Framerate in Final Cut Pro

[Anna Thora]

I'm starting to ingest RED one material into Final Cut Pro. I wan't to use the workflow for film and ingest the REDCODE RAW files without transcoding to ProRes, thus grade the raw files in Color afterwards and have multiple options of output on video or film. This process is described in the whitepaper and FCP support documents. However, the material I have was shot at 4K and framerate 25 fps.(instead of the recomended 24fps or 23.98fps)
Does that mean I have to transcode my material to ProRes and won't be able to color correct the RAW files in color, after editing?
Anyone?

 

[Nick Shaw]

25 FPS works fine in both FCP and Color in my experience. However I would suggest that transcoding is still a good idea for editorial. Working with native files at 2k is too much even for an 8-core Mac Pro, and you are unlikely to get playback at 25 FPS.

I would suggest editing with either lower rez proxies (_M or _P depending on how fast your machine is) or transcoded files, and then conforming back to the native files, either as described in the white paper, or using Clipfinder (www.daun.ch/software)

 

[Lewis-M Soucy]

And mostly, I seriously doubt, from memory, that FCP and Color can handle 4K... I think 2K is the limit, even then, I'm not sure... And you'll pull your hair out with cutting, not to mention rendering...

I'd get Crimson (check the video quick demo) and work with proxies. Do 1st color in Redcine, then CC in Color... THEN check a few graded 4K stills... But 4K workflow on a Mac (FCP/Color) is a no go in my opinion... Just my humble one...

 

[Anna Thora]

My Mac is 2x3 GHz Dual Core.
I'm working with 2K files. I have made a lot of tests, editing the _M. proxies in FCP and grading the 2K's in color, sending them back to FCP as ProRes HQ for videomastering.
Some of my tests worked very well and the CC dynamics of the raw files are beautiful. However I'm now having problems in color where the PB gets stuck on a frame and jerks on it. The problem continues when rendered and after sending the files back to FCP. Also my Kona card is jumpy and and my system crashes too often. I turn the playback off in FCP to ease the load of the card.
My guess as to the source of the problem is the frame rate...I'm not sure though because some few tests were fine...
Question: If I transcode to f. ex. ProRes HQ, doesn't that eliminate my options of doing CC on the 2K files in color after editing?
Can my files be transcoded back to 2K after editing?
Thank you for your opinion.

 

[Luca Immesi]

Question: If I transcode to f. ex. ProRes HQ, doesn't that eliminate my options of doing CC on the 2K files in color after editing?
Can my files be transcoded back to 2K after editing?

You can trascode to pro res Hq 2k in L&T and then send to color. You can make CC in color with prores HQ 2k but you loose the option to manage the raw data in the red room in color.
One easy workflow could be this:
cut your P or M proxies in fcp then send to color, go to the geometry room and resize to 2k. in this way you have the comfort of editing proxies in fcp and the power to CC the r3d in color. There's some problem in color with r3d files longer than 2GB http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23105 but aside this is a very easy way.