Monkey Extract Questions

[Hani]

Thanks for that Craig. I ended up going with an EDL conform and it worked perfectly.

I didn't know you support DLEDL! Must try that next time instead of manually importing the DPX's.

 

[Nigel Stanford]

Is there upgrade offer for the single license to the multinode version?

We've just added an upgrade licence option for existing customers to upgrade to the render farm version, which can be purchased here.

Which RSX parameters remains effective in Monkey Extract?
Is it only color space and gamma space choices? What about ISO, Brightness and other parameters?

All parameters can now be adjusted in Monkey Extract, including ISO etc.

 

[Orenger]

Hi Nigel

I’m trying to conform an Avid M.C sequence in the demo version, in order to test how this workflow will work for me.

The intention is to finish the seq in either Avid Symphony or Avid DS ver 10.0, which has no RED support.

I tried to conform through REDCINE via FilmScribe Xml etc.
REDCINE failed to load the construct.

I turned to Monkey extract. Exported a RED16 EDL from Avid and then rendered out the red media as the small frame QT that the demo version uses.
I imported the QT into Avid M.C via the ALE that was created.

There are three issues which didn’t go according to plan.

1. The RED Shots are constructed from a few groups of R3D files, and I got
the same number of QT files as the shot parts named 001, 002,003 etc. Each
file was the full length of the shot and exactly similar to the other QT generated
for this shots.

2 The QT movies were rendered at a wrong frame rate resulting in an extremely
slow motion.

3. The master clip T.C was nothing like the source T.C of the clips in M.C

The project is 25fps. The offline ALE was not created by me and I’m not sure how it was generated. The seq is of the simplest kind: one layer of video and no dissolves only cuts.

Do you have any thoughts that might help me know where the problem is?

 

[Ken Wald]

Hi Craig,

Dumb question...

Can Monkey Extract transcode 30 fps R3D files to both ProRes Quicktimes and DPX files? By that I mean is timecode carried over properly as well as audio?


Thanks,

Ken Wald
Colorist
Optimus-Chicago

 

[Nigel Stanford]

Hi Ken,

Yes it can transcode to either format.

Quicktimes will contain audio and timecode.

DPX has timecode in the header, and usually also in the file name. DPX doesn't have audio as it's just a still image.

Check out the demo version, which will allow you to test everything out.

 

[simonpeterarnold]

Hi Nigel,

I am a registered Monkey Extract user and have downloaded the latest beta to test out your new render with Redcine option. I cannot get the XML to work it always fails to load construct. I am running the latest build of Redcine. Any ideas as to why it is not working?

 

[Ken Wald]

Thank you for the response, Nigel. We own a copy of ME and have been using it to transcode to ProRes and DPX with great success. ProRes for our FCP systems and DPX for our Baselight.

Specifically, I was wondering how well ME does this with footage shot with a timebase of 29.97/30 fps. Will audio and TC in the Quicktimes be accurate? Same for the TC in the DPX headers?

We have a job coming up being shot with a timebase of 29.97 with sync sound. I would simply run a test though ME, but I don't have 29.97 R3D files to try out. I'm sure ME will do fine, but we like to be certain ahead of time.

Thanks,


Ken

Hi Ken,

Yes it can transcode to either format.

Quicktimes will contain audio and timecode.

DPX has timecode in the header, and usually also in the file name. DPX doesn't have audio as it's just a still image.

Check out the demo version, which will allow you to test everything out.

 

[Nigel Stanford]

Hi Nigel,

I am a registered Monkey Extract user and have downloaded the latest beta to test out your new render with Redcine option. I cannot get the XML to work it always fails to load construct. I am running the latest build of Redcine. Any ideas as to why it is not working?

are you loading the footage into redcine before loading in the xml?

 

[Nigel Stanford]

Specifically, I was wondering how well ME does this with footage shot with a timebase of 29.97/30 fps. Will audio and TC in the Quicktimes be accurate? Same for the TC in the DPX headers?

Ken

Hi Ken,

I haven't tested this myself as we haven't shot any 29.97 footage. However, seeing as ME uses redline to render, I imagine if it had any issues with 29.97 audio in quicktimes, people would have complained by now!

Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Frederic Berninger]

Get EDL for grading

Get EDL for grading

Hi there,

I've got a similar problem like Shaun here below:

Hi,

for the moment i am using a trial version of Monkey extract simply to run some tests on some R3D footage.

i created a CMX3600 EDL in Avid, but when i start the rendering in Monkey to make my DPX files it comes up an error message saying "unable to make new EDL for grading" it also says it is unable to "write" to the destination of my saved EDL.

Does anybody know why this would happen, is it possible for me to use my original EDL in conjunction with the DPXs to conform in FLAME?

any help would be appreciated

I just can't get the "...for_grading.edl" out of Monkey Extract when Converting R3D :willy_nilly:. It seems like ME tries to save the EDL into the same folder the loaded Selection EDL or XML is. So I've tried to put the Selection EDL on the Desktop, the internal HDD, an external HDD end into the network but non of it worked.:sosp:

My Background-Pipeline is:
Rough cut in FCP -> Export EDL -> Conversion by Monkey Extract into Avid DNxHD -> Fine cut in Avid -> Export EDL -> Relink of R3D-Media for Grading in Speedgrade.

Well of course, the problem wouldn't occur if Avid could simply understand the EDL CMX 3600 out of FCP, but that's the main problem :svengo:. I could edit the footage names without a problem so that Avid would relink to the converted media, but every time I import the EDL every clip has a length of 23:59:59:24... :yikes: Now i thought if Avid can't read the FCP-EDL, maybe it could read the EDL created by ME but this little error threw a monkey wrench in my plans - literally :mad2:

Maybe you guys have an idea where the problem is (means: if it's the program or if it is it's user... means: me :willy_nilly

The EDL I've used (coming from FCP) is:
FCP EDL out of hell

Thanks a lot and greetings from the still not very summery Berlin. :frown2:

Frederic Berninger,
OMgraphix / OMstudios, Berlin

 

[Kaku Ito]

Hi Nigel,

I'm having crash after rendering (I think upon creating the XML) on one machine.
Do you know how to fix this, like trashing the preferences, but where are they located?

Thanks in advance.

Kaku

 

[Craig Herring]

Hi Nigel,

I'm having crash after rendering (I think upon creating the XML) on one machine.
Do you know how to fix this, like trashing the preferences, but where are they located?

Thanks in advance.

Kaku

Hi Kaku,

I am unaware of any such crash bugs at the moment. Can you please send me an email at support@rubbermonkey.co.nz and we can figure out what is going on.

Thanks
Craig

 

[Craig Herring]

Hi there,

I've got a similar problem like Shaun here below:



I just can't get the "...for_grading.edl" out of Monkey Extract when Converting R3D :willy_nilly:. It seems like ME tries to save the EDL into the same folder the loaded Selection EDL or XML is. So I've tried to put the Selection EDL on the Desktop, the internal HDD, an external HDD end into the network but non of it worked.:sosp:

My Background-Pipeline is:
Rough cut in FCP -> Export EDL -> Conversion by Monkey Extract into Avid DNxHD -> Fine cut in Avid -> Export EDL -> Relink of R3D-Media for Grading in Speedgrade.

Well of course, the problem wouldn't occur if Avid could simply understand the EDL CMX 3600 out of FCP, but that's the main problem :svengo:. I could edit the footage names without a problem so that Avid would relink to the converted media, but every time I import the EDL every clip has a length of 23:59:59:24... :yikes: Now i thought if Avid can't read the FCP-EDL, maybe it could read the EDL created by ME but this little error threw a monkey wrench in my plans - literally :mad2:

Maybe you guys have an idea where the problem is (means: if it's the program or if it is it's user... means: me :willy_nilly

The EDL I've used (coming from FCP) is:
FCP EDL out of hell

Thanks a lot and greetings from the still not very summery Berlin. :frown2:

Frederic Berninger,
OMgraphix / OMstudios, Berlin

Hi Everyone,

The for_grading EDL will always appear next to the original EDL.
However in previous versions, some configurations did not produce "for grading" EDLs. This was probably causing the confusion.

I've just uploaded the 2.308 alpha so that everyone can download it. You can find a link on my signature below. This provides for_grading EDLs for all configurations and also allows you to save an EDL/XML directly from the thumbnail browser screen. Please install this version and see if it fixes things for you.

If you are still having problems, please email me at support@rubbermonkey.co.nz and we'll try to figure out what is going on.

Cheers
Craig

 

[MichaelP]

Well of course, the problem wouldn't occur if Avid could simply understand the EDL CMX 3600 out of FCP, but that's the main problem :svengo:. I could edit the footage names without a problem so that Avid would relink to the converted media, but every time I import the EDL every clip has a length of 23:59:59:24... :yikes: Now i thought if Avid can't read the FCP-EDL, maybe it could read the EDL created by ME but this little error threw a monkey wrench in my plans - literally :mad2:

When importing an EDL into Media COmposer you will see a sequence and master clips of 24 hours that are reserved for each of the source tapes. These represent internal Master MOB ID's that are created as part of the EDL import process. These can be deleted. Load the sequence, is everything there that you need? What are the tape names? FCP can't deal with the full 16 character format. I will take a look at your EDL.

Michael

 

[MichaelP]

The EDL is the FCP 8 character version. Are you persisting the same 8 character source EDL through your entire process? You need to create an ALE file that uses the same source in order to relink the media. The relink is straightforward - must have same exact source tape name and timecode. Does the EDL contain time of day timecode? Once Monkey makes the DNxHD QT's, how is the ALE being done? Do you have a sample ALE? If ot does not have the 8 characters as source in this case, it will not relink.

Michael

 

[Kaku Ito]

Thanks Craig,

Also, I've been trying to figure out to match the output gamma on DPX and Blackmagic 10-bit RGB. When I output DPX, then bring them in to AE, output as DPX will look darker or brighter depending on the setting but I can't never seem to match the Blackmagic.

Now, take the same DPX and output as Blackmagic 10-bit RGB from AE ends up the same as direct Blackmagic 10-bit RGB from Monkey. Do you know the setting on DPX to match the output of Blackmagic 10-bit RGB?

 

[Frederic Berninger]

First of all:

thanks Craig! I've tested the new alpha. Works fine so far and the new REDcine XML export function gives us here at OMstudios the possibility to render with our PCs and not only the few Mac's we got :thumbsup:
But it seems like ME still didn't create a "_for_grading.edl", although there was no error having a problem to creat it...

--------------------

Now second:

Hi Michael,

thanks for your time.

to take it right away: at the moment we're about to re-conform the whole cut into speedgrade. As the final cut had to be done very soon we've decided to buy automatic duck, which seemed to be a good choice. Although a co-worker and i spent more than two days to get the cut into avid correctly but without success. Automatic duck did it in less then 5 hours... So we're over the described problem but i think it's worth to discuss it anyways if someone else just doesn't have $500 to spend.

To get to your questions:
When i delete the offline master clips in Avid, i can't batch import them via the sequence... The sequence and the clips inside are still there, but without the belonging master clips it won't help very much.
The sequence itself is fine, no gaps, no mixing in the cliporder (exept once, when ME did some monkey style twisting with the clipnames - i'll get to it later).
The tapenames displayed in avid are the same as the clipnames (C048C009 i.e.).

Yes it's only the 8 character version. I couldn't find a EDL-preset for FCP like the RED16-Preset for avid. As you can read in the comments, the full sourcenames are still denoted. As i rendered the DNxHD-movs with ME, it changed the filenames to the 8 character short version of the FCP-EDL inside ME (command in rename-field: "[Reel Id][C]"). But no, if there is a way to get the full clipnames into the EDL, it would have also been nice.

Most of the clips are in time of day timecode, but some are edgecode. The camera crew screwed it up a little bit and let one R3D1 run at edgecode and the other one on time of day - but that hasn't been a problem, since ME interpreted it all correctly.:emote_hippie:

Well you're talking about an ALE, which sounds nice as you wrote it, but how do i create one. FCP is only capable of exporting EDL and XML. I've never had to do with ALE's, so i ain't got a sample


--------------------


Now apart from that we got some trouble by multiple clips, cut out of one source-file. ME does a fine job by counting clips with equal names...

But in this process (we used three macs to render the footage out) we stumbled over a lack of feature in ME, which would be really nice to have:
Sorting the thumbnail list. Either by Clipname or timecode or cutnumber.

Why this might be usefull: As described above, we had several subclips from one long shot in the roughcut. Sadly those subclips where not right one after another in the EDL but more like spread through the whole list. It has been quite a work to figure out why some of our clips just didn't exist or were simply at the wrong point in the timeline. As we rendered on three machines one overwrote the file that already has been created by another machine.

If it was possible to sort the thumbnail list, it'll be more easier to split up the whole job into parts to render on multiple machines.

 

[Toke Rude Trangbæk]

Not able to export DPX from Color when using MonkeyExtract - URGENT

Not able to export DPX from Color when using MonkeyExtract - URGENT

Hi

We are about to move an entire feature film from FCP to Color using MonkeyExtract.

Rendering etc. works fine.
Import to Color works fine.
But looking in my render settings tab in Color I am no longer able to export as DPX. It's set to Quicktime - and I'm unable to change it (se attached picture)!

What to do? I need to be able to render out as DPX.

/toke

UPDATE:

We have another issue...

Color it only shows - and renders - the first image of each clip!

If i change monkey extract to TIFF it works ok.

What to do? I need to be able to render out as DPX - into Color - out as DPX

 

[MichaelP]

The last section of the Avid/RED step by step guide talks to he process of importing an ALE and doing a relink. In your case, the new QT wrapped DNxHD files just need an ALE. (See step by step guide). This can be created with MetaCheater, ClipFinder, and I thought Monkey Extract. The conform process is different than you think:

Import ALE
Merge QT DNxHD files (as shown in Step by Step Guide)
Move the sequence from the EDL into the same bin as the source clips created from the ALE/QT merge
Highlight everything
Go to relink and select "relink to selected" based on tape name/timecode
Done. Sequence now links to the new media and inherits all the metadata from the ALE.

Michael

 

[Kaku Ito]

Hello Craig and Nigel,

I have a question on the new version that is supporting the REDALERT! build 20.
Would it also work with the older build of REDALERT!? So, it would work accordingly to the build that I installed with?