ProRes 422 HQ vs. What?

[Tommy]

I'm going to be editing a low budget feature film shot on the Red (4K 2:1) and this is my plan... Cut using the proxies. Use Crimson to get the project to Redcine. Do a one-light and export back out as ProRes 422 HQ at 1920x1080 (letterbox). Color correction in Color and then finish on HDCAM SR for film festivals. If we get distribution I will go back to my original proxie cut, export an EDL out of FCP, and do a DI with Scratch before the film-out. First, does my plan make sense? Are there any obvious holes? Would it be best to keep the native 2:1 before printing to HDCAM SR or do I have to convert to 1920x1080 because those are the dimensions of the tape? Is there a way to produce a better quality image while on a low budget? I've been scouring the internet for quite a while now and I haven't found one. Conforming to DPX may produce a higher quality image but I'm not sure I quite understand what's all involved. One of the articles that really seemed to make sense (and fit our budget) was on CoreMelt...
http://www.coremelt.com/support/workflow/red-camera-10-bit-color-online-workflow-with-fcp-6.0.2.html
Thanks everyone for being so helpful...

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

after crimson you could export to uncompressed QT instead of prores HQ, if you want to avoid dpx files.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Yeah, I would go uncompressed 10 bit. You'll need fast drives to be able to work with it. On the surface ProRes is pretty darn good for some things, but I would say a feature might benefit from uncompressed because of the high level of color correction that will take place.

 

[Alex Carr]

Do not edit with proxies... If you have ever worked with them you will know how shitty they work in normal workflows... Try Converting all your 1k proxies to Pro res and edit in 1k and then use Crimson to Reconnect the Uncompressed 1080 or Pro Res.


Proxies are not practical... Final Cut Pro does not have true support for REDCODE... you cant render to it... THat means you can only work with it in a Pro res sequence... Meaning rendering everytime you move something...

Proxies are good for 30 sec commercials, never allowed for feature... You will create a mess with proxies. It is standard for Post Houses to Transcode everything to Offline Pro Res for Editorial. I am working with Plaster City right now and they wouldn't do it with proxies... Not a long form project...

 

[ChristopherKenworthy]

after crimson you could export to uncompressed QT instead of prores HQ, if you want to avoid dpx files.

But don't avoid DPX. It's a beautiful way to work with Red footage. So edit with proxies, use Crimson to Redcine, and then output DPX to separate folders and do your Color work. Quite simple, after all. (Glue Tools makes all the difference, of course.)

 

[Steve Sherrick]

But don't avoid DPX. It's a beautiful way to work with Red footage. So edit with proxies, use Crimson to Redcine, and then output DPX to separate folders and do your Color work. Quite simple, after all. (Glue Tools makes all the difference, of course.)

Yes, if he is open to DPX, then that is a great way to go. But DPX is even more demanding than Uncompressed in terms of sustained data rates necessary to play it back. I believe Bob(Gluetools) indicated that a RAID that can support 300MB/s as well as one of the newer Intel Macs (if you are on a mac) to really get maximum performance from Gluetools.