[QuadList] NBC Burbank: Au Revior--Historical tidbits about Burbank's ear...

Mon Jan 7 09:48:17 CST 2013

Ted  save a copy of   this off     this  is  great info!

Ed Sharpe archivist forSMECC

In a message dated 1/7/2013 8:13:31 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
Steve.White at 800CallNow.com writes:

Great historical perspective,  Ted.
Thanks

On 1/6/13 11:09 PM, Ted Langdell wrote:

Following up on David Crosthwait's latest post about the EOT for NBC  
Burbank's Videotape Central...  It played a significant role in the  development 
of television videotape applications beyond time zone delay  (TZD).

So, we offer for you a look at a few Tidbits about Burbank  Videotape 
Central and some questions they raised as I was compiling  this.

Automated TZD Recording and Playback:

In a 1959 document called "Automatic  Control of Video Tape Equipment at 
NBC Burbank," NBC's Robert Byloff  outlined the technology and how the 
equipment was used.

The Burbank system delayed the Eastern Time network feed for all  other 
time zones, so that
programs were seen with—at most—only a one hour difference from the  
Eastern time zone.  

IE:  An 8 p.m. ET program would be replayed for Central and  Mountain zones 
one hour after it fed from New York, and then replayed at 8  p.m. Burbank 
time for the West Coast.  

The system used eight Ampex Quads modified by RCA to record and play  
color, and four prototype RCA Color recorders. Because color programs  occurred 
at random and increasing times in the network schedule, Byloff  said that 
colorizing all machines was done to ensure flexibility as more  color programs 
were transmitted.

Recordings were made of the Eastern time zone transmissions coming  down 
the network line into Burbank. 

Since rewinding and cuing a one-hour reel couldn't be done in the  (usually 
two-minute) terminal break leading into the top of the hour, Time  Zone 
Delay recordings were done in half-hour blocks so that crossover  would happen 
during station breaks and be un-seen by viewers.

Here's an example:  

Hour 1's first half-hour would be recorded on VTR 1, which would  rewind 
after recording and wait until the top of the hour, then play the  show back 
for the Central time zone. 

Hour 1's second half-hour would be recorded on VTR 2, which would  rewind 
and be ready to play the second half-hour an hour after its  recording 
started.

Both machines would then rewind and cue in order to play Hour 1  beginning 
two hours later for the Pacific time zone.

Each machine rewinds when finished, and is ready to record again,  catching 
the first and second half-hours of Hour 4.

Here' a grid:

Each machine had input routing so that the incoming network regular  and 
backup lines, all NBC Burbank studios, and test signals.

Each machine's output routing could feed playback to any Burbank  studio 
for production, and four different "delay" feeds:  One-hour  delay for the 
Midwest, three-hour delay for the West Coast, a two-hour  delay for special 
purposes and a four-hour delay "for future playback to  the Pacific Northwest," 
which didn't observe Daylight time.

A QC room in the back of the VTR area enabled monitoring of each  machine 
in color and monochrome, and "control of output switching is  provided there 
to permit switching between A and B copy tapes."

Since the staggered recording/playback plan outlined above doesn't  provide 
for simultaneous main and backup record and play, perhaps there  were 
workflows that enabled that on occasion?

In addition to the automated "DB Sequence" control outlined above,  the 
Burbank control system enabled preset operation at the  machine. 

An operator could arrange for a clock-time selection of input and  output 
routing, record or play operation, start time and duration.  After the 
specified duration, the machine would rewind to the  beginning of the recording 
and stop.

What's not outlined in the copy of the document I have (unknown  number of 
missing pages) is how the system determined the beginning of  the recording. 

A guess would be a cue tone automatically put on the cue track at  specific 
locations in order to tell the machine to enter "Stop" so it  didn't 
overshoot the head of tape and unthread... and then enter "Play"  to find a cue 
tone marking the beginning of the  recording.

The system also allowed for manual control and input and output  selection 
at the machine, delegation from the machine of studio control...  Stop, 
Play, Record, etc.,

Audio and Video AGC amplifiers were used between the input routing  
switcher handling feeds to the VTRs and each VTR's input.  

The video AGC amps were developed by NBC and separated luminance and  
chroma components.  Sync was stripped, "the baseline cleaned up and  the signal 
controlled to a particular level," Byloff advised.  "In  the chrominance 
channel, the burst is measured and by this means the  chrominance is held to a 
predetermined level." Sync was reshaped and  delayed, then added back to the 
signal before exiting the AGC  amp.

Burbank Adds Ten TRT-1AC's:

In the April, 1961 "RCA Broadcast News" issue about "Color Television  
Progress," NBC Burbank recording engineer Russel A. Nies reports on what was  a 
then recently completed installation of ten new RCA TRT-1AC color  VTR's.

The ten new machines were arranged in five cubicles.  Transports  and some 
of the racks involved faced each other, while the color monitors  for QC 
were at the end of the cubicle.

The same "Color Television Progress" issue notes the quick playback  in 
Burbank of the Nov. 10, 1960 "Tennessee Ernie Ford Show," the fourth  time the 
show had been done on location.

The show wrapped shooting at Edwards Air Force Base at 1:30 p.m.  Pacific 
time, with a 150 mile drive to Burbank.  The tape arrived  around 5:20 p.m., 
and was playing back to the network at 6 p.m. from  Burbank for 9 p.m. 
Eastern time zone viewing.  No indication of  whether there was a backup tape or 
just one.

Burbank Pioneered Videotape Editing  Methods:  

In the article about the ten new TRT-1AC machines, Nies outlined how  a 
large portion of Burbank's tape operations involved pre-recording shows  for 
later release.  

Editing from a number of different reels required consistent and  stable 
signal parameters, since recording sessions could span days, weeks  or months, 
and involve different recorders, heads and tape stock.

Nies says the number of splices in an edited production might range  "from 
25 or 30 to as many as 200," and the material could come from a  dozen 
different reels of tape.

NBC's Burbank facility became the "go to" place for production and  editing 
when folks there developed a method of editing videotape  picture and sound 
separately.  It was first used on _"An Evening with Fred Astaire_ 
(http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/2011-Feb
ruary/003966.html) , a 1958 special  Fred Astaire produced and starred in 
that was recorded and aired on  NBC.

Reel from "An Evening with Fred  Astaire"during restoration process in 
1988.  (Screen capture from  KTLA News video)

Called "Editor's Sync Guide" (or ESG), the process used 16mm  kinescopes of 
the video and magnetic film transfers of the audio.  Long-time editor Art 
Schneider A.C.E said the word of mouth from  Astaire "literally opened up the 
flood gates to producers and directors  who wanted their shows edited at 
NBC. "

Schneider described how it worked in this webpage first posted on the  late 
engineer/edit system designer Jack Calaway's "Museum of Early Video  
Editing Equipment and Techniques," preserved after his passing by the UK  
videotape website, VT Oldboys:

_http://www.vtoldboys.com/editingmuseum/esg.htm_ 
(http://www.vtoldboys.com/editingmuseum/esg.htm) 

The Quad tape was physically spliced to conform to the film edit.  (Would 
be good to know more about some of the audio sweetening process  used.)

Conforming the tape required the use of a special reel-holding set  up. It 
allowed the videotape editors who conformed the tape to roll  through the 
reels much like film while hearing the audio from the ESG and  show.  When 
splicing, they had to account for the physical offset  between the sound head 
stack and video head.

The ESG system was used to create many shows in the late 1950's to  the 
early 1970s.  

It enabled Schneider to win two Primetime Emmys:  One was shared  with 
Craig Curtis in 1966 for Individual Achievements in Electronic Production -  
Video Tape Editing—they cut the 1965 Julie Andrews  special.

Schneider second Primetime Emmy was solo in 1968 for Outstanding Individual 
Achievement in Electronic  Production.  The program:  The pilot of "Rowan 
and  Martin's Laugh-In," which aired as a special on September 9,  1967. 

"Laugh-In" took the number of cuts per hour from perhaps 80 to  something 
like 400. 

In 2009, Schneider commented about ESG to QuadList member John Buck  in 
connection with John's book about videotape editing,  "Timeline." 

John shared Art's comments in a Feb., 2010 post to the  QuadList:
_http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.co
m/2010-February/002208.html_ 
(http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/2010-February/002208.html) 

The show became a mid-season entry on January 22, 1968 using the ESG  
system for editing, and ran 141 episodes through March 12, 1973.

Others who worked at NBC at the time recalled the process to QuadList  
member/former NBC Editor David Crosthwait in this January, 2010  posting:
_http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.co
m/2010-January/001931.html_ 
(http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/2010-January/001931.html) 

Burbank Adds Timecode Editing:

By the late 1960's, time code based editing was making its way into  video 
editing. 

At NBC Burbank, the RCA TRT-1AC's, RCA Labs heterodyne color, and Low  Band 
recording had been replaced by RCA TR-70 series machines with High  Band 
Color.  

As outlined in the June, 1971 issue of "RCA Broadcast News,"  NBC looked 
into the new technology in 1967, and implemented a  special edit room in 
Burbank with two VTRs.  Completed in the summer  of 1968, the room successfully 
edited a season of several prime time  programs.

NBC Burbank Supervisor of Videotape  Operations John Fishette mounts tape 
on an RCA TR-70  (RCA Broadcast  News)

The experience led to ordering more time code editing gear, and  
incorporating more complete audio and video switching.  An Ampex  Slo-mo disc was also 
incorporated.

First used for the fall 1969 season, the second room was averaging  more 
than 12 hours a day of use cutting the Andy Williams and Don Knots  shows, 
along with various specials. 

A third room was built for the fall, 1970 season, using the new RCA  Time 
Code Editor developed by RCA engineers in Camden, New Jersey with  
experiences of the Burbank engineers and  operators.

RCA Time Code Editor with programmer and  nixie tube time code display.  
(RCA Photo)

Its first work was the Dean Martin and Red Skelton shows.  

Editing the Dean Martin Show with the RCA  Time Code Editor:

As a standard operating procedure, "Time of Day" time code was fed to  the 
cue track all machines in the Burbank plant, allowing operators—and  editors 
who often are the record engineers on shows like Dean Martin— to  easily 
log takes as they were recorded, using clock time.

On the Martin show, two reels were generated during the Saturday  evening 
sessions:  A live-switched reel and an ISO of a single camera  usually used 
for close ups.

During the Monday/Tuesday edit sessions, shows were  assembled on one-hour 
reels previously recorded with time code, video  black and control track. A 
15Hz frame pulse was added to the control track  to help make color framing 
more accurate during editing, since the TR-70's  didn't have a color framing 
detector.  

The editor operated the record VTR on which the show was assembled,  along 
with the switcher.  His assistant ran the playback VTR, its  programmer and 
the slo-mo disc recorder when used.

If dissolves to other reels were needed a third VTR and assistant  were 
assigned.

Contact closures at specified time codes rolled different video or  audio 
equipment.

Credit rolls for the "Dean Martin" show used A and B reels built up  
checkerboard style using the slo-mo disc to pull stills from the show.  A third 
playback VTR was used to roll the credits for keying over  the A-B roll 
pictures. The theme song was laid down from an audio deck  during the playback to 
the edited master.  The use of time code  significantly sped up the process 
for building the credits.

Audio sweetening was done after the master reel was assembled.  

Mono audio and time code were transferred from the edited master to  two 
tracks of a four-track audio recorder equipped with a capstan servo  and sync 
track.  The time code from the four-track audio recorder was  fed back to 
the RCA Time Code Editor so its synchronizing feature would  lock the VTR to 
the audio deck TC.

Sweetening added audience reaction and applause to smooth out  transitions, 
along with equalization to match segment-to-segment sound and  additional 
music.  

The results were mixed during re-recording to the mono audio track on  the 
edited master.

QuadList member and former NBC Editor David Crosthwait described  working 
in one of the newer rooms in this January, 2010 message:
_http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.co
m/2010-January/001917.html_ 
(http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/2010-January/001917.html) 

So, there's a little bit of NBC Burbank Quad-related history.  And  now you 
know what I was editing all day :)  

Ted

Ted Langdell
Secretary

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