and re-recording, and editing the soundtrack form the core of this department's work. Sound design, sound effects, ADR, Foley, and music culminate in a process known as sound re-recording or mixing. Techniques used in music post-production include compositing best portions of multiple takes into a single composite take. Timing and pitch correction perhaps through beat quantization helps refine the musical performance. Adding effects allows for equalization and adjusting the levels of each individual track to provide an optimal sound experience. This process typically referred to as mixing involves professional audio equipment to ensure clarity. The choice of music and sound will alter the dramatic effect of the scenes that they accompany.

• 5. Television Assembly Workflows

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  In television, the phases of post-production include editing, video editing, color correction, assembly, sound editing, re-recording, animation and visual effects insertions. Combining separately edited audio and video tracks back together prepares content for broadcast delivery. Television workflows differ from film by requiring specific steps like subtitling, closed captioning, or dubbing for accessibility. These processes must be completed before the final product reaches the viewing public. The integration of animation and visual effects insertions happens alongside standard editing tasks. Delivery for broadcast requires strict adherence to technical standards set by networks. The entire workflow ensures that the final program meets quality expectations for television audiences.

• 6. Digital Photography Manipulation

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  Professional post-producers usually apply a certain range of image editing operations to the raw image format provided by a photographer or an image bank. There is a range of proprietary and free and open-source software running on a range of operating systems available to do this work. The first stage of post-production usually requires loading the raw images into the post-production software. If there is more than one image, and they belong to a set, ideally post-producers try to equalize the images before loading them. Next step would be to cut the objects in the images with the Pen Tool for a perfect and clean cut. Cleaning the image using tools such as the healing tool, clone tool, and patch tool follows immediately after cutting. Advertising often requires assembling several images together in a photo composition to create a unified message. Product photography usually requires several images of the same object assembled together to control lighting and unwanted reflections.