Video Upload Information
Pay super close attention to that, otherwise your video won’t be accepted by the networks. If you do not know how to prepare your video with these settings, you will have to find a professional to do the task for you. It’s IMPERATIVE for you to follow these requirements, or your music video may end up not even being considered for airplay at all.
- Include a 5 second slate
- Include 2 seconds of black before the video starts
- Include at least 2 frames of black at the end of the video and no more than 1 second
- Closed Captioning is required for all LONG FORM and MUSIC deliveries
- Black levels: 0 IRE for HD / 7.5 IRE for SD
- Ensure broadcast safe chroma levels (below 120 IRE)
- NO audio peaks
- NO mono audio files or tracks (watch your output settings)
- NO bars & tone
- NO anamorphic videos for (SD)
- NO variable bit rates (VBR)
- NO variable frame rates
- NO lower/bottom field dominance
Submission/Proxy Upload Specifications
For an initial submission to stations like MTV, VH1, BET, REVOLT, etc. You may optionally submit a lower quality bit rate file. Note that you will be required to follow the specifications for the delivery of the FINAL MASTER.
| HD | SD | |
| Codec: | H.264 | H.264 |
| Width/Height: | 1920×1080 | 720×486 |
| Video Bit Rate: | 10 to 15 Mbits/s | 3 to 8 Mbits/s |
Final Broadcast NTSC Master Upload Specifications (Closed Captions Required)
| HD | SD | |
| Codec: | XDCAM HD422 1080i60 CBRXDCAM HD422 1080p30 CBRMPEG-2MXF | IMX NTSC 50MPEG-2MXF |
| Video Bit Rate: | 50 Mbits/s | 50 Mbits/s |
| Frame Rate: | 29.97/59.94fps | 29.97fps |
| Dropframe: | Yes | Yes |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 | 4:3 |
| Width/Height: | 1920×1080 | 720×486720×480 |
| Chroma: | 4:2:2 | 4:2:2 |
| Interlacing: | 1080i (Upper/top field first)1080p (Progressive) | 480i (Upper/top field first) |
| Audio Type: | PCM Audio/SMPTE 302M | PCM Audio/SMPTE 302M |
| Audio Sample Rate: | 48kHz | 48kHz |
| Audio Bit Depth: | 16, 24 | 16, 24 |
Final Broadcast PAL Master Upload Specifications (Closed Captions Not Required)
| HD | SD | |
| Codec: | XDCAM HD422 1080i50 CBRXDCAM HD422 1080p25 CBRMPEG-2MXF | IMX PAL 50MPEG-2 (576i/25)MXF (576i/25) |
| Video Bit Rate: | 50 Mbits/s | 50 Mbits/s |
| Frame Rate: | 25fps | 25fps |
| Dropframe: | Yes | Yes |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 | 4:3 |
| Width/Height: | 1920×1080 | 720×576 |
| Chroma: | 4:2:2 | 4:2:2 |
| Interlacing: | 1080i (Upper/top field first)1080p (Progressive) | 108050i108025p(576i/25) |
| Audio Type: | PCM Audio/SMPTE 302M | PCM Audio/SMPTE 302M |
| Audio Sample Rate: | 48kHz | 48kHz |
| Audio Bit Depth: | 16, 24 | 16, 24 |
| Pre/Post-Roll Layout: | File MUST be CONTENT ONLY. DO NOT include Colour Bars, Slate or any Black at the top or tail. |
Audio Channel Assignments
- Channel 1: Stereo Left
- Channel 2: Stereo Right
Closed Caption Information
- Closed Captions (CC) are the text that appear on a video, which contain dialogue and audio cues such as music or sound effects. The purpose of closed captions is to make video accessible to those who are deaf or hard of hearing, for viewers whose native language is not English, and for when the audio cannot be heard due to noise (restaurants, public spaces, etc.) or a need for quiet (libraries, hospitals, etc.).
- All final broadcast deliveries MUST be closed captioned.
- The FCC requires the majority of English and Spanish programming seen on broadcast TV in the United States to be captioned. The CRTC requires the same for Canadian broadcasts.
Closed Caption Requirements
- SD: CEA-608 (Line 21) or DTV-608 (QuickTime closed caption track) required.
- HD: CEA-608 or DTV-608 required. CEA-708 and DTV-708 are optional.
- Captions need to be the last step in creating/submitting a final master, as you cannot edit a video once captions have been applied or they will be lost.
How To Caption Your Video
- Work with An Expert
- Your existing production house might offer this service. Ask them for more information, but make sure they are captioning correctly and digitally! You don’t want to lose time having the file rejected due to incorrect captioning or because of a loss of quality due to ‘old style’ bounce to tape captioning.
- In each of the cases above, you need to provide a transcript for your video.
- Do It Yourself
- You may try to use a software called CPC (https://www.cpcweb.com). By using their software you have the ability to insert your own captions.
Uploading your file(s)
You must use the MusicMyBand Plugger app to upload your files.