HDRX WORKFLOW

[Nathaniel Kramer]

now that i have had my epic for a while, i figure its time to LEARN HOW TO USE THE HDRX FEATURE.. Can anyone tell me how to implement HDRX on camera, and then how to make use of it in post? We have rcx pro, FCP 7, Premiere Pro and After Effects... I am hoping i do not need to purchase scratch, as i dont want to spend so much $$

[Terry VerHaar]

Basic answer - it's right there in the menu on the touch screen (upper left). You turn it on and select how many stops of highlight protection you want. Some adjustments to frame rate, compression, etc may be necessary or desired.

In post, you use REDCine-X to blend the two before you output to another platform. To my knowledge (which is incomplete on tho particular point) other software won't deal with HDRX directly.

On a broader point, particularly in light of another polar thread about how "badass" REDuser used to be, (and please don'tt take this too hard) this stuff is spelled out right there in the manual. It's a really good resource. You should get a copy, read it, and keep it close by for reference.

[Nathaniel Kramer]

Terry- I dont see a slider in RCX or MMNB-- will I only see it once i have hdrx footage loaded in RCX?

[Terry VerHaar]

AT this moment, not sure - which version of RCX are you running?

EDIT: (I thought I had some HDRX on my computer but can't find it right now...)

Personally, I'd be confident to go out and shoot some test HDRX and work out the RCX part later. I am guessing it will be there if you are running the latest version.

[Nathaniel Kramer]

i have bot 506 and rcx pro

[Terry VerHaar]

I just shot some HDRX - as soon as it's loaded in RCK, the selector shows up. Mystery solved.

[Mike Harrington]

fusion 6.3 will deal with hdrx natively...

[Justin Kirchhoff]

Use RCX-Pro and you will only see the HDRX slider when you load footage that was shot with HDRX enabled.

[Nick Pasquariello]

To the best of my knowledge, Nuke can utilize the A-frame and the X-frame independently. I think Da Vinci can blend them for grading, but that may require the paid version.

When the camera is on HDRX mode, it shoots at two shutter speeds simultaneously. Let's say you set your shutterspeed to 1/48 second. The A-Frame would be the normal, 1/48 exposure. The X-Frame, however, would be a shorter exposure. Say, 1/96. Located RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the 1/48 exposure. What you are then doing in post (fairly easily in RedCine-X, and that's the only program I have personally tested it with so far. But I am assuming [yes, assumption, so please take with a grain of salt] that any program that can read up-to-date RMD files can read the HDRX info and utilize it, if not change it.) is blending the two frames, i.e. the two different exposures.

What's important to realize is that, if you have a lot of motion in the frame, and long enough shutterspeed for the A-Frame, then the motion blur of the subject could be radically different in the A-Frame and X-Frame. Which can lead to some wonky blending in areas of the frame that are motion-blur in the A-Frame, and no-motion-blur in the X-Frame.

Also important to realize is that, if you shoot HDRX, and then decide that you didn't need to, you can just use the A-Frame (or the X-Frame), and forgo the blending entirely. On the Epic, this probably means you haven't lost anything. On Scarlet, it probably means you lost a bit of resolution.