Format Conversion & Encoding

Here is how the work lines up. Format conversion and encoding sits between the locked master and each downstream deliverable. For a common New York production the downstream list is long: a ProRes 4444 XQ archive master, an IMF JPEG 2000 package for streamer ingest, a MXF OP1a wrapped at HBO Hudson Yards or NBCUniversal broadcast spec, a H.264 or H.265 mezzanine for the agency review portal, a Dolby Vision PQ HDR pass alongside its SDR Rec.709 trim, a web-fix screener with watermark burn-in for the festival circuit.

Here is what we have to work with. Our team lines up encoding through the Tribeca and Soho finishing houses. PostWorks New York, Technicolor PostWorks NY, Light Iron NY, Goldcrest Soho, FotoKem NY, Picture Shop NY — and through dedicated encoding farms when batch transcode volume runs into hundreds of hours of NYC episodic catalogue or library reissue work.

Here is the layout. Encoding parameters are tuned per destination. Bitrate ladders for Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, and Amazon Studios are built against each platform's published encoding guidelines. ATSC A/85 audio loudness is locked for US broadcast handoff. HDR to SDR tone-mapping is supervised by a colorist at the starting finishing house rather than handed off to an automated batch pipeline, so the SDR trim preserves the creative intent set in the HDR grade.

Here is how the work shapes up. Container choice. MXF, MOV, MP4, MKV — is matched to the receiving side's ingest portal, and each encoded variant is checked against the source for video sync, audio channel order, captioning alignment, and metadata completeness before it leaves the facility. The result is a delivery package where the IMF master, the broadcast MXF, the streamer mezzanine, and the festival screener all carry the same visual and audio integrity as the first conformed master.