Why Quality Control (QC) is essential for your film

As a filmmaker seeking distribution, it’s important to understand why Quality Control (QC) is an essential part of the post production process. Having a clean QC report helps ensure that your project meets broadcast and distribution requirements. If a project fails QC, it could end up costing more money and delay its release.

How QC Works

The process of QC is done by a lab (post services facility) that receives the master deliverable of your project. There are separate passes for audio and video, but they both appear together on the final report.

You should first communicate with your QC operator all of your intended delivery platforms. A film that has both domestic and international distribution would get two different reports, one for the English (domestic) sound mix, and one for the M&E (foreign language dubbing) sound mix.

Read more about M&E Mixes

Normally there are two rounds of QC review. A full QC will cover the entire film in the first round. In the second round, you can request a spot check to only address fixes to the current issues. This will also help save on cost, as a full QC takes more time. 

A QC operator’s job is to scrutinize any missing sounds, audio sync issues, pops and clicks, and check for sound level compliance. It's expected there will be flags and things to fix, and almost all audio flags are easy to resolve. 

However, some items may be flagged that were an intentional creative choice during the mix. Your sound mixer should discuss these circumstances with you before notifying QC to downgrade the flag. You may be asked for a detailed reason from QC, as you don’t want to try to override any compliance standards and cause issues with distribution down the road, especially with foreign releases.

QC report items are ranked in three grades. Grade 1 advises to fix the issue, but it's not critical to pass. Grade 2 items may be problems for distributors and are advised to be fixed. Grade 3 items are critical in that they impact the quality of the program and will not meet any distribution requirements. Grade 3 items cannot pass inspection until they are fixed. Other items may be flagged as ‘FYI’ to indicate they might need attention, but do not impact compliance at all.

Image From Blackwater Digital Services

Not all QC is Created Equal

Many QC labs use well-trained technicians who do a great job at monitoring and making good judgement calls. Lower-cost labs may end up running your film through software which can incorrectly flag issues and cause more headaches to resolve. It’s important to understand how your lab operates and what you can expect from them.

Communication is Key

Including your vendors in direct conversations with the QC lab can help you tremendously. Vendors understand a lot of the jargon and language on reports, which can facilitate corrections faster. Your vendors should also explain the issues to you, so you can decide on what needs the most attention.

Our Approach to QC

At Enhanced Media, we take a lot of pride in our ability to deliver projects with little to no QC errors when it comes to sound. We make all corrections at no extra charge, as it's our responsibility to deliver the best quality to you. We have also formed great relationships with a number of distributors who rely on us to get things right, and have even been asked to help fix other films with QC issues.

If you’d like to release your next project with as little QC hassle as possible, please contact us.