Master QC Services
SMV offers the best Master QC services in the Los Angeles area. To prepare your project for delivery, we provide professional evaluation and diagnostics of your content’s technical and continuity issues. Whether your film is headed for an online platform, TV broadcast, distribution, sales agents, or film festivals, we guarantee your project is 100% polished and ready for its destination. We specialize in quick turnaround with rates that meet your budget, so you can deliver your film on time, within spec, and never risk delaying its release. Our Master quality control services have satisfied content producers for over 35 years, and SMV continues to provide QC services for today’s evolving digital environments.
What is QC?
Efficient Quality Control (QC) is a vital part of the post-production process, and a requirement for your final master delivery. We ensure your project is ready for release by validating its quality and reviewing your project for any and all errors. After SMV reviews your project and identifies any errors for correction, your project will be ready to meet the specs and requirements for its destination. In short, our exhaustive QC services finalize and prepare your project for streaming forms, home video, broadcast, and theatrical presentation.
SMV uses both automated and manual Quality Control processes. While automated services are helpful in evaluating certain aspects of your project, we always perform a full, manual QC process. Manual quality control is imperative to your project for various reasons. Mainly, while automated QC technology may be useful in noticing some errors, it can also misread other aspects. Automated solutions may incorrectly evaluate certain aspects of your project, flagging errors that are creative choices, while missing errors that the human eye would catch. SMV’s highly skilled and experienced QC operators will take the time to perform a thorough QC of your project. We will always check your master files manually, not just with automated solutions.
Why You Need a QC Report
Quality Control optimization is critical. A delivery rejection can cost you time and money, and risk delaying the release of your project. QC ensures that your master file meets the precise creative vision of the content creator, free from visual and audible errors. Our post-production specialists will perform multiple reviews of your content and alert you of any present issues and inconsistencies.
Prior to QC your film may contain a plethora of possible errors. Errors may include: audio and video artifacting, animation errors, data corruption, visible production equipment, aliasing, out of sync audio/video, subtitle framing issues, and broadcast compliance. Once your film is finalized and sent to distributors, problems like these cannot be fixed. Our highly attentive QC team will catch them all.
Distributors will likely require you to guarantee that your film is free from all errors before you deliver it. As such, they will also require it to have undergone a thorough 100% QC of the final master file. After your master has passed an SMV Quality Control report, your project will be 100% ready for its destination.
Formatting
With over 35 years of experience, SMV is equipped to quality control a wide variety of video file types and formats. In addition to popular codecs such as Apple ProRes422HQ, ProRes 4:4:4:4, or Avid DNxHD, and standard containers like .mov or .mxf, our advanced infrastructure allows us to perform QC for nearly any codec or container.
SMV retains the ability to work with tape formats as well. While most delivery methods, and most post-production facilities, exclusively use digital files, tapes are still used for broadcast delivery. If you are working with tape formats such as HDCAM SR or D5, it is imperative to obtain a QC report after the final file has been output to tape prior to delivery. Most distributors will require the final product to pass QC, and issues may arise during the layoff process.
Full QC Report
When preparing your project for delivery, our technicians create a full technical QC report. Our report will provide your production company with a comprehensive review detailing any and all issues with your master file. We check your media standard and file type, perform a technical spec check, and view and analyze your project with diligence. We use a 3-point scale to grade and evaluate present issues.
- 1: Minor issue. Issues marked 1 do not necessarily pose a threat to the technical acceptance of your project, but should be reviewed by your production team. Some viewers or distributors may notice them, but they are not detrimental to the film's quality.
- 2: Issues of moderate concern. Items in your project marked 2 are a probable cause for rejection. Your team should review and fix them before your project is delivered. They may be easily noticed by some viewers and verge on the possibility of rejection. Such issues commonly include: lens flaws such as intermittent soft focus, subtitle framing issues, and some audio/video inconsistencies.
- 3: A rejectable problem that is easily noticeable and must be fixed or addressed. Issues marked 3 are primary causes for rejection and impact the viewing experience and quality of your film. Common level 3 issues often include: harsh video ghosting, heavy aliasing, bad chroma signaling, heavy video noise, and missing or low SFX. There are a myriad of issues that may cause a level 3 evaluation score. These items are of paramount importance, and you must correct them before your film is able to pass a QC report.
- FYI: For your information. These are items we flag for your production team that do not pose the threat of rejection, but are noteworthy. FYI signifies items that the filmmaker may want to be aware of, but do not impact the overall quality of your film.
Full HD, 4K, and HDR
SMV is equipped with leading edge infrastructure to analyze all types of formats and resolution at competitive rates. Our award winning staff will prepare your content to meet the film and broadcast TV industry specifications for any HDTV aspect ratios. We often perform QC on clients’ 1080p (Full HD) .mov files, in a variety of resolutions, such as Ultrawide HD, FullHD+, 1080p 4:3, etc. SMV performs QC for any alternate 1080p raster, such as 1440×1080, 2560×1080, 2160×1080, and 1728×1080.
For 4K video formats, SMV uses state of the art technology to analyze and perform any and all 4K resolutions across industry standards. We often work with 4K UHD (3840×2160) for television, and 4096×2160 (DCI 4K) for digital cinematography and movie projection. We also work with non-standardized 4K resolutions for various displays, from 3840×1080, to 4096 ×2560. Whatever the standards of your 4K project, SMV offers cutting edge QC services that ensure your content meets the delivery requirements and industry specifications.
It goes without saying that SMV has the technology to Quality Control content headed for high dynamic range (HDR) displays. Our experienced technicians often work with content and displays that use wider color gamut and contrast range than the standard range of 4K video. If your content is outfitted to surpass the image quality standards of 4K, SMV has the viewing and editing infrastructure to perform the most precise QC services available for your HDR content.
Digital Cinema
Since 1982, SMV has evolved alongside the ever changing film and video industry. As part of our QC services, we are equipped to prepare your masters for Digital Cinema Package (DCP) format, for screening in theatrical environments. We follow Digital Cinema Guidelines (DCI) to ensure your masters is formatted to meet the highest industry standards. Rather you are an independent filmmaker or a major studio preparing a trailer or feature film, we are equipped to format your media for the highest quality viewing on any digital cinema equipment. SMV has been contracted by directors and production companies of all sizes to prepare media presentations in 2K and 4K. Our professionals will always prepare your media for delivery on time, and perfect your content for presentation at film festivals, arthouse theatres, or multiplexes.
SMV takes pride in delivering only the highest-quality Master QC Services in the post-production industry. For over 35 years, our clients have enjoyed prestigious QC services necessary for the completion and delivery of your project. In all our years as LA’s greatest post house, we have yet to miss a deadline!
