Epic-X #538 - Notes From The Field

[Dan Kanes]

The latter, actually getting good quality quickly from the footage after shooting, is by FAR the number one thing people give me negative feedback on. Most of the time, I think they are just relaying information they got from their editor (long transcodes, difficulty with color, etc.), but it's a constant problem. People who do not frequent RedUser have a very difficult time after shooting with Red, and as a result, the talk -- at least amongst the groups I travel in, which certainly can afford to rent a Red -- is 100% negative.

I don't have any suggestions, just wanted to agree with the OP that the perception is real, and at least for the circles I run is, is based on experience, not rumors. Obviously Epic can do great things in the right hands; it'd be nice if it could also do so in the hands of people who've never even heard of RedUser and aren't aware of it's quirks.

I've said in other threads that I think the C300 will be very successful with filmmakers (and I'd also include actors/writers shooting their own stuff). The above is why: an Alexa-easy path in post. Canon (like Red) makes great images, but there's so much less that can go wrong after the shoot (basically, nothing). For a filmmaker who doesn't know how to fix what's going wrong with Red anyway (read: 99% of them), the Alexa (and now C300) are an easy decision.
Best, Erich

What you have made a great case for here is the

NECESSITY of A GOOD DIGITAL IMAGING TECHNICIAN and

WORKFLOW CONCIERGE

A "media manager" is not enough to achieve any degree of success because

PEOPLE ARE LAZY

this is 100% fact.

As you said almost nothing can go wrong after the shoo with an Alexa or C300 - this is only partly correct. You are assuming that anyone in post-production could never be at fault for not knowing their craft or the wealth of tools available to them.

I'm not an editor because I personally hate editing - but if I planned on being an editor I would make myself a MASTER of ALL digital cinematography systems.

Being "confused" or misguided is not an excuse.

Really the same can be said for production.

Here is a non-camera centric blanket statement that will probably piss a lot of people off:

THERE IS NO EXCUSE THESE DAYS TO MAKE A "BAD LOOKING" motion picture.

There are a wide variety of cameras available at any price point with different capabilities.

It's not the camera technology - its the humans.

Art didn't hit an Apex when photoshop was invented. Why would it be any different with Digital Cinema

To all of us "technologists" - just thank about that one for a while

 

[Björn Benckert]

Im coming from the post side of things. I think it's very often so that DIT's and camera crew using RED usually tell the producers and directors about the great 4 or 5k and that thats the resolution to work in... Basically thats far from the truth. Doing EFX work in 5k is like driving with the handbrake pulled all the way up. Not really a cost saver to say the least. Post is a big part of the production cost and doing the work in 5k instead of HD is more than 6 times the costs. Then also most post facilities does not know or have the gear to handle red code. So when shooting is done the producer gets a huge problem getting the raw footage trough offline and online. In other words delivering 5k to somebody that do not have a red rocket is very much like causing trouble. The post house will tell the producer that they can't work with the files, the files will then later be converted at a very high price some where else and done so with lost range. Since they did not know what to process they most often converts all the media to dpx 5k or such, then the amount of data suddenly got so big so it's problems keeping track of what files are on with disk. Also Picture will look bad since the conversion was done before grading, and in the end everyone involved will complain. I seen this go wrong so many times so you would not believe. That alone was one key thing for us to buy an Epic and also a Red Rocket Raid. This way we can convert to small proress already on set and then also render out the HD files for the VFX work from the offline XML's. So basically to avoid total meltdowns and everyones sour faces you must make sure the chain down to DPX files is set up before shooting, if not it will be epic failure 10 out of 3 times.

 

[Dan Kanes]

Bjorn - Very good points you make there.

One of the things that a workflow concierge needs to do is explain the three primary benefits of 4k or 5k Capture:

1. SuperSampling/OverSampling - by starting with a higher pixel count you are recording that much image information/color information. When you make a good Beer for instance you don't start with a Pint of Ingredients to make a pint of beer - after filtering and reduction you end up with something tasty from something much larger/denser.

2. High Resolution Capture allows for better integration when compositing. If you are delivering something at 1920x1080 - perhaps a giant hamster - would you rather have the highest resolution possible master to Downscale into an environment, rather that trying to stretch and upscale something that doesn't fit?

3. "Future Proofing" - this is the easiest one to knock since we are all living in the present. For some of us, the present is all that matters - and as much as I am someone living in the here and now, the future is always only a day away - its easy to forget that, but things look like they are changing slowly, and then boom, it is ten years later.

That's how I see it - I feel that you can deliver the highest quality 1920x1080 master by shooting a Red or Epic today - but that's just me - I'm sure there are plenty of people who disagree, and I can also make workflows work for them too. At the end of the day, we all like to get our paycheck and go home.