CBR vs VBR Rendering in Adobe Premiere

I do a lot of video editing, and as I was sitting waiting for a project to render last week, I was thinking about the various encoding settings in Premiere.  They're pretty confusing for some home video producers, so I thought I'd try to write a post to simplify your understanding of the different main settings.  In particular, it is the different types of VBR (variable bit rate) and CBR (constant bit rate) compression that confuses people.  Let me apologize in advance that "simplify" and "simple" are not synonymous.  I had to go into more detail than one might expect, while writing this post.  If you want to go straight down to CBR vs VBR, skim through until you see that section header.

But first, here's a screenshot of the project that I was working on when I decided to write this post:

I also have a video link to a YouTube version of this information, which you can find at the bottom of this post.


First, I'll assume everyone understands what the bit-rate is (but I'll explain it in more detail below).  It's the bandwidth, or amount of data that a piece of video or other types of media takes up, expressed in units of time.  If a piece of video or audio streams at 20 kbps (kilobits per second) and another streams at 40 kbps, and the two items are the same time length in duration, then the second file will take up twice as much space on your hard drive or other space as the first.


Bits & Bytes

Let's talk about bits & bytes comparisons for a minute or two (you can skip this section if you want).  I didn't want to confuse you, but I guess this is important.  Generally, you should assume that there are eight bits in a byte (alright, computer scientists might argue about the exceptions).  Small "b" refers to bit, and capital "B" refers to byte.  Kilo is generally a prefix that means a thousand, and mega is generally prefix that means a million, and giga is a prefix that means a billion, and tera is a prefix that means a trillion.  Keep adding three decimal places.  But ignore the fact that a billion can mean different things in different parts of the Commonwealth, etc.  Now, alter the previous statement because computer stuff is expressed in binary at its heart, most of the time, and kilo is actually just shorthand for 2^10 or 2 to the tenth power, most of the time.  And 2^10 is actually 1024, not 1000, which throws off the numbers for mega and giga and terra and so on (peta is next) because they're all just adding additional powers of two, not decimal multipliers.  Except wait, some manufacturers (especially of hard drives) use the SI system (decimal) to skimp a bit, which means that a 2 terabyte hard drive is actually only 1.81 TB.  Hm.  I think I'm going to abandon this part of the discussion for now, and maybe make a separate blog post about it.

1 KB = 1 kilobytes = 2^10 bytes = 1,024 bytes = 8,192 bits
1 MB = 1 megabyte = 2^20 bytes = 1,024 KB = 1,048,576 bytes = 8,388,608 bits
1 GB = 1 gigabyte = 2^30 bytes = 1,024 MB = 1,073,741,724 bytes = 8,589,933,792 bits
1 TB = 1 terabyte = 2^40 bytes = 1,024 GB = 1.0995 x 10^12 bytes
1 PB = 1 petabyte = 2^50 bytes = 1,024 TB = 1.1259 x 10^15 bytes
1 EB = 1 exabyte = 2^60 bytes = 1,024 PB = 1,1529 x 10^18 bytes

If you really need to go higher on that chart, Zettabytes (ZB) and Yottabytes (YB) are next, and the next order of magnitude after YB's hasn't been determined yet.  Of course, at the moment (early 2017), petabytes are the stuff of dreams.  However, Seagate did announce a 60 TB SSD drive in mid-2016 (which would probably cost about $50,000) so the concept of a drive that holds 1 PB probably isn't that far out.  Maybe by 2021-2022?  Then a 1 exabyte drive by 2030, and a 1 zettabyte drive by 2040?  I'm not sure what you'd store on that.  Perhaps a 3D holographic 240 fps full dolby stereo video diary of your entire life.  And the cable connection to the drive to handle the bandwidth stream would probably need to be a fiber optic cable bundle with the thickness of the Mississippi River, transmitting fibre optic data in full spectrum.  Thankfully, by the time people are worrying about that technological hurdle, my time will have come.

Bit Rates

The Bit Rate refers to the amount of information being processed per unit of time.  Imagine this: let's say that each pixel on your screen can have a color depth represented in 16 bits.  Be aware that 8 bit and 24 bit are also common color depths (more so in digital photography & graphics editing).  Also, there's a HUGE difference in range between those types.  The number of bits means a power of two since it's a binary system, so 8-bit is equivalent to 2^8th (or 256 different choices to represent ever type of colour known), 2^16th is 65,536 choices, and 2^24th is a number that I don't actually know off the top of my head, but it's a lot larger than 2^16th (which is a number that I memorized as a small child math geek, because it was the addressing range of the memory available in the Commodore 64).  Let's also assume that we're working with a hypothetical screen size of 100 pixels by 200 pixels.  This is 20,000 pixels.  If each pixel is expressed in 16-bit resolution, then you need 20,000 x 16 bits to show each frame of the video.  That works out to 1,200,000 bits per frame.  But 100x200 pixels is not a common screen size, so it's a poor example.  Let's look at some common sizes:

SD (old):            640 x   480 pixels = 307,200 pixels
SD (other):         720 x   480 pixels = 345,600 pixels
HD high-def:    1920 x 1080 pixels = 2,073,600 pixels
4K:                    3840 x 2160 pixels = 8,294,400 pixels
UHD 4K:           4096 x 2160 pixels = 8,847,360 pixels

I'll bite my tongue and refrain from going on a rant about standardization for now.  I'm sure that 8K video will have problems too.  Incidentally, on a positive note, 8K video is the approximate point where there are very limited returns in going with a higher pixel density (based on standard viewing distance) thanks to limitations in the average human eye.  This is good because it will be an eventual limit on the nuclear arms race that is video resolution.  I mean, sure, maybe someday someone will build a 2500K video camera to be able to broadcast video on a 200 foot wide by 20 foot high screen where they want the resolution (pixel density) to be "equivalent to real-life" for anyone standing four feet away from the screen, but thankfully, 8K should be a reasonable limit for our basic needs on desktop monitors and regular televisions, I think.


Color Depth (Bit Depth)

A few moments ago, I talked about 16-bit color depth.  Well, Premiere works with 16-bit (ie. it allows you to import video files that were recorded at 16-bit) but it only outputs 10-bit.  What!?  Yeah, it's complicated.  There's a link at the bottom of this post that goes into this issue in more depth.  Even though things like PhotoShop & AE & Speedgrade can output up to 32-bit, Premiere is 10-bit.  But that's fine for broadcast quality final renders.


Frame Rates

Ok, let's talk frame rates for now.  Are there different standards?  Of course there are.  24p, 25p, 29.97i, 30p, and 60p are some common ones.  For broadcast in North America, most of South America, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, 30fps (NTSC) is usually the standard.  For broadcast everywhere else, 24fps (PAL) is usually the standard.  I won't get into the difference between the "p" and the "i" (progressive vs. interlaced scan) so if you don't know this, look it up.  From my point of view, 30p is a decent frame rate, and 60p is a great frame rate, which means that there are 60 full frames of "photos" per second in the video.  Unfortunately, at the moment, the technology in the cameras that I own isn't sufficient to handle 4K footage at 60p.  But that's another story.  I'm sure that 4K 60P cameras (probably even in mobile phones) will be common within 12 months.


Bandwidth & Compression

Alright, so currently I'm editing at 3840x2160, 29.97i.  Let's call it 30 for simplicity.  So we need approximate 3840x2160 pixels per frame, or 8,294,440 pixels per frame, and 10 bits per pixel, which means 82,944,400 bits per frame, multiplied by 30 frames per second, which is about 2.4883 billion bits per second, or 2488.33 Mbps.  That is a lot of bandwidth.  Let's convert that from megabits to megabytes, which makes more sense when thinking about disk storage, so we divide by 8 and we get 311.04 MB/sec.  Yup, a lot of bandwidth.  I'd use a gigabyte in approximate three seconds, or 20 GB/minute.  I don't have the storage capacity for that kind of data.  That's where compression can come in.

Compression means that an algorithm or CODEC (compression/decompression module) trims down the size of the video stream by throwing away some unnecessary data.  I have links to a couple articles about compression at the bottom of this post.

For the sake of experimentation, I tried rendering some 4K projects in the very highest, most space-consuming h.264 output possible in Premiere:  300 Mbps.  That's excessive.  Be aware, that YouTube itself recommends a maximum bitrate of about 50 Mbps for this type of footage, so I'm definitely using more bandwidth than necessary, although this was for the sake of education and experimentation, and for maximizing quality when I had no storage space restrictions.  Incidentally, YouTube also currently has a cap of 128 GB per video uploaded, although I'm sure that will increase within a year or two.


CBR vs VBR

This was the original point of this post, before it got wildly out-of-control.  CBR stands for constant bit rate.  VBR stands for variable bit rate.  How do you know what settings to use for compression?

Constant Bit Rate means that EVERY part of your video will get compressed at the same bit rate.  If your video is similar throughout, this is fine.  If parts of your video are very static and unchanging, while other parts are very "busy" with a lot of movement, then this is not necessarily fine.  You're probably "wasting" bandwidth in the static parts that are being compressed, and you're probably not getting enough detail in the busy parts, because you're limited in how much bandwidth you are using.  Busy video with a lot of movement requires more information in a compressed codec.

Note that if you're using uncompressed video, where you store/save/transmit every bit of information associated with every pixel of every frame in the video, then CBR is just great.  But if you're editing anything larger than HD at the current time, you probably aren't working with uncompressed video (unless you're in a professional cinema/broadcast situation).

Variable Bit Rate means that different parts of your video are compressed more or less than other parts.  This can be useful.  As implied above, it might be helpful to use a lot of compression in a sequence without much movement (perhaps an eight-second title screen) and then to use less compression (retaining more detail) in a sequence with a car chase.  Rendering your project with a Variable Bit Rate setting can help with that.  With VBR, Premiere would allot more bandwidth to that busy sequence, and less to the static sequence.  To understand this, we need to know the two key bitrate settings.

With CBR, it's simple, there is one bit rate to set.  With VBR, there are two.  There is a "target" bit rate and a "maximum" bit rate.  These are pretty easy to understand.  The maximum is the biggest temporary time-based bit rate that Premiere will allow.  The bit rate of the rendered project will never exceed this amount.  The target bit rate is an intended average bit rate.  So if the VBR target was 24 Mbps, and your video project ended up being 10 seconds long, with 5 seconds rendered at 20 Mbps and 5 seconds rendered at 28 Mbps, your final "average" would be the target of 24 Mbps.

In that example, if your maximum bit rate was set at 30 Mbps, you'd have no problems.  Your video would have topped out at 28 Mbps, and thus never would have exceeded the maximum.  In a different situation, if your maximum bit rate was set at 26 Mbps, the sections that needed to be encoded at 28 Mbps wouldn't be ... they'd be capped at 26 Mbps.  So maybe your busy section of the video wouldn't quite end up at the quality you want, but as a consolation, at least that would have left more bandwidth for other parts of your render.

In theory, if you have a CBR set at 24 Mbps, and a VBR set at a target of 24 Mbps (the maximum shouldn't matter), then both renders will probably come out to be the same file size.  The only difference is that the CBR file will be 24 Mbps the whole way through, and the VBR will have different rates in different parts but will average out to 24 Mbps overall.  The advantage of the VBR is that when your scenes are busy, you'll get more detail than you would with CBR, because your peak bit rates during those busy sections will be allowed to exceed the bandwidth for the CBR file.

Can you use this system to produce smaller sized renders with the same approximate quality?  Yes.  For example, if you have a CBR set at 24 Mbps versus a VBR set at 18 Mbps target with 24 Mbps maximum, then your VBR should only be three quarters the size of the CBR file (18 divide 24) yet since your peak bit rate of 24 Mbps will be the same in both files, the quality should look the same.  There is a caveat though:  this works best if your video has a lot of sections of varying complexity, ie. some sections that are really busy, and some that are mostly static.  The static scenes will give you the cushion you need for extra bandwidth in the busy sections.  If the video is busy overall, there might not be enough bandwidth even with VBR, so you might have to set a higher target rate.

Now what about the difference between 1-pass and 2-pass?  Well, they're sort of similar.  Both are VBR as explained above.  However, 1-pass rendering is roughly the same speed as CBR, because in both cases, the amount of time required to go through the file is the same.  2-pass rendering is often a lot slower (think twice as long, although the relationship isn't always that simple) because it goes through the file twice.  In 2-pass, the first pass is simply to analyze the file and decide how much bandwidth will be needed in each part.  This improves the quality in the end.  With 1-pass, the editor is unable to look ahead and estimate the complexity of the rest of the project, so it has to make estimates about bandwidth as it renders, therefore, it's a bit less efficient.

So, what's the take-away lesson here?  I'd say that you should make sure you understand and remember these points:

1.  If you have all the time in the world, and you're not in a rush to render the project, and you also have unlimited storage space, and you're not worried about how long it will take for a file to upload to a content distribution site such as YouTube, then you can render as CBR on the highest possible (logical) setting.  It doesn't matter that the end file will be huge, and will take forever to upload, because in this situation, you're not in a rush.

2.  If you have lots of time, but are constrained on space, 2-pass VBR with the highest possible maximum bit rate and a target rate that is lower than a CBR rate will still give you the best possible quality, but will reduce the file size somewhat.  This is important if you have limited storage space, OR if you're worried about the amount of time that it will take to upload.

3.  If you're in a rush to finish the render, but you're not worried about size or upload time, CBR is still the way to go, because it's a fast render method.  And you can constrain the size and upload time with a lower bit rate.

4.  If you're in a rush to finish the render, AND you're worried about size or upload time, 1-pass VBR will probably be your best option.


Some Examples

I did a short test render on exactly 5 seconds of "busy" 4k video at 30fps, to test both the speed of the render, and the output file size.  The test file was from one of my tree planter training videos, which can be found at www.replant.ca/training

For the VBR test, I did a 2-pass test only, simply because I never use 1-pass VBR.  I always make sure that I have enough resources (time and/or storage space) while working on projects to be able to choose CBR or 2-pass VBR.  I picked 300 Mbps as a maximum bit rate, and 240 Mbps as a target bit rate.  That file turned out to be 149,366 KB in size, which extrapolates to a requirement of approximately 1.71 GB per full minute of footage.  The render took 7 minutes and 55 seconds (475 seconds).

For the CBR test, I rendered at 300 Mbps. That file turned out to be 140,453 KB in size, which extrapolates to a a requirement of approximately 1.61 GB per full minute of footage.  The render took 3 minutes and 54 seconds (234 seconds).

CBR was the clear winner in this case.  It took only half the time required for a 2-pass VBR (actually, 49%).  But what's interesting is that the file size did not correspond at all to expectations.  This file should have been larger than the VBR, by 25% (300 Mbps vs 240 Mbps target).  Instead, it was actually 5.97% smaller.  I DO NOT KNOW WHY!  I noticed with subsequent testing that whenever I was setting up renders in CBR, the "Estimated File Size" reported by Premiere always turned out to be a significant overestimate, often in the range of 25% to 35% higher than the actual rendered output.  I won't complain, although this confuses me.

Most notably, you are probably asking if the quality was good.  It was.  I was just as pleased with CBR renders at 300 Mbps as I was with 2-pass VBR at 240/300.  Of course, your results will vary based upon lots of factors:  the type of footage, the footage dimensions (pixels), the frame rate, the bit rates that you use for comparisons, the source of your footage (some cameras automatically compress the video as it is recorded), and a host of other minor factors.


The Take-Away Lesson

Having read all this, you've hopefully learned a few things, but you're probably also screaming, "Why can't this be a straightforward topic!?"  Why can't there be a cut & dried, black and white answer?

Video editors will have hundreds of different circumstances that they're dealing with, so the answer can't be consistent for everyone.  Therefore, the best way for you to determine the best way to encode your footage is to do comparison tests on your own.  Do the tests on small sections of your video, to speed up the process.  Do test renders with lots of different combinations of settings, until you decide what approach is going to be best for you.  Make sure you test both busy and non-busy examples of your footage, preferably in the same rendered snippet.

Don't get hung up on technical specifications.  If you're reading this post to clarify technical questions, let me reassure you that your best tool is your eyes.  If you like the look of the footage that is produced by a particular set of rendering options (and the file size isn't too large for your storage capacity or bandwidth capacity), then go with it.  Trust your eyes.


Good luck with your video editing, and thanks for being patient with my "home enthusiast" explanations.

- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
www.djbolivia.ca

PS:  For more tutorials about audio and related work, visit djbolivia.ca/videos, but please don't judge.  I'm really unhappy with the quality of a lot of my work before 2017, and wish I had time to re-do everything in 4K with nice lighting, and a current understanding of my rendering toolkit!



Some Extra Links

This page has quite a bit of discussion about bitrates to use:

http://www.ezs3.com/public/What_bitrate_should_I_use_when_encoding_my_video_How_do_I_optimize_my_video_for_the_web.cfm


Understanding bit depth.  This page suggests talks in much more professional terms about Rendering at maximum quality/depth, different bit rates for different work flows, the use of AE (Adobe After Effects) and Adobe Speedgrade:

http://wolfcrow.com/blog/how-to-handle-bit-depth-in-adobe-premiere-pro-after-effects-and-speedgrade/


Understanding basic video compression:

http://nofilmschool.com/2014/08/heres-what-you-need-to-know-video-compression


Video codecs, containers, and compression:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/all-you-need-to-know-about-video-codecs-containers-and-compression/


Best video export settings for YouTube:

http://www.4kshooters.net/2015/07/28/best-video-export-settings-for-youtube-in-premiere-pro-cc/


Video for CBR vs VBR

Semi-Related Video

Here's a video I did a couple years ago that seems to have been pretty well-received.  It's about sample rate, sample size, binary, and a few other topics.  Although it focuses on these topics in the context of audio recording, it's useful for videographers to understand the content.

Here's a link to a blog post with more information about that video:

http://djbolivia.blogspot.ca/2013/04/basic-mathematics-of-sound-sample-rate.html

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

SHG Radio Show, Episode 348

Welcome to this week's edition of Subterranean Homesick Grooves™, a weekly electronica-based radio show presented originally on CHMA FM 106.9 at Mount Allison University in Atlantic Canada (but expanded to distribution on other terrestrial and internet-based radio stations), and also distributed as a global podcast through iTunes. The show is normally programmed and mixed by Jonathan Clark (as DJ Bolivia), although some weeks very occasionally feature guest mixes by other Canadian DJ's. The show encompasses many sub-genres within the realm of electronic dance music, but the main focus is definitely on tech-house and techno, and a small amount of progressive, trance, & minimal. Due to the mix of styles, you may hear combinations of tracks that wouldn't normally be featured together in a DJ's live set, but this show is intended to feature various styles of electronic/dance music. Liner notes for this episode (SHG 348) can be seen below.

Para la información en español, vaya aquí.

I should point out that when I make these shows, I mean for them to be a journey. I pay a lot of attention to the programming, and to the development of energy levels. If you're a first-time listener, you might think that the start of the show is quite tame, on the slower and "deeper" side of house or techno. However, give it time. Pay attention to how the styles change throughout the mix, and how the energy builds. Sometimes, I'll be very erratic and jump around between several genres, just for fun. Sometimes, I'll do a particularly dark show, with a heavy emphasis on techno. Most of the time however, you'll find a mix of mostly deep house or minimal or deep techno for the first third of the mix, building into a more upbeat section of tech-house through the middle, perhaps building up to some energetic tracks at the end, which often trespass into the realm of more contemporary house. Don't treat the show as a collection of individual tracks ... think of it as a cohesive experience; an hour-long aural journey of reflection and beats.




Here’s a link so you can listen to the show or download it from SoundCloud:



In addition to being able to download each episode from SoundCloud, you can also visit our DJ Mixes folder on Dropbox (which allows for bulk downloads).  That folder hosts hundreds of episodes and other DJ mixes.  Here's the link:

djbolivia.ca/mixes

And of course, you can download Bolivia's individual tracks from this link:

    djbolivia.ca/tracks

Here are Track Listings for episode 348:

01. Danniel Selfmade - Schrieber (Original Mix).
02. PanPot - Solace (Original Mix).
03. Sasch BBC & Caspar - Do It Right (Original Mix).
04. Lexlay - Snail Dancers (Original Mix).
05. Massive Moloko - Bring It Down (Original Mix).
06. Julian Jeweil - Blue (Original Mix).
07. Greck B - From 1978 (Original Mix).
08. Drunken Kong - Origin (Original Mix).
09. Pig & Dan - Chemistry (Original Mix).
10. Baly - Hands Up Syndrome (Original Mix).
11. DJ Pepe - Mohito (Original Mix).


Here are links to either personal websites, Facebook pages, or [usually] the SoundCloud pages for a few of the original artists and remixers/producers listed above.



Danniel Selfmade (Spain)
PanPot (Germany)
Sasch BBC & Caspar (Germany)
Lexlay (Barcelona)
Massive Moloko (Hungary)
Julian Jeweil (France)
Greck B (Spain)
Drunken Kong (Japan)
Pig & Dan (Spain)
Baly (Slovenia)
DJ Pepe (Australia)



Subterranean Homesick Grooves is a weekly specialty EDM music show with a basic weekly audience base of about 1500 listeners per week through podcasting, direct downloads, and distribution on a small number of internet-based radio networks, plus another hundred or so listeners through SoundCloud, and an unknown number of listeners through terrestrial FM broadcast. If you're a radio station programming director, and would like to add Subterranean Homesick Grooves to your regular programming lineup, contact djbolivia@gmail.com for details. We currently release SHG as an advance download to a number of stations globally on a weekly basis (at no charge), and we welcome inquiries from additional outlets.


We also have a file containing complete track listings from all of DJ Bolivia's radio shows, studio mixes, and live sets. The PDF version can be viewed from within your browser by clicking directly. Both the PDF and the Excel versions can be downloaded by right-clicking and choosing the "save link as" option:

View as PDF file: http://www.djbolivia.ca/complete_track_history_djbolivia.pdf
Download Excel file: http://www.djbolivia.ca/complete_track_history_djbolivia.xlsx

Follow Jonathan Clark on other sites:
        SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia
        YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia
        Facebook: facebook.com/djbolivia
        Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca
        Music Blog: djbolivia.blogspot.ca

Tree Planter Training 20 - Wrap Up

Although this blog is predominantly focused on my music and DJ’ing career, I also want to share some information about my other career:  Canadian Reforestation.

The information in this post is part of a training series from the Replant.ca website.  More information can be found at this link:

www.Replant.ca/training

I’ll put the text and audio download link from this training module below, but let’s start with the YouTube video for the module:

Section 20 - “Wrap Up”

Congratulations, you've reached the end of our tutorial series.  We've covered a lot of material.  I know that it probably didn't all sink in, but at this point, you should have a solid grounding of what the tree planting industry is all about, and a broad foundation upon which to build further knowledge.

Reviewing all of this material has probably really opened your eyes.  When you first heard about tree planting, you probably got a mental image that involved a lot of manual labour, and not much thinking.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  If tree planting was an hourly wage-based job, that stereotype would probably be a correct perspective.  But tree planting is not paid hourly, it's paid by piece rates.  The more productive you are, the more money you make.  Because of that, it's in your best interest to learn, study, practice, and refine your techniques, to make yourself as fast and efficient as possible.  The piece-rate nature of the industry has turned it into a very intellectual exercise, where the smartest planters can leverage their knowledge into money.

The amount of information in these tutorials has probably been overwhelming for you.  At this point, you've been inundated with lots of facts, suggestions, and terminology, and I have no doubt that you probably don't remember more than a third of it all.  Once you've been planting for three or four weeks, I'd recommend that you review some of the key material again, particularly the sections about employment standards, common BC coniferous trees, spacing/density/excess, and maximizing productivity.  You might even want to review the complete series again before the start of your second season.


Field Practice

It's time now for you to go to the field and start doing some hands-on practice.  Your instructor will walk you through the basic steps of planting once again, and you'll start to get a feel for the repetitive motions that are required to plant a tree properly, with acceptable quality.  Start slow.  Focus on getting it right, not getting fast.  For about a week to two weeks, planting is going to feel awkward.  You're going to look at experienced planters around you, and wonder how they can do it so quickly.  You're going to feel like a failure, because you can't keep up.  Don't worry, this is normal.  As you're getting started, just focus on planting each tree properly, and don't worry about your paycheque.  Once you get the basics down, your foreman will talk to you and start encouraging you to speed up, and will give you tips on where to shave a few seconds off every tree.  You'll probably want to quit at least once, or several times, but stick it out.  I promise, it gets easier.  If you can promise yourself that you won't quit for one calendar month, you WILL get over the hump and you'll get to the point where you're starting to make respectable wages, and you'll feel like planting is natural.  I won't go so far as to say that it'll become easy, because you'll always be pushing the limits, but it won't feel impossible.

During your first few weeks, keep careful records of your daily production, earnings, and portal-to-portal hours.  Remember, your company must top you up to minimum wage (including applicable overtime equivalents) on each paycheque in which you didn't earn the equivalent through your piece-rate tree prices.  If your company is short-changing you, continue to keep very detailed records all season.  Once the season is over, you can take advantage of help from the Employment Standards Branch to resolve any discrepancies, without having to worry about the risk of getting fired.

To get better, you need to practice.  The more trees you plant, the faster you get.  That seems to be a ridiculous statement, because it's so blatantly obvious, but your speed increases only as you reach more milestones.  Let me put it this way.  Let's say that by the time you plant fifteen thousand trees, you'll be able to plant fifteen hundred trees per day in easy ground.  That seems like a good goal.  So the trick is to plant your first fifteen thousand as quickly as possible, which gets you to that point of being a 1500-per-day planter.  This means that during your crucial first couple of weeks, you need to keep your head down and keep moving.  Don't give up and come back to the cache and sit for 45 minutes for lunch.  Grab a quick bite, and get right back to work.  The day doesn't pass any more quickly if you're sitting down, and it doesn't go any faster depending on whether you're happy or miserable.  You don't make any money when you're not planting.  If you're stuck out on the block for ten hours, you may as well be making money during that time, so don't stop working.

Have you heard of the 10,000 hour rule?  It was written by Malcolm Gladwell in a book called Outliers.  In it, he said that anyone who practiced 10,000 hours at a skill would essentially become a professional, and master that skill.  In an average long tree planting season in the BC Interior, a planter may work or "practice" for a thousand hours.  To clarify, I'm including some non-planting time in that total, but time spent after dinner or around a campfire discussing ways to improve your planting techniques can still lead to self-improvement.  So if we assume that the rough number of a thousand hours per season is valid, then you're looking at approximately ten years before you put in your 10,000 hours.  That's ten years before you become a tree planting "professional."

The learning curve for tree planting never really stops.  You might think at the end of your first season that you've learned it all.  You haven't.  You'll learn many more things in your second season.  The same will happen in your third, fourth, fifth, and sixth years, and beyond.  At the end of each of those seasons, you'll think you've finally mastered everything there is to know.  You haven't.  You'll continue to learn new tricks, and become more efficient, for your entire career.  It doesn't matter how many seasons you plant.  I've planted for more than twenty years, and I still work as a planter on the coast every spring and fall, and I still learn new tricks and techniques every season.


Career Options

Speaking of careers, some planters think that tree planting is a short-term career which might be useful for a few years, but in the long term, it's just a temporary position until you find work in a different field.  That's going to be true for some people.  However, if you're interested in forestry, there are many career choices available that can keep you working pretty much year-round.  There's work available in stand management, such as brushing and spacing a growing stand.  You can become an accredited silviculture surveyor.  You can do office work relating to Geographic Information Systems.  You can get into mapping, or timber cruising.  Explaining all of these jobs in depth would be a complex undertaking, but if you do some research on silviculture in Canada, you'll see that planting trees is just one small but important part of the entire cycle of reforestation.  If you're interested in moving on from planting into a different field, one good option is to talk to the owner of your company.  He or she can often provide some really good insights about how to pursue your long-term career goals, and I can think of many instances when a company owner has gone out of their way to help an established planter achieve career goals that may not even be directly related to planting.


Final Advice

Good luck with your planting.  Again, if you're a first time planter and you feel like quitting at any point during your first several weeks, remember a promise that you need to make to yourself.  No matter how frustrated you get, don't quit until you've worked for a full calendar month.  You've already invested too much time and money at this point for it to make sense for you to quit now.  After thirty days in the bush, you'll have gotten over the hump, and you'll realize that you CAN be successful as a planter.

Keep track of your numbers.  I don't just mean this on a day-to-day basis, to make sure that your paycheques are correct.  I also mean to pay attention to your daily averages, and your true earnings.  Understand what your expenses are in relation to the money that you earn.  Also, remember that you may someday want to know your annual planting totals, in case you end up chasing a long-term career goal such as hitting a million trees.

Keep track of some of your block locations.  You can do this by writing down block numbers, or by using apps on mobile devices that overlay GPS coordinates on top of photos.  Save them somewhere semi-permanent.  Someday, when you're a lot older, you may want to come back and look at the trees you planted in your first season.

For further research about tree planting in BC, go to Google and look for websites about tree planting.  There are several well-known sites out there that can be invaluable resources, and lots of online communities full of tree planters.

Thanks for participating …

-----

Here’s an Audio version of this material, in case you want to listen while you’re driving, running, at work, or otherwise unable to read or watch video:

Click on the down-arrow icon in the upper right corner of the SoundCloud widget to download the mp3.

Once again, for further information about this series of tree planter training information, visit:

www.Replant.ca/training

I encourage you to share this information with anyone else who might be interested.  Thanks for your interest and support!

-          Jonathan “Scooter” Clark

Tree Planter Training 19 - Behaviours & Attitudes

Although this blog is predominantly focused on my music and DJ’ing career, I also want to share some information about my other career:  Canadian Reforestation.

The information in this post is part of a training series from the Replant.ca website.  More information can be found at this link:

www.Replant.ca/training

I’ll put the text and audio download link from this training module below, but let’s start with the YouTube video for the module:

Section 19 - “Behaviours & Attitudes”

In this section, we'll talk about ways to behave respectfully and responsibly.  This includes respect for the environment.  It also includes responsible, safe, and respectful behaviour towards others.


Maintaining the Health of the Ecosystem

Make sure no garbage ever gets left behind on a block.  This includes lunch wrappings, drink bottles, seedling boxes, bundle wrappers, and other garbage.  If I find a piece of garbage out on the block, and it's small enough to fit into my bags and not too heavy, I'll even bring it back to the garbage box at my cache at the end of my bag-up, so it ends up in a proper landfill.  Never bury trash, as it can attract and sometimes harm wildlife.  Never leave food in your tent, because nobody wants bears in camp.  Break down tree boxes as you finish with them.

Take care to avoid allowing any oil or fuel to leak onto the ground.  The hydrocarbons that make up oils and fuels are highly toxic and hazardous to the environment and to the ecosystem.  Spill reporting is a big part of being environmentally responsible, and the first step in ensuring that a spill can be cleaned up properly.  Report any leaks or spills to your supervisor.  Every contractor will carry a spill kit in their truck for use in the event of a small leak or spill.

Fires are easily started with careless behaviour.  Never drop a burning cigarette on the ground, or throw it out a vehicle window.  Always smoke on bare, hard-packed roads.  Exercise restraint with the size of fires in camp.  Be aware that truck and ATV tailpipes get very hot and can start fires in dry grass.


Responsible, Safe, & Respectful Behaviours Toward Others

When you're part of a planting crew, you're going to be working and living with the same people, in close quarters, for a long time.  You often need to co-exist in stressful or uncomfortable circumstances, and your attitude can make the difference between a strong and productive season or a dysfunctional one.

Report bullying or harassment.  Don't accept or support any bullying or harassment.  If you witness any, let your supervisor know.

Practice positive social behaviour.  Be considerate, let others have their space, smile and be friendly, and help out whenever you can.

Mentor new employees and set good examples, especially if you're an experienced planter.  It doesn't take much energy to support other crew members, and it makes a huge difference to the overall morale of your group.  No matter who you are, set an example of up-beat, helpful behaviour.  When you're having a tough day, someone else may then help you out in return.  Just one person can elevate the mood of an entire group, or bring them down.

Exercise respect for company and client, staff, procedures, and equipment.  Your planting company is trying to do the same thing that you are – make money.  They have years of time, and lots of money invested in this.  You have the ability to increase their success.  Follow the rules, treat people with respect, and take care of any equipment that belongs to the company.  Ultimately, if your company makes more money, it's easier for the company to share some of that with employees.

Be on time.  Being on time shows respect for your company and also for everyone else on your crew.  If you're late, everyone waits and everyone loses money.

On the block, don't cut off another planter.  Always finish your area before moving to another piece, doing both the creamy sections AND the difficult parts.  Flag areas where needed, to help other planters.

Behave in a way that fosters a positive image of the industry.  Communities around the areas that you work in are watching you.  When you come into town on days off, you're noticed, no matter if you're in laundromats, cafés, banks, walking through the streets, or hanging out in a park.  For residents of a small town, a tree planter stands out like a sore thumb.  Your behaviour in their community is noticed, and talked about.  These communities can support or condemn the licensees whose operating area you're working in.  Try to do a good job of representing yourself and your fellow planters in a positive way.  Smile and say hello to the locals, and treat their community as if it was your own home.  Your future income can depend on this.  You never know when the random person that you meet on the street is the general manager of the mill that you're working for, or your forester's boss.

Don't trash motel rooms.  We have a hard enough time being allowed to rent rooms as it is.  Be respectful of the people who have to clean these rooms after we leave, and try to do a bit of a clean-up before you go.

Remember that planting is part of the bigger picture of basic silviculture obligations.  Planting is only one small part of the process of reforestation.  While it's an important activity, so are surveying, site preparation, brushing, and spacing.


Treatment of Co-Workers

We already mentioned the Canada Human Rights Act once.  Think about how it applies to your co-workers.  The Canada Human Rights Act is in place to protect Canadians from discrimination due to race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, and disabilities.  Don't harass a person based on any of these differences.  Tree planting is hard enough on a person as it is.

Speaking of differences, I'd like to mention gender for a moment.  During its infancy, the tree planting industry was traditionally very male-dominated.  Nowadays, a significant portion of the workforce is female, and this change has definitely improved the industry.  Participation by women in positions within higher management is still not as high as it should be, but that's also changing slowly.

We previously mentioned that within BC, the people who are the direct supervisors of planters are often called foremen.  In Ontario, the term crew boss is quite common.  Some other companies in BC use the term crew leader in place of foreman.  Perhaps "crew leader" is an appropriate term that the industry could adopt, since unlike foreman, it's gender-neutral.

A separate concern is the fact that in the planting industry, a "supervisor" usually refers to the person who is in charge of a planting camp.  However, in a WorkSafe or legal liability sense, a "supervisor" refers to any person who directly supervises the work of other employees.  It's important to understand that anyone who is overseeing other employees is directly responsible, in a legal sense, for the health and safety of those workers.  Some people misunderstand the definition of a supervisor, thinking that a camp supervisor has a lot of legal liability whereas a foreman does not.  That's not correct.  Both the camp supervisor AND the foreman are very responsible for people working under them.

In a perfect world, perhaps the title of camp supervisors could be changed to "camp managers" and the title of all foremen, crew leaders, and crew bosses could be changed to "supervisors" or "crew supervisors."  Unfortunately, the planting industry is so fragmented that even if a number of people started to do that, it would still be years before the changes really sunk in on a broad scale.  The takeaway lesson here is that there really isn't a standard nomenclature within the industry for some things, so you should be open-minded and expect the unexpected.  In fact, that's probably a good way of approaching pretty much everything relating to planting.  As the industry continues to evolve, we'll probably see many more changes that challenge traditional ways of doing things.


Stashing

Stashing is the illegal disposal of trees by burying, burning, dumping, or other means.  Trees are supposed to be planted, one at a time, not “strategically placed with no chance of growth.”  Planters who are caught or suspected of stashing trees are usually terminated immediately.  This is a problem that is not treated lightly by foremen or supervisors.

Nowadays, it is quite easy to determine when stashing is a potential issue on a block.  The size of all blocks is measured by GPS as standard procedure.  By comparing the number of trees claimed by planters on a block with the statistical totals (proper plotted density multiplied by actual block size), a discrepancy will show up immediately if trees are stashed.  This assessment is done routinely on every block by both supervisors and foresters.  Even a small discrepancy of a few hundred trees will be obvious in the numbers, and lead to further investigation.  The statistical accuracy of GPS measurements and FS 704 sampling accuracy make stashing a losing proposition.  Supervisors and other internal and external staff also audit planters' pieces frequently and randomly, as part of a regular program of due diligence.

To save yourself, your foreman, and your crew a lot of hassle, be honest.  Don't try stashing, not even an “innocent” bundle.  It's not worth it.  There's a good chance that you'll get caught before long, and putting your job and reputation at risk is not worth it for a few dollars.  And for anyone who contemplates stashing because they're embarrassed by being a slow planter, rather than for unethical financial gain, you shouldn't ever be embarrassed about your planting totals.  Everybody plants at a different speed.

If you think someone on your crew might be stashing, talk to your foreman or supervisor about it quietly.  Your concern alone won't be enough for a person to be disciplined, but the supervisor can discretely assess that planter's production to determine whether their numbers make sense.  Remember, the actions of someone else who is stashing can hurt you as much as themselves.  I've seen several occasions where entire crews (and their foremen) have been fired because of the actions of a few guilty individuals, and I certainly wouldn't tolerate anyone who is stashing on my own crew.  You wouldn't want to be the innocent bystander who is harmed by this kind of behaviour, would you?  Stashing trees just isn't worth the risk.

-----

Here’s an Audio version of this material, in case you want to listen while you’re driving, running, at work, or otherwise unable to read or watch video:

Click on the down-arrow icon in the upper right corner of the SoundCloud widget to download the mp3.

Once again, for further information about this series of tree planter training information, visit:

www.Replant.ca/training

I encourage you to share this information with anyone else who might be interested.  Thanks for your interest and support!

-          Jonathan “Scooter” Clark

Tree Planter Training 18 - Maximizing Productivity

Although this blog is predominantly focused on my music and DJ’ing career, I also want to share some information about my other career:  Canadian Reforestation.

The information in this post is part of a training series from the Replant.ca website.  More information can be found at this link:

www.Replant.ca/training

I’ll put the text and audio download link from this training module below, but let’s start with the YouTube video for the module:

Section 18 - “Maximizing Productivity”

In this section, we'll give you some tips to maximize your productivity on the blocks.  Of course, you shouldn't worry about productivity and hitting big numbers until you get the basics down, namely planting acceptable quality and making it home safely for dinner each night.  We'll talk about efficient planting techniques, and efficient work strategies.  We'll also talk about how to stay organized, and how to stay focused.  In the end, it'll mean more money in the bank for you.


Maintaining a high level of Health and Safety is a requirement of good productivity.  If you're injured or sick, your productivity will decrease.  You might even miss some days of work, which cuts into your paycheque and leaves your crew short a planter.  Eat well, sleep well, and practice techniques that minimize the chance of musculoskeletal injuries.  Wear and use the right gear.  Understand typical planting risks and hazards and how to avoid them.  Remember that you have a legal responsibility to practice reasonably safe behavior.

While it's tempting to try to compete in productivity with the experienced planters, remember that they've already mastered their quality and know how to keep themselves and those around them safe.  Once you become competent in terms of safety and quality, productivity will start to rise naturally, and your foreman will feel comfortable with giving you tips to reach higher daily numbers.


Staying Organized

Never underestimate the effect that being organized can have on your productivity and earnings.  Don't be lazy - be organized.  As a planter, making sure you're informed and ready to go at the beginning of each day makes a big difference to how productive you are.

Here are some helpful ways to stay on top of your organization:
- Remember this phrase:  "Boots, bags, shovel, water, lunch."  Every morning, before you get into the truck, do a visual inspection to make sure you have all five of these items.
- Always fill your water jug at night.  It helps you avoid a lineup, and on cold camp mornings, the water lines might be frozen, so you might be out of luck.
- Repair or replace any worn or torn gear as soon as you notice it.  Don't wait until the end of the shift to do something that you could do this evening.
- Know the weather forecast and potential site conditions for the next day, so you can organize any clothing or special gear in the evening.  Don't leave it for morning.
- Know the contract specs.  If you don't, or if you forget, ask your foreman.
- Know what to do in an emergency.  Run through scenarios in your head.  Know where to find emergency contact information, and how to work things like VHF radios and satellite phones.  Always know what radio channel to use to call for help.  Assume that your foreman, the person who is normally in charge, is the one who is hurt and unconscious.  Your foreman should verbally test you once in a while on a drive home from the block, by giving a potential disaster scenario and asking you to walk through all the steps that need to be taken in that situation.
- Keep track of your tallies every day.  Write them down in a diary along with information such as prices, block numbers, who you were working with, what the weather was like, and any other notable information that can help jog your memory about things that happened that day.


Efficient Planting Techniques

Highballers move fluidly through the block, always positioning themselves correctly to complete the next anticipated task, and seldom doing only one thing at a time.  They know how to move through the land and plant with minimal strain on their bodies, and minimal energy wasted.

Planting has many steps:  bagging up, looking for naturals, looking for a good microsite, moving to it, screefing (if needed), driving the shovel into the ground, opening the hole, inserting a seedling, closing the hole, flagging (if needed), looking for trees, and doing it all over, again and again and again.  Each of these steps takes time.  You're capable of trimming a bit of time off each of these steps, sometimes by combining a couple of tasks together.  Even just a second or two saved each time that you plant a tree adds up if you repeat something a hundred thousand times in a summer.

Here are some techniques to help you maximize your productivity:
- Always plan ahead.  Be looking for the spot for your next tree as soon as your current tree is in the ground.  Eventually, you'll get to a point where you're skilled enough to always be planning out the next two or three trees ahead of you.
- Learn to plant ambidextrously.  Sometimes, the best microsite is in a spot which is awkward to deal with in your normal planting stance, but if you're able to quickly reverse your shovel hand, you might find that spot easier to deal with.  If I had to give one single piece of planting advice to new planters, it would be to learn to plant ambi.
- Sometimes, being lazy is not a bad thing.  If you pick a microsite that's easy to plant in and still meets requirements, that's smarter than putting more effort into a more difficult microsite.  I guess that rather than saying it's good to be lazy, I should say that it's smart to be efficient.  In both situations, the goal is to conserve energy.
- Use the spacing tolerance to your advantage.  Don't aim for perfect spacing.  Aim for perfect AVERAGE spacing, but be willing to fluctuate by a foot or so to find the best spots.
- Practice movements and approaches that conserve energy.  Don't bend over twice for one tree.
- Always think of ways to multi-task, such as grabbing a seedling while you're in the process of walking to the next spot.
- Always plant the back of your piece first, but don't dead-walk in to start at the back!  Plant your way in.
- Learn about piece management techniques to make your approach to planting more efficient, and to minimize inefficient things like dead-walking.


Efficient Work Strategies

Get an early start.  Being organized and prepared really helps you.  A strong morning start is psychologically powerful.  You'll feel good about your production right from the start, instead of trying to psych yourself up to catch up to where you thought you should have been.  The afternoon heat and fatigue will slow you down, so the morning plant is really important in achieving high production.

Area planting involves the proper spacing of trees on one small portion of your assigned piece at a time.  This approach works best for fragmented pieces or blocks where there's an abundance of slash, rock outcrops, large stumps, or other obstacles, since you can choose the most efficient path from tree to tree within your small area.  Note where you are and what you have covered, then, after you've planted that area, mentally mark off another small patch to plant, with full coverage in mind.

Line planting is straightforward and requires less thought than area planting.  As a first-year planter, this is the approach that you should take while you're learning to plant.  It's best suited to clear ground and open areas.  Don't automatically think that because you hear vets talking about area planting, that line planting is not always efficient.  In clear, straightforward ground, line planting is usually more efficient than area planting.  Area planting really only becomes quite useful when you're on difficult blocks with lots of slash.  Of course, as a first-year planter, you'll think that all your blocks are difficult, but chances are high that you'll be working on fairly simple ground when you're a rookie.

Try to keep a steady pace.  If you take numerous very short breaks of a minute or so during the day, to allow yourself to catch your breath or take a small drink of water, it's much better than taking one extended break.  This is especially important on cold days, because moving around keeps you warm.  A long break, or eating a lot of food at once, tends to make you feel sluggish.  Many planters use their bagging-up time as their break, and may not even stop to eat, either pacing around as they grab a quick sandwich, or eating while they're bagging up.

If you're a new planter, or just new to a contract or different block, encourage prompt feedback from your foreman or checker.  The sooner you're aware of any adjustments required to meet the quality standards, the less risk there is of a significant number of planting faults, and the faster you'll be able to establish a productive planting rhythm with confidence.

Bagging up should be done efficiently, as a lot of time can be wasted here.  Save the socializing for camp.  Make sure you have the appropriate mix of species in your bag.  Eat or drink while you bag up.


Staying Focused

Some planters find that a certain relaxed mental attitude is helpful in maintaining efficiency on the job.  They see planting as a type of meditation, and they do what's called "zoning out."  Some people find that repetitive thoughts, like a song that's stuck in your head, or counting, can help you keep focused.  Other planters strive to actively maintain a strong focus on the task at hand, and try to avoid letting themselves get distracted by anything other than the trees that need to be planted.  Although you don't necessarily have to have such an intense focus, what you don't want is for your mind to wander aimlessly and have your movements follow suit.  You need to be constantly aware of your surroundings, of the other trees and obstacles around you, where you'll put your shovel next, and how to be as efficient as possible.  Ideally, you're thinking about the next spot or next few spots to be planted.  This helps you cover the ground needed, without working yourself into a corner that requires back-tracking.  Back-tracking is a waste of time.  Dead-walking is a waste of time.

Productive planters are not only moving quickly, they're also incredibly aware of their surroundings.  They make numerous decisions, in fractions of a second, to make the most of the time taken while moving between planting spots.  They use ribbon, natural boundaries, and terrain, to keep track of areas that haven't been planted yet.  They avoid areas that have already been planted.


Even the most optimistic of planters will sometimes have a bad day, where it's almost impossible to self-motivate yourself.  On a day like that, even if you don't feel like planting, you'll have to learn to force yourself to keep working.  No matter how slow you're planting, it's faster than sitting at the cache.  You may as well face the fact that no matter how miserable you are, you're going to be stuck on the block for ten hours.  You may as well make some money while you're there.

-----

Here’s an Audio version of this material, in case you want to listen while you’re driving, running, at work, or otherwise unable to read or watch video:

Click on the down-arrow icon in the upper right corner of the SoundCloud widget to download the mp3.

Once again, for further information about this series of tree planter training information, visit:

www.Replant.ca/training

I encourage you to share this information with anyone else who might be interested.  Thanks for your interest and support!

-          Jonathan “Scooter” Clark

Tree Planter Training 17 - Site Preparation

Although this blog is predominantly focused on my music and DJ’ing career, I also want to share some information about my other career:  Canadian Reforestation.

The information in this post is part of a training series from the Replant.ca website.  More information can be found at this link:

www.Replant.ca/training

I’ll put the text and audio download link from this training module below, but let’s start with the YouTube video for the module:

Section 17 - “Site Preparation”

When a block is site prepped, or scarified, it means that after the logging activities are finished, there is some sort of additional mechanical or chemical activity done to prepare the site for seedlings to be planted.  The main reason that blocks are site prepped is to enhance the likelihood of survival of seedlings, and to attempt to optimize their long-term growth.  A by-product of this activity is that it often makes it easier for planters to plant the trees, although in some cases, site prepping a block can actually make planting more difficult, depending on the planting specs.

There are a lot of different types of site prep, such as mounding, trenching, windrows, and drag scarification.  Most of these broad categories have several varieties of treatment that planters may eventually encounter.

Incidentally, when a planter screefs a spot for a tree, this is basically a type of localized site preparation.  Some foresters refer to screefing as hand scarification or manual scarification.


Untreated Ground

Ground that has not had any site preparation work done can be referred to by quite a few different terms:  untreated, unprepared, unprepped, unscarified, raw, straight plant, or plant-as-is.  Foresters tend to use the term untreated, while planters tend to say raw or straight plant.  Occasionally, planters will see disturbances on the ground that were made by the tracks of skidders or other logging machinery.  This can be confusing, but it isn't actually an official type of site preparation.

If a section of a block has been treated, it's usually fairly obvious, and easy to differentiate from raw ground.  However, there are exceptions, which we'll see in a few minutes.

Stump side processing happens when cut trees are processed where they are cut, which leaves slash widely dispersed around the block.  Roadside processing means that trees are dragged to the roads before being processed.  Slash along the roads is then piled and burned.  Roadside processing usually results in cleaner blocks than stump side processing.


Trenching

If you're trying to envision a trench, don't think of large trenches that soldiers could hide in.  Think of small ditches.  A very close analogy would be the furrows that a farmer might dig to grow vegetables.  In fact, trenches are sometimes called furrows.  There are also other names for trenching, such as disc-trenching, or rips.  Each name generally refers to a slightly different type of trenching.  Although the term trenching is used more commonly than furrowing, it would be more accurate to refer to most trenches as furrows.

For disc-trenching, a rotating disc with tines or blades is used to rip up dirt and throw it off to the side, creating a one-sided trench.  New planters will be given some training in assessing which side of the trench is the “cut” side, and which is the “flip” side.  The difference is not always obvious, but it's usually important for a planter to be able to assess which side of the trench is which.  Most of the time, trenching machinery will have two discs on the back, and they each flip dirt to the “outside” as they drive across a block, so you'll see the flip side of the trench alternating in every second trench.  However, it's possible to have machinery which creates three trenches with each pass, so sometimes you'll see a 2-and-1 pattern in the flip side, or even all flips on the same side.  This is further complicated by the direction that the trencher was driving at the time.

If trenches are well done, you may see that the sod and grass roots that were flipped off to the side will have mineral soil at the top, but as you dig down into it, you'll run into the upside-down sod laying on the surface.  The depth of this layer of dirt in the flipped-over part of the trench is quite important to some foresters.

Ripper plows are another type of trenching.  Rips are usually made by a large sharp metal tooth digging down into the ground, and cutting a groove through the surface of the ground.  The size of that tooth can vary.  Ripper plowing is generally advantageous on very wet sites that require winter harvesting of frozen ground.  When the ground freezes, some types of machinery and scarification implements become unusable because they cannot penetrate the frozen ground.  A ripper plow is usually attached to a heavy bulldozer which can press the tooth into the frozen ground.  It's also possible to have a triangular blade, which throws the dirt better than a tooth does.  Such a plow is very similar in appearance to disc-trenching, although the trenches will have symmetrical flips on both sides.

Don't get caught up too much into worrying about memorizing the various types of trenching.  I've seen both one-sided and two-sided trenches that were anywhere from a few inches deep and a foot wide, to giant trenches that were more than four feet deep and four feet wide.  The main thing is to understand where the forester wants the trees to be planted.  This isn't consistent either.

Some foresters will ask for trees to be planted on the absolute tops of the trenches, no matter how much or how little dirt there is compared to organics and litter.  Some foresters will ask for trees to be planted on the highest point of the trench where the plug is still able to be planted firmly in moist and squeezable dirt and decayed organics.  Some foresters will ask for trees to be planted at the “hinge,” which is the point between the cut-out part of the trench, and the flipped over sod.  In this case, the forester probably wants the plug to be in 100% dirt.  Finally, some foresters will ask for the trees to be planted in the bottom of the trench.  Foresters will almost never want you to plant trees on the cut side of the trench, because then you wouldn't be taking advantage of the dirt that has been flipped over or exposed.

Why do foresters have so many different opinions on the best place to put the trees?  It relates to the characteristics of the region and of the block itself.  If a forester wants the trees planted high, he or she is probably trying to let the seedlings get a few degrees of extra warmth from the soil in a colder site, or to provide better drainage for the roots in a wet site.  If the forester is aiming for trees planted on the hinge, he or she is probably focusing on eliminating the need for the planters to screef down to mineral soil.  If the forester is asking for trees in the bottoms of the trenches, it's probably either because the site is really dry and they're trying to maximize moisture for the roots, or because there are cattle at large on the site and they're trying to protect the trees from getting walked on.  Cattle usually don't walk in the bottoms of trenches.

Trenches are fairly common thoroughout some parts of British Columbia, although the machines generally can't work on anything other than flat ground or minor slopes.  Unless your block is almost completely flat, expect there to be patches of unprepped ground on hillsides and in gullies.  Trenched blocks are usually priced pretty low, because they can be quite easy to plant in.

Hopefully, the site prep operator created the trenches running in lines perpendicularly away from the roadways through the block, rather than parallel to the roads.  As a planter, you'll want to be able to plant up and down the lengths of the trenches, rather than having to plant across them.  Piece management is very important in trenched areas, to minimize the time spent crossing trenches.  When you get to your first trenched section, ask your foreman or trainer for guidance on the best way to work your piece.  You may find in areas where trees are planted in the bottoms or on the hinges that it can be difficult to follow trees properly, since they're somewhat hidden from view.

When you get to a new trenched block, it's pretty important to clarify with your crew boss what the specs are, so the forester doesn't fault you for putting the trees in the wrong place.


Mounding

Mounds are created when a machine scoops some dirt out of the ground and makes a pile beside the hole.  When this is done, the dirt coming out of the hole is almost always flipped upside down into a pile, just like the side of a trench is flipped upside down and outward.  Therefore, most mounds are not completely made up of mineral soil.  If you dig down into them, you eventually find an upside-down layer of sod resting on another layer of sod.  Remember that for every mound on a block, there will be a corresponding hole.

As with trenching, there are a lot of different terms for mounding, and several of these types are distinct varieties of mounds.  Some examples would be Bräcke, excavator, donaren, and hoe mounds.

Excavator mounds are created by an excavator.  Hoe mounds are the same thing.  These mounds are not created in any sort of grid-like or regular pattern; they're just a random jumble of holes and mounds.  Excavator mounds vary in size, but most are at least three feet across and a foot high, and I've occasionally seen much larger mounds which were six feet across and three feet high.  Usually, when an excavator is making these mounds, it will park in one spot and make six or eight mounds in a semi-circle around itself, then move over about twenty feet to make the next set.

Donaren mounds are usually made by a machine such as a skidder, or by a tracked machine like a bulldozer or something similar.  They're very similar to disc-trenches in that they usually run in straight lines, and two rows of small mounds are made with each pass of the machine.  Donaren mounds are usually only around two feet wide, and a foot high.  These mounds look very consistent and their layout is much more patterned than excavator mounds, since they're made in straight rows.  Donaren mounds are sometimes referred to as mini mounds.

Bräcke mounds are very rare in BC nowadays.  They're like huge donaren mounds.  They were moderately common in the 1990's, but foresters ran into a lot of frost heaving issues due to large clay caps.  They were usually about four times the size of a donaren mound, and they ran in straight lines.  These mounds are still common in other parts of Canada.

Most foresters want you to plant your seedlings on the very top center of the mound, or the highest point of the mound.  This maximizes soil temperature, and if the mounds were created to help with soil drainage, planting the tree on the top is the best way to keep the plugs from being over-saturated.  However, in some areas, you might occasionally have a forester who asks you to plant the trees on the edges of the mounds, perhaps because the tops of the mounds get too dry, cracked, or crumbly in the late summer and fall.  Planting on the top is better if a goal is to keep the seedling away from competing vegetation.

Mounds are less common than trenches throughout BC, mostly due to financial considerations, and it's quite rare to see an entire block that has been mounded.  Usually, a forester will make mounds in isolated swampy or wet sections within a block, where the soils are normally too wet for the trees to survive.  You're more likely to encounter a lot of water in a mounded area than in a trenched area.

Mounded areas are usually a bit faster to plant than unprepped ground, but definitely not as fast as good trenching.  If your piece is full of donaren mounds, it might be advantageous to think about your piece management the same way that you'd approach trenches, although it's a lot easier to “cross rows” of donaren mounds efficiently than it is to cross trenches.  It's also easier to follow trees on mounds because they're more visible.


Scrapes

Scrapes are also made by excavators.  The machine usually just uses the tip of its bucket, or an attachment that looks similar to a rake, to pull back the sod and expose a rectangle of dirt that isn't dug into the ground.  This is intended to avoid issues with water pooling in the scrapes, or frost pockets.  The planter is usually expected to either plant one tree in the middle of each scrape, or two trees at opposite corners of a scape.

Scrapes don't seem to be a very cost-effective type of site prep.  If the main point of the scrape is simply to expose mineral soil for the planter, it would be cheaper to use a trencher, which costs far less to operate and which is much faster than an excavator.  However, the advantage of using an excavator to make scrapes is that an excavator can work on steeper slopes than a trencher can, and for small and extremely steep hillsides, the arm of the excavator can even reach up or down to make the prep without the machine having to park on the steepest part of the slope.

Scrapes aren't very common in BC.  Scrapes can also sometimes be mistaken for small mounds, if the scrapes get dug out too deeply and the resulting pile of sod and litter and dirt increases in size.  Make sure that your foreman or trainer explains to you exactly where the forester wants the trees within the scrape.


Windrows

Windrows are basically long rows of slash and other logging debris, like an elongated slash pile.  A block may have dozens of windrows, each of which is almost the length of the block.  Typically, these are created when a bulldozer goes through a block and pushes all of the slash up into long rows, so the area between the windrows is much cleaner.  This process of pushing the slash into piles is sometimes referred to as blading.  Blading helps to temporarily remove competing vegetation from planting spots.  It also exposes soil to natural seed release, and increases the soil temperature by exposing the soil to more sunlight.

In some areas, the windrows are eventually burned, but in other areas, they are simply left to decay and rot over time.  Blocks with windrows are usually relatively easy to plant on, since most of the slash has been moved out of the way of the planters.  However, windrows can be awkward.  Proper piece management is necessary, so you aren't forced to climb over a windrow to get into the next section of plantable ground.  Climbing over a windrow would be a potential safety hazard, and it's also not very efficient.


Drag Scarification

Dragging is usually accomplished by having machines drag large metal cylinders around a block.  These cylinders can be a couple feet wide, eight or ten feet long, and quite heavy.  Quite often, they're also covered with a bunch of steel teeth, which are sometimes referred to as shark fins.  When a skidder or dozer drags these around the block, they break up quite a bit of the slash on the block, flattening it and making it easier for planters to walk around.  Dragging can also be accomplished with blankets of heavy steel chains.

Breaking up the slash is helpful because it allows the slash to decompose more quickly over time.  However, the primary reason for dragging is to spread the cones across the block more evenly, and to break them open to release seeds for natural regeneration.  It is common for foresters to prescribe lower planting densities on ground that has been dragged than on nearby unprepped ground, under the presumption that natural regen will augment the density of the planted trees.

Sometimes, dragging is accomplished by simply having a bulldozer driving around a block, crushing slash with its weight, and sometimes dragging a single tooth along behind it.  This is called “drag tooth scarification” and results in dragged areas with occasional small tooth marks cut through them.  The groove from the tooth might look like a very tiny trench, only a couple inches wide.

It can sometimes be hard to tell that a block has been dragged, until you get out and start walking around it.  At that point, you may notice that the slash is fairly low to the ground and is much more broken up than usual.  Planters will often mistake dragged ground for unprepped ground, even though dragged ground is usually slightly easier to plant than raw ground.


Chemical Scarification

Insecticides and pesticides are often applied to seedlings being grown in nurseries.  However, herbicides are sometimes applied directly to blocks.  These herbicides are designed to target certain species of plants that may cause competition for the planted seedlings and naturals.  Herbicides may target grasses, brush, and other broad-leaf vegetation, but don't necessarily harm the coniferous trees if applied in the proper concentrations.  Herbicides can be applied manually, by workers walking through the blocks and hand spraying from backpacks, or can be applied by aerial means, such as bush planes or helicopters.

Herbicides are sometimes applied before a block is planted, and sometimes after planting is complete.  Herbicides are more common on blocks where large amounts of grass and vegetation are present.  If a block is herbicided before planting commences, the planters will probably notice large areas of dead grass and vegetation, which makes the planting easier.

It is common on herbicided blocks for planters to encounter green strips where no herbicide was applied.  This often happens along the edge of the blocks, because the herbicide applicators don't want to accidentally herbicide outside the block boundaries.  It's also common for strips along creeks and ephemeral streams not to be herbicided, to prevent the herbicide from going directly into the water.  Of course, chemicals always get washed off the blocks and into streams eventually, but most herbicides are designed to do their work in the first couple hours and then become chemically inert.

If you're planting on a block that needed to be herbicided before it was planted, you can probably assume that it was rather nasty to start off, and may still have some ugly, grassy, and green strips to deal with.


Prescribed Burning

Broadcast burning is another way of treating a block, although it is done through oxidation rather than chemical burning.  Intentional broadcast burns are almost non-existent nowadays, although they were common in the 1980's.  When burning was popular, foresters would light a block on fire after logging was done, to attempt to burn off most of the dried slash, and to make it easier for planters to get at the soil.  However, the industry has recognized that creating air pollution and releasing carbon is not an environmentally sound approach to forestry, and also that decaying slash is beneficial for a block in the long term.  Planters rarely work on burns anymore, unless they were created naturally by wildfires, or inadvertently due to man-made causes such as an escape burn while burning piles in the fall.


Selective Harvesting

Selective harvesting refers to logging that doesn't remove all of the trees in an area, which means that the block is not a clear-cut.  Sometimes, machines will remove perhaps half of the trees in an area, and leave the rest in an even pattern of distribution.  Sometimes, long corridors will be cut through an area, to provide alternating strips of open ground and mature wood.  It's also possible for coniferous trees to be harvested but deciduous trees to be left standing in some mixed-wood stands, so planters may end up doing an under-plant below mature aspen trees.  Finally, it's important to know that selective harvesting isn't always done with machines.  It's possible for people to go in and do hand-falling of trees, and to pull the timber out with horses, to minimize damage to the remaining standing timber.

Quite often, when a block is harvested (even a full clear-cut) the harvesting staff may leave what's called a “visual buffer” along the side of the road.  This is a thin strip of trees, perhaps 20 meters deep, so that people driving by on the road can't see the open clear-cut as easily.  The main purpose of a visual buffer is to make logging activities appear less visually destructive to casual passers-by.  Sometimes, a forester will ask for very high density to be planted within 10m of the road edges, so the newly planted trees will grow up into a visual buffer that is quite a bit thicker than the rest of the block.


Fill Planting & Replants

Fill planting doesn't refer to a type of site preparation.  It refers to a type of block or a type of stocking, although some foresters will still list it as a type of site prep.  When a block is first harvested, there may not be a lot of young crop trees evident.  Before planting, there are two different types of crop trees that may be found on a block:  naturals and residuals.  Many people use the terms synonymously.  However, they can be technically defined to have different meanings.  I would define a residual to be a young or suppressed or genetically inferior tree of an acceptable crop species (perhaps pine, spruce, douglas fir, and other important species) which survived the harvesting process.  Residuals can be mature, and are sometimes left standing intentionally in patches, for wildlife shelter/habitat, or for ecological diversity.  Residuals can also be young trees that were maybe driven over during the harvesting process, but which didn't die, and which sprang back up and are starting to become juvenile trees.  Often, these young residuals are in pretty rough shape.  On the other hand, I would define a natural to be a newly spouted young tree, which started to grow up after the harvesting was complete.  These young naturals usually turn into much healthier trees than the residuals which started to grow before the harvesting process.  To further confuse matters, trees which were planted a few years prior will also sometimes be referred to as naturals when doing a fill plant.

Either way, when a block is a few years post-harvest, it often features a lot of naturals and/or residuals.  If it has already been planted once, there will presumably also be a number of surviving planted seedlings.  Sometimes, it is easy to tell the planted seedlings apart from the naturals & residuals, due to a number of varying factors:  form, vigour, age, colour, health, species, and spacing.  At other times, it isn't easy to tell whether a given tree grew naturally or was planted.

Many of our plantations perform surprisingly well, with low seedling mortality.  Unfortunately, at other times, quite a few of our planted trees don't survive, so the remaining natural and planted stock looks quite patchy.  In such a case, a forester may determine that there aren't enough viable crop trees for a block to meet regen requirements, and additional trees should be planted.  In such a situation, the block will either be planted as a fill plant or as a replant.

For a fill plant, a planter will walk around the block, looking for “openings” among the growing crop trees (called voids) where additional trees can be planted.  Of course, minimum and target spacing rules are still important.  A planter isn't allowed to plant new trees just anywhere.  The new trees can only go into microsites which are at least minimum spacing away from all other acceptable crop trees.  If you remember the section talking about how a missed spot is determined, you are only supposed to plant additional trees into the “missed spots” on the block.  There are a few things that make a fill plant more difficult and/or confusing:
- Since there are already trees on the block, the planter needs to walk much further on average to plant each tree, since you need to walk past existing trees.
- Each existing crop tree, regardless of whether it was planted or was a residual or natural, must be assessed by the planter to determine whether it is an “acceptable” crop tree.  This takes a few seconds.  A natural that isn't considered to be acceptable would be one which doesn't have good form or vigor, and which doesn't meet a minimum height requirement.  Such a tree is ignored while fill planting.
- It can be difficult for a planter to see where he/she has walked, since there aren't always freshly planted trees to give visual cues.  Therefore, it is important to flag your path as you work your way around a fill, so you don't cover the same ground twice, wasting time.
- Fill plants, which are usually several years old, will almost always have more grass, brush, and competing vegetation than freshly harvested blocks.

A “replant” block is somewhat similar to a fill plant, although the terminology is confusing because a replant has additional meanings.  Replanting may refer to what happens when a planter has to fix poor quality in their piece.  Replanting is also treated as synonymous with reforestation by some people.  However, in the context of the term that I am currently referring to, think of a replant as being a “plant the whole block again” type of approach.  A replant is somewhat similar to a fill plant in the sense that there will be a lot of crop trees present that will confuse the planter, however, you still need to plant a complete new blanket of trees across the entire block.  I've also heard of this type of approach called a “matrix fill.”  In a replant, you ignore all existing crop trees, even if they appear to be healthy.  It is also important to understand that this terminology is only used in some regions, and is not necessarily common throughout the industry.  Due to the limited sets of circumstances where it makes sense to ignore apparently healthy naturals, “replant” blocks are relatively rare.

There is a good reason why replant blocks are far less common than fill plants.  Normally, a forester would want to take advantage of any existing trees which might mature into good timber in the future.  Sometimes however, naturals which might look good to a planter are known to the forester to be a problem.  Perhaps there is some sort of disease which has hit the plantation, and the forester knows that all the trees are going to be dead within a year or two.  In that case, a replant of the entire block, ignoring the doomed trees, makes sense.  You may find that most replants are done with different species than the ones on the block which have the disease, otherwise, the newly planted seedlings might catch the same disease.  The approach to planting a replant block is exactly the same as for planting a fresh new raw block, although the presence of what appear to be crop trees will confuse the planters somewhat.  It is still possible though to “follow trees” through the block and not use flagging tape to mark new trees.  I wouldn't recommend it though.  It's much faster and more efficient to work a replant block with extensive use of flagging tape.

Replants are generally priced slightly higher than new raw blocks, simply because they are slightly more confusing, and usually have more grass and vegetation.  Fill plants, on the other hand, are usually priced quite a bit higher than straight plants, because of their difficulty.  Fill plants can be extremely confusing for first-year planters, so a company may try to restrict those blocks to skilled vets only.

In order to be successful at fill planting, you need to be good with flagging.  You don't just flag trees that you plant; you also flag naturals that you walk past, to show where you've been.  You have to thoroughly understand spacing rules.  Fill plants can be very dangerous because it is extremely easy to get an excess fine.  Remember that when excess is calculated, it is based on the number of trees PLANTED in a plot.  Let's use a numerical example.  Let's say that your target spacing is seven trees per plot in a straight plant, and you plant eight trees.  That means you have one excess tree in the plot, which when divided by the total number of trees planted, gives you an excess for the plot of 12.5% (one divided by eight).  However, let's say that you have a fill plant, and it has six well-spaced naturals, and you plant two more trees.  In that case, the plot still has eight crop trees in the end (six naturals and two planted), and since it is only supposed to have seven, you have one excess tree.  But in this case, the excess (1 tree) is divided by the number of trees planted (2 trees) and therefore the excess percentage is 50.0% - that's a disaster!  So you really, really need to be careful not to try to jam in too many trees in a fill plant.  That's especially hard considering that you're usually really fighting to try to find spots to put trees, and they're higher priced than normal trees, so as a planter, you really want to push the rules.

Many people also assume that it is harder to get good quality in a fill plant.  This is an interesting mathematical issue.  I would argue that it is not harder to get good quality in a fill.  That's because, unlike with excess, both the numerator (number of satisfactory trees) and denominator (total trees planted) in the planting quality percentage fraction are changing equivalently.  In order words, it is true that a single bad tree represents a much bigger hit to the quality.  However, this is offset by the fact that less trees are checked, so there are less opportunities to find bad trees.  If you survey a given number of trees, the quality will be the same (statistically speaking) regardless of whether the density is high (straight planting) or low (fill planting).  Of course, those of you who are familiar with statistical analysis realize that what does change is the standard deviation.  You can expect bigger swings in the accuracy of sampled results, in both directions (good or bad) when a smaller number of trees are sampled.

When looking at a fill plant prescription, you'll usually be given two numbers.  The first is the expected number of trees that will be planted per hectare, and the second is the target density.  The target density is assumed to include both your new trees, and any good naturals.  So if a fill plant was listed as 600/1400 for density, that would mean that the forester wants a total of 1400 stems/Ha including both newly planted trees and good naturals, and expects that you'll be planting about 600 trees per hectare to make that happen.  In other words, the forester guesses that you'll be adding about 3 trees per plot to bring the plots up to a total of 7 trees each.  This implies that surveys have assessed an average of about 800 stems/ha of acceptable naturals already on the block.  Be wary of these predictions though.  Fill plants usually have very inconsistent survival across the block, so regen surveys can often be wildly incorrect.  Your end goal in this example is to plant whatever number of trees in each plot is required to bring it up to the target density of 7 trees, NOT to always plant 3 trees in each plot.  That estimate that three trees will be needed per plot was purely a rough guess, to help estimate how many trees will need to be assigned to the block.

When approaching a fill plant, it can be useful to know if the reason for the fill is because the block was originally left for natural regeneration, which wasn't successful enough to pass surveys, or if it is because the trees that were originally planted on the block experienced mortality.  If the block was left for natural regen, it will often appear to be very “patchy” when looking for good naturals.  In one area, you may see hundreds of closely packed young naturals, and in another area, you may see almost no crop trees growing.  On the other hand, if you're looking at a planted block which experienced mortality, it's often possible to see the pattern that the previous planters used.  In this type of a block, the mortality is more widespread across the block.

There are advantages and disadvantages for the planter to both types of blocks.  In a patchy fill based on failed natural regeneration, a planter may have large patches with good survival, and the planter can basically walk through large areas quickly.  When a patch with poor survival is discovered, it's easy to plant a lot of trees quickly.  On the other hand, with a plantation that experienced mortality, the dead trees are often scattered randomly across the block.  This means more walking, because every part of the block needs to be covered again.  On a positive note though, it's often possible to pay attention to exactly where the previous planter put all of his/her trees, and for the fill planter to just plant new fill trees in the exact same spots where any previous trees died.  Spacing is usually easier to figure out in a previously-planted block, and there is less frustration with trying to find places to plant new trees that aren't under a minimum distance from other good trees.  Essentially, there is a partial “grid” for trees already laid out for you.  Of course, nothing is ever that black and white when it comes to fill planting.  Many blocks that need to be filled will contain a mix of natural regen and surviving trees from the previous plantation.  In that case, you just have to walk and pay attention everywhere.


Assessing a Block

When looking at a block and deciding how easy it will be to plant, there are a surprising number of characteristics that can differentiate it from other blocks, such as the geography, slash, and soils.

In terms of geography, important things to consider include the elevation, the slope (how level it is), and the topography (whether it is a rolling or flat surface).  If the block is sloped, the aspect affects how soon the snow will melt off in the spring, because south-facing aspects lose their snow fastest.  The ratio of block size to the length of roads, and also the placement of those roads, are important.  The road network on a block usually determines where caches will be placed, and how easy it will be for planters to access all parts of the block.

In terms of the surface, the amount and average size/length of the slash is particularly important, as is the height of this slash above the ground.  Are the woody debris coarse or fine?  How green is the block, and what types of grass, brush, and vegetation are present?  Different types of vegetation cause variations in difficulty of planting.  The time of year that the block was harvested can also affect the planting.  If the block was harvested in the winter, the vegetation might have been somewhat protected by the snow, and thus might be more resilient.

In terms of soils, the biggest question is whether or not there is a lot of rock in the ground.  If so, what kind is it:  cobble, regular stones, slate, or gravel?  Is there a lot of soil, or is it mostly black organics?  If soil is present, is it red/brown mineral soil, or powdery grey, or heavy in clay content?  Is there any sand?  Is the soil well-drained, or will it hold a lot of moisture?

We've already touched on a number of these characteristics previously, but the lesson here is that during your planting career, you'll eventually learn to recognize a tremendous amount of variation between the blocks that you work on, and even throughout your piece on any given block.

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-          Jonathan “Scooter” Clark