4k workflow and workstation

[nima]

Hi all,
we are about to finish a project in 4k while we still need to take care of the necessary hardware.
Searching the forum we could find thousands of workflows based on many different machines and softwares.

This is what we are going to ask in this thread:

If you worked on a 4k project from shooting to finalization, please take few minutes to describe your workflow and the hardware you used.
Many editors used very simple and inexpensive workstations, other are relying on Assimilate, Boxx and other useful tools.

What is enough to start and finish a 4k project?
:cold:

 

[Adam Glick]

I don't mean to sound rude, but it seems like you have a bit more research to do before you should commit to shooting or finishing anything in "4k".

I doubt anybody here is going to describe in detail their workflow or production methodology without a little more info...

It seems that the threads most likely to get attention on this site are by folks who ask specific questions -after having tried to find the answer(s) themselves first.

If you can offer a few details about what type of project you have, the type of resources/talent at your disposal, I'm sure that would be a good place to start.

**edit** having reread this, i think i came off a bit harsh - its been a long week... Please share more about your situation and i'm sure people will give you some direction for the most crucial things to consider...

 

[Michael Cioni]

Nima-
Planning a 4K end-to-end workflow is a significant ordeal. One thing to consider is that it is actually extremely rare for people to finish their Red projects in 4K resolution. 95% of Red projects finish in 1080p with only a handful finishing in 2K.
I've managed elements of post production on over 100 Red jobs and I can say that there is also a proper correlation between speed and cost. Generally speaking the greater the investment, the better the toolset, the better the results.
My website has some of this information for your review.
michael

Michael Cioni
Founder, PlasterCITY Digital Post
www.plastercity.com

 

[Dan Hudgins]

"Simple 4K workflow?"

"Simple 4K workflow?"

My 4K workflow is sort of simple since my programs do the whole job more or less once you make TIF frames from REDCINE out of your R3D files, like this:

1) Shoot REDONE to make R3D files.

2) Use DANCAD87.EXE to make project structures on your 750GB+ harddrives

3) Use REDCINE to convert each shot to 16bit 4K TIF frames so that each shots frames are numbered from frame zero and are 8 digit, like 00000000.TIF, 00000001.TIF and so on, changing the string in REDCINE to "00#6.E" for the output may fix the 6 to 8 digit conversion. Be sure to change the output path to the right shot folder in the project structure my programs use, i.e. Select REDLOG export type, and do not do any color correction in REDCINE, CC is better done in my DANCAD87 as part of the post work, you can avoid clipped highlights and other faults that might happen if you adjust the color too early.

E:\P0001\S0123\I01\00000000.TIF etc.

4) Use DANCAD87 to make the low res "proxy" frames, my PIX type for each TIF frame you put into the project, the TIF frames would be in "Padded" filename type in I01 and the PIX frames would be Divided file name type in I11 folders, you use the Edit list image indert command to do this, it can batch process many shots overnight. Once all the proxy frames are made you can start to edit, thay stay on the disk for "instant" random access editing at 24/25/30fps.

5) Use the Edit list Pick command to trim the shots to final edit points and select the Key frame from each shot for color grading and correction.

6) Use the Grading command to grade each shot, you can change the grading at any point since the grading for each shots keyframe is saved in the OUTPUT resolution folder, e.g. I04 for each shot. You can grade different output resolutions by cloning one shot or level grading to another to save time.

7) Insert the audio tracks and work on the sound mix.

8) Run a set of DVD or HD rez output frames and do a full mix, then make an AVI using VIRTUALDUB to conbine the output frames and WAV track, look at that on a computer and make any needed adjustments.

9) Output a set of 4K TIF frames with CC for use in your film recorder etc.

That is a bit abridged list of the steps since you would be making changes to the audio tracks and edit points and then checking by outputing parts and using the Pick and View commands for sync playback.

One problem you will have with doing 4K is getting enough disk space for the final 4K to 4K output with color correction, but you can pick a range of shots to do in batch process, so you can do the work in sections and output maybe two minutes at a time.

I am working on some more documentation for my Web site now, but that is the general idea. My system is desigined for doing a 4K DI at home on a few cheep PC computers running FreeDOS FAT32 or maybe ME, XP Home SP3.

If you want to talk about making you DI real you can e-mail me, since my other posts on this subject have already done into some detail about my system, which is "freeish", you would want two computers for the editing one for sound and the other for image full screen, they are linked with SMPTE LTC hardware which can be found used. To build a render farm, you need removable harddrives, like 750GB EIDE, and some basic PC boxes, the more boxes the faster you can push the 4K to 4K workflow through, each frame will take about one minute without RAID 0 drives, about 80% of the time is harddrive for the uncompressed 4K TIF frames, so faster drives may push the work faster, but even on a 4GHz computer its going to be 30 seconds per frame of CC+resize about no matter how fast the disks are, maybe...

My macro language can be used for titles, and scrolling titles can be done with the main menu preview command, if you get serious I can talk you through the steps by e-mail and maybe write a macro for you as an example of how those commands work, for now the compositing is done at 24bpp after the 48bpp TIF frames are graded. In time that should be improved if I get around it, you can always export TIF to some other program to composite and then move the composits into another shot, the shotlist supports 10000 shots per project.

 

[Clint Childers]

Edit in 1K with Final Cut or Premiere Pro CS4, conform and export 4K through After Effects CS4. That's as simple as it's gonna get.

 

[nima]

Thanks Dan,
This is what we needed, and many other people will find it extremely useful!
4k has been a big step for what concern digital film, and it is important to make clear what is possible, and what is not.

We will definitely try your workflow, and will let you know!

 

[nima]

I don't mean to sound rude, but it seems like you have a bit more research to do before you should commit to shooting or finishing anything in "4k".

I doubt anybody here is going to describe in detail their workflow or production methodology without a little more info...

It seems that the threads most likely to get attention on this site are by folks who ask specific questions -after having tried to find the answer(s) themselves first.

If you can offer a few details about what type of project you have, the type of resources/talent at your disposal, I'm sure that would be a good place to start.

**edit** having reread this, i think i came off a bit harsh - its been a long week... Please share more about your situation and i'm sure people will give you some direction for the most crucial things to consider...

Apparently someone described his workflow, without wasting his time in judging a simple and general question.

The thread was meant to open a discussion about new and classic workflows, trying to collect (in one single thread) different approaches and opinions.
Details about my resource or talent were not important in this thread, and remember that you don`t have to answer if you don`t have anything interesting to say.
Take your time to read the rest of the thread and you might learn something new.