Final Cut Workflow Issues

[Derkster737]

Hey guys,

I know there have been a lot of posts yet about using the Red in final cut however we are running into issues of importing footage and getting different color tones.

When we are importing from Redrushes to an apple prores(HQ) codec and getting a very warm tint to the picture. I have the export looking at the look source which when we were shooting on the RED we were looking at the red space to make our adjustments.

When importing via the REDcine looking at the redspace we get the look the way it was set on the camera. But the downside to this is there is a very long render time and you can only do one clip at a time.

We need a process that is going to allow us to transcode the footage to preferably an apple prores codec to be used in final cut studio 2 and Aftereffects. If anyone has any suggestions on what we might be doing wrong that would be awesome.

 

[mikeburton]

Use clipfinder or redrushes to transcode to ProRes codecs. Then import edit and online via crimson workflow, Color or better.

 

[Derkster737]

Well I have tried those two programs and the issue is that its not exporting the footage with the correct color look setup by the DP. How can this issue be solved or what might I be overlooking?

 

[Noah Kadner]

Confirm the looks match what the DP expects in RED Alert! or in REDCINE before switching to REDRushes. Make sure you are expecting to the same gamma and color space settings the DP was viewing when the footage was shot. Remember, this is the RAW workflow so processed footage can be made to look very different from the way it looked on set.

Noah

 

[Nick Shaw]

Sounds as if you were shooting with pre build 20 firmware on the camera, and are processing in Red Rushes using the new colour science. The new colour science makes the footage look better, but you need to re-white balance in Red Alert - you can create one RSX per scene there and apply it to multiple clips.

Otherwise, the simple solution is to use the latest version of Clipfinder, and choose "use old colour science" in the prefs. This will get you closer to what the DP saw on set.

 

[Derkster737]

Noah,

I was just looking at your book actually and anticipation to buy it when it comes out. Umm I would like to utilize redrushes or clipfinder and im pretty certain that when, lets say, I'm using redrushes that its setup to look at what the DP is looking at but it ls not for some reason. Usually there is an orangish tint to the picture. Any ideas? I can be more specific on what im seeing if you would like?

 

[Derkster737]

Sounds as if you were shooting with pre build 20 firmware on the camera, and are processing in Red Rushes using the new colour science. The new colour science makes the footage look better, but you need to re-white balance in Red Alert - you can create one RSX per scene there and apply it to multiple clips.

Otherwise, the simple solution is to use the latest version of Clipfinder, and choose "use old colour science" in the prefs. This will get you closer to what the DP saw on set.

We were shooting on an older build of the camera. We just updated to build 20 the other day. I'm now importing some footage with redrushes with the new build. I will see if this corrects the issue.

Can you explain to me what you were talking about with the color science?

 

[Noah Kadner]

What happens when you press the metadata button in RED Alert! ? That should show you at least what the footage was looking like on the shoot. Then you should sit down with your DP. Also, personally I'm of the mind it's not that important to have perfectly graded footage for the initial edit, just establish a consistent look that's as close to what was seen as shot and go from there. Then when you're totally done editing, you can go back and grade RAW, either in Color or wherever else you plan to finish.

Noah

 

[Derkster737]

in red alert when I hit metadata it will give me more of a correct color temp. but it still is not looking like the quick time proxies.

 

[mikeburton]

Download the new version of clipfinder. Go into preferences and turn off the check box that reads "use new color science". Then make your color choices in clipfinder to create an RSX file for each clip. Then tell clipfinder upon export to use RSX file when transcoding the clips. This will make your transcoded clips look exactly like you see them in the clipfinder window when you were giving them a quick one light grade.

If there isn't any color tweaks yo. Want to make to a certain clip you can toggle the curve metadata to reset and that will not make any color changes but will create a RSX file. If you have a bunch of clips that are going to use the same look or RSX file for export you can tell clipfinder to just use that one look file for all your clips. You can also click the good takes button so as to not transcode bad takes etc to save time.

 

[Nick Shaw]

What happens when you press the metadata button in RED Alert! ? That should show you at least what the footage was looking like on the shoot.

Not if you are running the latest RED Alert but shot with a build before 20 it won't!

To make things more complex, the Quicktime proxies do not yet use the new colour science, so under build 20 they will not look like what you saw on set!

You could open a clip in RedCine, and read off the modified white balance values there, then plug those into Clipfinder/RED Alert to create an RSX. Then you can render in Clipfinder under the new colour science. But that is a bit of a complex work-around.