RedCine bugs and wish list

[sander kamp]

Let me begin by saying that I really like RedCine. It's snappy and it is magical to change curves and colors in realtime. But since it isn't finished my list of things that need to be done and could be done:

Bugs
- By far the most annoying thing is that the auto save feature is not reliable. Mostly it works but many times I open an old project to find out that my last changes have gone. A working 'save' button would be a solution - at the moment you have to navigate to the folder from your home folder and overwrite your project - too many mouse clicks.
- When adjusting the in and out points of clips when in 'range' it goes out of range mode. It takes three clicks on the 'range' button to get back into range mode, the first click gets you into a strange range mode with three clips
- Snap shots in jpeg turn out a blank gray image on my Mac
- Frame rate defaults to 24fps for 25fps footage

Wish list
- Copy color settings to all clips
- Please please please footage previews when browsing: now I have to go to the finder, double click a quicktime preview to open it in quicktime player, repeat many times to find the right clip, remember the clip name, go back to RedCine, navigate to clip and import it. Or I have to import all clips and delete all the clips that I don't want and do so again for all the empty slots.
- Set default color settings - I hate the flat default images that RedCine makes from RED footage. Why can't I set the default saturation higher and the shadow to 1.0?
- Audio...
- Make quicktime previews from RedCine rather than having to go to RedAlert
- Make apple-tab go to other applications and make apple-H hide RedCine, Fn-F11 is just a weird combination on the Mac and I can't get used to it.
- Stay in range mode when adjusting a clips in and out settings
- Make current playhead point the in point or out point of a clip
- Delete the slot with the clip
- Make clips moveable in between other clips in the library/timeline
- Make the clip icon playable in the library
- If I make a alternative grade for one clip than another clip without one won't play in the timeline, is it possible to make this work different?
- Go the last opened folder whenever navigating for a 'save' or 'output path'
- Favorite folders
- Another adjustment point in the curves editor
- Information about shutter speed of clips
- Jump to a point in the timeline when clicking on it rather than having to rub it
- Open projects by double clicking the icon
- Redcine projects icon
- Way of seeing what version you have installed

Hope this helps!

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Nice list...

While we're @ it:

Rendering with RL
Render in RC _without_ preview
Save "grades"
I have never made anything fun out of the saved files, even when saving them in "good" places after having to trash the /library/redcine...
Somehow I have a hunch that ScratchCine is in the ballpark of what RedCine should have been and FCP/Crimson/Gluetools/RedLine is on the Mac (+ the hardware of course) (no real CC so it doesn't kill Scratch sales and no "real" output) But SS is priced around the same pricepoint as a Speedgrade system, so I probably don't understand that product...
RC Could/Should have accepted edls from the beginning and there are some serious underlying bugs in there that don't seem neccesary. I really hope (for the PC guys) that it will do it in a future release. Not because I don't want Ian to make a lot of money from Crimson, but because this is a big hurdle for first time PC users... (No redline/Red Alert, no easy way to take an edl from proxies and online it)

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

Render in RC _without_ preview
Save "grades"

Turning off preview, which is why many, many people feel the pain of slow renders (if your preview and render settings don't match - you debayer twice - not exactly efficient) is a SIMPLE code fix. I am clueless why this wasn't done when it was discovered and discussed many months ago.

If we don't see these two features and color settings in the Redcine XML in the next RC build ... I think the writing is on the wall.

I hope I am wrong on this one. Given timing of NAB and build 16 - I do understand a delay in the dev cycle - but I am surprised that we have not seen another build with simple changes and bug fixes.

 

[Lucas Wilson]

Hi Sander... Great list! Let me jump in on a few...

Bugs
- By far the most annoying thing is that the auto save feature is not reliable. Mostly it works but many times I open an old project to find out that my last changes have gone. A working 'save' button would be a solution - at the moment you have to navigate to the folder from your home folder and overwrite your project - too many mouse clicks.

Turn off Auto Save. Then select manual "Save." You should only have to navigate to your home folder once. It then persists, and the next time you hit "Save," the Browser should automatically go to the last selected Save folder.

- When adjusting the in and out points of clips when in 'range' it goes out of range mode. It takes three clicks on the 'range' button to get back into range mode, the first click gets you into a strange range mode with three clips

You're right, that's annoying. Let me give you an alternate way of working that you may find less annoying...

1) Range in on a shot
2) Scrub to the inpoint you want
3) Click on the "In" point. Do not scrub it, just click on it. That will bring up the Calculator.
4) Now click on the frame counter just to the right of the "Library" button. That will copy that number into the In point.

The "clicking Range 3 times" is a bug... nice find. What's happening is...

The numerical value immediately to the left of the "Range" button is the number of frames of "handles" to assign when you Range in. So if you type in "4" there, when you Range in, there will be 4 frames of in and out handles on either side of the shot. But when you Range in, that number changes to show you the total frame count of the Range. Now when the timeline "un-Ranges," that number is not being reset. It's a bug.

Wish list
...
- Please please please footage previews when browsing: now I have to go to the finder, double click a quicktime preview to open it in quicktime player, repeat many times to find the right clip, remember the clip name, go back to RedCine, navigate to clip and import it. Or I have to import all clips and delete all the clips that I don't want and do so again for all the empty slots.

How about this...

1) There are actually TWO ways to hit "Play" from the Library... Play All and Play Shot. So...
2) In the Library, set "Depth" to 1.
3) Load All from a parent directory. This should have the result of loading all your clips into a single slot.
4) Park the cursor over any clip.
5) Right click and select "Play Shot." This will take you into the Player, but with JUST that shot in the timeline.
6) When you find the right clip, drag it to an empty slot.
7) When you're done, right click on Slot1 (with all your clips) and select "Trash Slot." That will get rid of the slot plus all the clips in it.

- Make current playhead point the in point or out point of a clip

If you use the method I describe at the top with opening the calculator and clicking on any value, that will do this.

- Delete the slot with the clip

Already exists. Go to the Library. Right-click on any slot and say "Trash Slot."

- Make clips moveable in between other clips in the library/timeline

You can do this in the Library. Click on the middle of a clip (don't click-drag, just click) and that will "stick" the clip onto your cursor. Then drop it somewhere else. You can also right-click and say "Insert Slot" while the clip is stuck to the cursor and then drop it into the empty slot.

- Make the clip icon playable in the library

You know that you can scrub those clips, right? Click-drag just along the inside top border of a clip and that will scrub it. Or do you want a proper "Play" within the thumbnail?

- If I make a alternative grade for one clip than another clip without one won't play in the timeline, is it possible to make this work different?

I don't understand this. Can you give more repro steps?

- Go the last opened folder whenever navigating for a 'save' or 'output path'

This works on my laptop - it does persist...

- Information about shutter speed of clips

Go to "Shot." Look at the metadata section. It is there.

- Jump to a point in the timeline when clicking on it rather than having to rub it

Don't quite understand this. Can you explain another way?

- Way of seeing what version you have installed

Hit "H" for Help. At the bottom of the pop-up, you'll see "Redcine version 1.0.xx." The "xx" is the build number.

Cheers!

Lucas
-----
ASSIMILATE, inc.
la, ca, usa

 

[M Most]

Turning off preview, which is why many, many people feel the pain of slow renders (if your preview and render settings don't match - you debayer twice - not exactly efficient) is a SIMPLE code fix. I am clueless why this wasn't done when it was discovered and discussed many months ago.

Preview is a very useful feature in that a quick glance can let you know the status of the current render. A better approach than turning it off would be to automatically force the correct preview mode (based on the debayer setting) when a render is initiated.

But yeah, you're right - why it doesn't do this already is beyond me as well.

 

[M Most]

1) There are actually TWO ways to hit "Play" from the Library... Play All and Play Shot. So...
2) In the Library, set "Depth" to 1.
3) Load All from a parent directory. This should have the result of loading all your clips into a single slot.
4) Park the cursor over any clip.
5) Right click and select "Play Shot." This will take you into the Player, but with JUST that shot in the timeline.

Or, just hover the cursor over the clip you want to play and hit Esc (a shortcut from Scratch that also works here). You can then go from the single shot Player back to the Library by hitting Esc again.

 

[sander kamp]

Thanks for the reply Luki!

Turn off Auto Save. Then select manual "Save." You should only have to navigate to your home folder once. It then persists, and the next time you hit "Save," the Browser should automatically go to the last selected Save folder.

I tried that. But the moment you load more footage your navigation is lost and you're back at your home folder. Then many clicks again and 'overwrite?, yes' to save. At the moment the save button is acting as the 'save as' button in every other application. Why can't I just click 'save' and my project is saved?

You're right, that's annoying. Let me give you an alternate way of working that you may find less annoying...

1) Range in on a shot
2) Scrub to the inpoint you want
3) Click on the "In" point. Do not scrub it, just click on it. That will bring up the Calculator.
4) Now click on the frame counter just to the right of the "Library" button. That will copy that number into the In point.

That works nicely for the in point. Doing the same with the out point gives strange results.

How about this...

1) There are actually TWO ways to hit "Play" from the Library... Play All and Play Shot. So...
2) In the Library, set "Depth" to 1.
3) Load All from a parent directory. This should have the result of loading all your clips into a single slot.
4) Park the cursor over any clip.
5) Right click and select "Play Shot." This will take you into the Player, but with JUST that shot in the timeline.
6) When you find the right clip, drag it to an empty slot.
7) When you're done, right click on Slot1 (with all your clips) and select "Trash Slot." That will get rid of the slot plus all the clips in it.

The play all and play shot is a nice feature. But the 'trash slot' doesn't work if there are any clips in it, meaning you still have to drag every clip to the trash.

You know that you can scrub those clips, right? Click-drag just along the inside top border of a clip and that will scrub it. Or do you want a proper "Play" within the thumbnail?

Yes. But scrubbing doesn't work if you want to find the best take of one shot. Playing would be really nice.

I don't understand this. Can you give more repro steps?

What I mean is that if you make an alternative grade of one shot it ends up higher in the stack for that slot. But if another clip has only one level, when you play the main timeline the clip is black. So if you want to play around with different grades with more than one shot you have to make alternative grades for every shot in the timeline in order to play it properly. Or you have to move clips around in the stack.

This works on my laptop - it does persist...

No, maybe it happens when you navigate for different purposes, like loading footage or saving the project but RedCine goes back to my home folder a lot and every time I have to navigate again.

Go to "Shot." Look at the metadata section. It is there.

Oh there it is!, Great.

Don't quite understand this. Can you explain another way?

If I click at a point on the timeline nothing happens. I have to click-drag to go to approximately that point on the timeline.

Hit "H" for Help. At the bottom of the pop-up, you'll see "Redcine version 1.0.xx." The "xx" is the build number.

Ahhh, the help screen! Do you think at one point it would be possible to customise shortcuts? For a lot of Mac people that would be good since the RedCine ones are so different from other Mac apps.

 

[Kenn Christenson]

I'd like to see a firewire preview capability, like After Effects. Since most of my work ends up in Standard Def, right now, it would sure be nice to use the waveform monitor I have - to check what I'm doing in Redcine.