1st light and transcoding

[skim08]

I'm transcoding 4K to 2K ProRes. Probably will finish with 2K ProRes.

It was recommended that I do a 1st light in RA before transcoding, but I guess I'm still a little confused...

Goal: get an image to ProRes that will give us maximum latitude to color correct later (on the ProRes) --

Question: Do we compromise this latitude at all by doing a first light in RA (before transcoding to ProRes)?

Is it correct that the R3D file is our most raw "sensor" image? Wouldn't transcoding directly from R3D - as is, without 1st light in RA - give us the most "raw" image (the image closest to what the DP had intended)? aka we keep more information without 1st light?

probably there's something I'm missing here...

Thanks so much for any insights.

susan

 

[Alex Carr]

The best Workflow is to fill the Histogram in Red Alert, ie.. A little contrast, a little Saturation. AND don't use the curves, unless you are going to Render straight from RedAlert! As far as I know Red Rushes does not use Curve information.

Here is what you do,

1. Open each R3d in Red alert, fill Histogram. Close Clip or open next, DO NOT render from RedAlert,
2. Open Red Rushes, Add your reels that you just finished filling the Histogram with,
3. Next Make sure you have selected the Look Source as RSX, instead of Camera. Under the Render Tab, also choose your Quality, Full is best. but Half Res High is still pretty good.
4. If you shot 2:1 and framed the shots for 16:9 you will need to do some work here.
5. Select Render Output and Output Directory
6. Hit Render, wait for it to finish.

This is the fastest way to do it with good looking files and Audio. Its more of a pain to go through Log and Transfer than anything else.

 

[SF Geek]

Curves seem to work fine for me.

 

[Hans-Georg Daun]

Have a look at my free Clipfinder application. It will make the whole process described in the previous posts much easier. Version 2.1 beta is reasonably stable by now and includes render support via REDline (same as REDRushes).

Cheers,
Hans

 

[Nils Ruinet]

AND don't use the curves, unless you are going to Render straight from RedAlert! As far as I know Red Rushes does not use Curve information.

As far as I know, it's only the QT reference files that don't use the curve information yet. RedAlert, RedRushes and RedLine should work fine.

 

[skim08]

Thanks, x86box, for that workflow summary. I'm trying it out. And thanks everyone for weighing in.

I guess my real question is much more simple: do I really need to do a first light?

Don't mean to sound lazy, but...
With limited time and assistance, I would rather transcode all 30+ hours of footage, edit it (it is feature length), and then have a skilled color correctionist do his/her magic on it after picture lock.

The image as seen in RedAlert (for whatever that is worth) is very close to the image that RedRushes spits out as ProRes. The ProRes has very slightly milkier blacks, but it's acceptable and the colors are good. So any changes I'd do in RA appear to be minor.

Of course if something truly looks funky color- and contrast-wise during editorial, I will tweak it in RA and then re-transcode.

I ask all this because... Just want to make sure I'm not overlooking some other essential detail or benefit by bypassing RedAlert.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

[Alex Carr]

Its Harder to put shots where you want them if you 'bake' in the Flat RAW settings. Its better to just make the shot look presentable up front than try to do MORE than you need to with a Colorist. Like adding more time to pulling contrast and saturation, when you could easily do it up front and it would have a greater impact during and after Post while coloring. Leaving the Colorist with only creating a 'look' instead of doing the same repetitive tweaks to every shot, (such as Higher Contrast and saturation). Some Colorists complain about this.

I was not aware curves worked, thats worth a test. My tests about a month ago did not yield adding curve info.