noob to 4k fcpx/davinci workflow

[william howell]

captured a bunch of 4k footage in the last month or so.... some red... some canon...

our editing platform is obviously apple... one editing station is a mac pro... two others are macbook pros... the footage is stored on a 12 tb thunderbolt raid with a mac mini controller.... the editing stations are working off the thunderbolt raid over 1 gig ethernet... (we know... wish it were 10 gig)...

this is our first attempt at using 4k footage for a deliverable... AND... Davinci Resolve 9 (that shipped with our bmcc)...

so... it's going to be a learning experience to say the least... we know there will be pitfalls and obstacles... small triumphs and utter failures... but... hey... we live for this stuff...

we're assuming the workflow should go something like this:

Davinci to generate proxy files on the editing machine> Fcpx to edit the proxies and generate the xml file > davinci for colorgrading the final xml edit (pointing to the 4k footage stored on the thunderbolt raid)



that seems simple enough to do... we tested it out today and it seemed to work well enough... but...


sometimes we get fancy and will have to meld 3-4 different types of videos together... all different formats... all different cameras... all different resolutions... sometimes in the same shot (Think comic book windows)...

davinci doesn't seem to recognize any of the fcpx "transform" parameters we apply to any of the videos in these sections... got any ideas?

I understand that isn't a normal question... but... it is what it is....

1. are we thinking about this correctly (workflow wise)

2. is there a better way of doing this?

oh yeah.... no... we don't have a red rocket to help out with real time playback...

 

[Terry VerHaar]

For the most flexibility, I'd recommend opening all R3D files in RCX first and save RMDs. You should also know you can edit R3Ds directly in FCP-X. For more info, find Sam Mestman's posts here on Reduser.

 

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Also remember that FCPX can make Proxies too and pretty fast.

Do check Sam Mestman's tutorials (We Make Movies). He has great tutorials on working with R3D and FCPX and DaVinci.

 

[Scott Crawley]

My current workflow is similar.

I have done one lights both in RCX as Terry suggests, as well as Resolve. I'm not convinced that either is route is empirically superior. Right now it seems best from an organizational standpoint to limit the number of apps in the soup and use Resolve as the central hub; giving each department working files in their format of choice. Then reconform and grade in Resolve, sending a ProRes 422 HQ or other format back to FCPX to marry picture with soundtrack and create deliverables.

 

[Eric Santiago]

Since FCPX 10.0.8 and latest XML, its been quick and dirty with RCXPro (save RMD) > FCPX (quick simple edits, some transforms work well) > Resolve (you can finish here too or..) > FCPX (finish/share).

All of the above posts are helpful.

Wasnt like this two year ago.

I had to live and die in AMA hell

 

[Scott Crawley]

One other note about 1 lighting in RCX in a Reslove pipeline...

Once you have begun grading in Resolve, DO NOT re-open the R3Ds in RCX. Furthermore, if the editing system and the Resolve system are accessing the same R3d media, stay away from the RAW settings in the editor once grading has begun. It is very easy for someone to effect your grade by changing the RAW metadata, leaving the Colorist stymied as to who or what is fucking with his head or exactly how to get back on track.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Just to be clear, my suggestion for opening and saving RMDs in RCX was independent of doing any modifications of settings ("1 light"). The point is: if you save the RMDs before importing footage into FCP-X, you could thgen access those same copies of the RMDs back and forth in FCP-X and RCX. If, however, you import into FCP-X and then fiddle with the metadata there, RCX will not be able "see" those same RMDs.

Can't comment on Resolve as I haven't spend much time there yet.

Again, see Sam's tutorials for a great workflow guide.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Just to be clear, my suggestion for opening and saving RMDs in RCX was independent of doing any modifications of settings ("1 light"). The point is: if you save the RMDs before importing footage into FCP-X, you could thgen access those same copies of the RMDs back and forth in FCP-X and RCX. If, however, you import into FCP-X and then fiddle with the metadata there, RCX will not be able "see" those same RMDs.

Good point. For those cutting from R3d's directly and/or grading in RCX that is the way to generate RMD files. FAIK Resolve does not generate RMD files. I have found no way to do it. In the OP's workflow it is not necessary, since he is cutting proxies and grading in Resolve.

 

[Luis Otero]

If it has not changed recently, once you open a R3d in Resolve, it will use the metadata that it had at that moment present. If opened again, since it does not generate/update RMDs, any further change outside Resolve will not alter your gradings. Now, if you delete the Resolve project, and open a new one, it will take any new RMD metadata. Again, I am not aware that this has changed. Maybe in V10...

 

[Scott Crawley]

Thanks Luis.

That is good to know. I hope I understand better now. I did have two projects running simultaneously, referencing the same footage. I was under the impression that since Resolve was not writing to the RMD that the settings I made in RCX would be persistent and each project's RAW adjustments would be discreet. I was obviously mistaken. Moving from one project to the other really screwed me up.

Thanks again.

Can a Resolve project get over bloated with multiple timelines or does that not effect overall performance?

If it has not changed recently, once you open a R3d in Resolve, it will use the metadata that it had at that moment present. If opened again, since it does not generate/update RMDs, any further change outside Resolve will not alter your gradings. Now, if you delete the Resolve project, and open a new one, it will take any new RMD metadata. Again, I am not aware that this has changed. Maybe in V10...

 

[Luis Otero]

In my experience: yes. During a customer service call, one of the solutions offered was to eliminate any timeline within a project in order to increase performance, and to alleviate slow playback being experienced. I did it, and it got solved.

My recommendation will be to call the highly competent Resolve support group at BMD if you are experiencing any performance issue.

 

[Scott Crawley]

So you have to keep the project lean by pruning off dead or inactive timelines, but you can't keep multiple discreet projects. That kinda sucks.

How best do you maintain a long version history?

Big thanks again.

In my experience: yes. During a customer service call, one of the solutions offered was to eliminate any timeline within a project in order to increase performance, and to alleviate slow playback being experienced. I did it, and it got solved.

My recommendation will be to call the highly competent Resolve support group at BMD if you are experiencing any performance issue.

 

[Luis Otero]

This is a good question for the CS people of BMD. In my case, I treat it as any NLE project: you try to have the less amount of sequences that you can since performance is affected by the number of sequences, as well as by the length of each sequence (FCP recommends to have sequences no longer than 20-30 minutes each).

I suspect that, since Resolve is a correlational database software, the less data part of the project, the better performance you will get. This applies to any database based software.