About Time Tailor Post

Time Tailor Post  Features

Prime Image’s Time Tailor Post is a feature rich, fully automated system designed for cable-programmers, broadcasters, content providers, and post-production facilities for editing program and/or segment times to fit into new time slots.

• Frame accurate time-reduction
• Deletion of unwanted “black-holes”
• Creation of new “black-holes” for commercial overlays
• Time-reduce specific segments & leave others unaltered
• Maintains closed-caption information
• Frame accurate control of Source & Record units

Prime Image Digital Time Tailor

The Time Tailor system makes use of a patented technology to remove frames from material. Time reduction from 3 to 5% or more is achieved in a way that is virtually undetectable to the viewer/listener. Up to 8 channels of audio are processed along with video, with no pitch correction needed, and there is never a problem maintaining synchronization of audio and video. Closed captioning and other vertical interval data is also maintained. The Time Tailor is available in SD and HD (1080i) versions.

Typically, a first-run broadcast time slot allows 22 to 23-minutes for the actual show, with the remaining time used for commercials, promotional spots and public service announcement. When these shows are broadcast as reruns, or in syndication by local, cable or satellite channels, they must run in a 21-minute time slot. Old ways of reducing the time needed to play out a show included editing out scenes, racing through the credits, and playing out the show at a higher than original speed.

Based on Prime Image’s Time Tailor’s patented time-reduction process and the Fastrack TT system, Time Tailor Post removes video frames automatically and undetectably without compromising the integrity of the program. Time Tailor’s “micro-editing” provides a faster and less expensive method of this type of content processing. Plus, the final output is a higher quality of media than that which is modified by current methods.

The Fastrack TT Controller

The Fastrack TT is based on Editware’s Fastrack Hybrid Editing Controller. It provides a simple user interface and the control capability to fully automate and synchronize the Time Tailor process. Source VTR, Record VTR, Time Tailor and switcher are all controlled frame accurately. The Fastrack allows for additional control for editing tasks which may go beyond the Time Tailor compression process.

The Process

The operator provides the following data to the Fastrack, then clicks on the “Start” button, and the fully automated time compression process proceeds to completion.

• Record VTR start time
• Source VTR start time
• Amount of time by which the show will be shortened
• Start and duration of up to 30 insert edits, normally to insert black, slate and bars/tone.
• Start and end of up to 30 delete edits
• Start and end of up to 30 “holds” (sections of source where no reduction is to occur)

Operator intervention (patch or router control) may be required once or twice during the first two minutes if bars and slate segments are recorded during the Time Tailor process.