Scarlet 'simple' n' cheap Workflow?

[Rellaghs]

Hi all.
I'm a cinema student and i'm already saving some €uros for my Scarlet set up and workflow. But I'm a really newbie in the RED workflow (and all in general I guess). I've been viewing some posts and for what I could find the most simpliest and cheapest workflow would be:

RED Scarlet > RED Drive/Recording module > eSata/firewire to PC or MAC drive > Edit in Premiere CS4 or FCP > and then?

> simpliest: crop to 1080p and Burn a Bluray Disc
> Convert to flim? How? (I can rent a telecine to convert to film right? but in which format should I take it?)
> Other ways to do it? And what to buy to achieve it?

I know it depends on a lot a things, but i'm thinking film and TV (commercials and TVseries)
I'm probably missing a lot a stuff, like REDCINE, which I haven't taked the time to investigate it. Forgive me for such an amateur question, but I guess you're the best guys to answer me.

Thank you for your time. My congrats to RED, the best company ever.

 

[Steve Ellington]

At the end of a project you simply need to export a full quality uncompressed quicktime. From there you can export any number of final out put versions. An uncompressed 1080p for an HDCAM, a 1080p Bluray formatted h.264, a 2k version for a filmout. Your output options are unlimited. It really depends on where your final product will be screened.

As far as the workflow before the final output, that is pretty straightforward and will only get better. Right now, the simplest option is to edit from the camera generated proxies, and then conform with Crimson and then do your Online in REDcine.

Another simple option is to do a 'one-light' telecine in REDCine or REDAlert and then export all of your projects to ProRes422(HQ) 1080p. You then stay in the ProRes format for the rest of your workflow.

You will soon be able to edit the R3D files directly in premiere (i'm hoping for the same in FCP -- come on apple!!!)

There are plenty more ways of going about things and each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Anyone with more experience feel free to correct me on the workflows. I have only done post on RED once

Cheers

 

[Tanner Field]

You will soon be able to edit the R3D files directly in premiere (i'm hoping for the same in FCP -- come on apple!!!)
Cheers

Recently, I've been trying to get a grasp of RED post. If apple did announce native R3D editing in FCS3 does that mean that I could just dump all the files from the red drive to final cut, cut online... then send them directly to motion/shake/color. and then out put from final cut for 2k or 1080p? Would this allow me to skip all of the RED applications?
Thanks!

 

[Ryan Patch]

Rellaghs-

Just keep in mind that the "simpler" and "cheaper" that your workflow is, the less and less you'll be able to work with the better data.

For instance-
Rendering out of of FCP reference files to Color will look good, but you won't be manipulating actual sensor data in Color, you'll be manipulating RGB data rendered from the reference files. It's a good, simple, workflow, but not the most "pure".

Same thing with resizing to 1080p- fine to do it from FCP references, but you'll get better, "purer" data coming from a RED program that has access to the rfaw data that rasterizes there.

Tanner-
Yes, FCP proxy to R3D in Color is the idea, and would be the gold standard for many people. Color will NOT be able to do realtime in the way Scratch is able to, but it is a cheaper, more one-stop workflow.


It hasn't been specified weather Color will have access to actual sensor data yet, like Scratch does, though.

And then... there's the unfortunate fact that it doesn't exist right now

 

[brainburst]

The Red tools don't have any more access to sensor data. They do have better debayering capabilities. You shouldn't use any of the Red tools to do anything but the higher quality debayering and export without any of the looks applied. The Red tools after all are just a onelight correction. You just want them to extract as much information as possible to take to whatever your final CC tool will be.
Debayering is processor intensive, it's not a matter of reading the r3d files directly. The proxies are not intrinsically inferior to the r3d. They are just telling the QT decoder to extract more or less info from the R3d file. If Apple builds more powerful Debayering algorithms into the QT maybe thsat will help. But what we we will really need is faster processors and graphics cards.

 

[J Davis]

Another simple option is to do a 'one-light' telecine in REDCine or REDAlert and then export all of your projects to ProRes422(HQ) 1080p. You then stay in the ProRes format for the rest of your workflow.

I did a test on a 2.1 ghz macbook that the apple store are currently selling for $999

I downloaded 4K R3D files from RedRelay.net and used RedAlert to export to HD quicktimes. Worked fine.

I've edited 1080p and 720p on this same mac as well. Okay for shorts,
wouldn't want to do a feature! LOL

Be warned tho. This model macbook has an integrated graphics card. The newer macbooks have nvidia.

You can pretty much edit anything with an integrated graphics card and do Sound Track pro stuff as well. Motion is fine until you go into Z space then it crashes. Color is fine too – if you avoid the curves in the primary in room. Motion tracking works as well but is very slow. You will definately need a second screen to use this current version of color.
If you get a crash with motion using an integrated graphics card, zap P-Ram on next reboot

FYI – I intend to wait until I am holding a scarlet in my hands, then drop money on another computer. A lot can happen till then.