How to edit with proxies?

[BrandonChristensen]

I’m about to dive in on waiting a feature soon. The DIT is spitting out 1080p pro res proxies and I wanted to use them for starting to edit.

my question is…

how do I best set up this project so I can relink, and most importantly - how does one relink.

They’re 1080p but the final edit will be 4K.

The naming structure is the same - so is it an exported EDL and relink that way?

 

[Nick Morrison]

I’m about to dive in on waiting a feature soon. The DIT is spitting out 1080p pro res proxies and I wanted to use them for starting to edit.

my question is…

how do I best set up this project so I can relink, and most importantly - how does one relink.

They’re 1080p but the final edit will be 4K.

The naming structure is the same - so is it an exported EDL and relink that way?

Exactly. As long as your dailies have the same filenames and timecode, it should all relink in Resolve. Do a quick test before you start editing.

But we do it all the time, it works fine.

One trick, when you go to relink, don't export any of the audio tracks - just video. And remove all your transitions and fx on the video. So just make an EDL of the straight cuts, if that make sense? After you've conformed to 4K, then you re-apply your transitions and fx.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Exactly. As long as your dailies have the same filenames and timecode, it should all relink in Resolve. Do a quick test before you start editing.

But we do it all the time, it works fine.

One trick, when you go to relink, don't export any of the audio tracks - just video. And remove all your transitions and fx on the video. So just make an EDL of the straight cuts, if that make sense? After you've conformed to 4K, then you re-apply your transitions and fx.

Hey Nick, thanks.

So to confirm while I have your ear...

1. Edit with the proxies in Premiere (they are 1080p proxies and I'm finishing in 4K) in a 1080p timeline.

2. When locked, nix all transitions and keep everything straight cuts, and export an EDL without audio.

In Davinci, how do I change the resolution and will that screw up shots with reframes? Will I have to redo all of that?

Thanks man!

 

[Nick Morrison]

Hey Nick, thanks.

So to confirm while I have your ear...

1. Edit with the proxies in Premiere (they are 1080p proxies and I'm finishing in 4K) in a 1080p timeline.

2. When locked, nix all transitions and keep everything straight cuts, and export an EDL without audio.

In Davinci, how do I change the resolution and will that screw up shots with reframes? Will I have to redo all of that?

Thanks man!

These are all great questions. To keep your reframes, try exporting an AAF as well - without media embedded.

Always do an EDL to start, because it's bullet proof. But an AAF solves the issues you speak of - it records reframe info, and other basic edit decisions.

AAF's are really the way to go, but I always advise starting with an EDL because - due to its simplicity - it just always works.

AAF's can be tricky because there are two types - embedded (where all the media is copied over), and not embedded. You want not-embedded. You just want the edit info. All the media you'll be relinking to anyway.

As to resolution, that's another great question. Remember Resolve is agnostic, and cares about nothing. If you import an EDL, it will relink to whatever files you tell it to - it goes only file name, not the extension (ie .mov, or .r3d). It just looks for filename and timecode and links accordingly.

For resolution, you decide that in your project settings - it doesn't default based on what you link to. So if you want to work in a 4K 23.98 project, set it that way. Any files that are smaller than 4K, Resolve will automatically scale up (handy feature).

Two more tricks to keep in mind.

When you prep your EDL, also flatten all the shots to one track. No colorist wants to see 4 to 12 tracks of video. They want to see one track of video only.

Two - do yourself a favor, and export a burn in reference QT of your EDL, so you can eye match your cut in Resolve. So export a ref QT with burned in SRC TIMECODE, and SRC CLIPNAME. This is super handy. Invariably, if you have a large project, a number of clips may not link over - for any number of reasons (the editor changed their name, added a slow mo fx that wasn't taken off, etc, etc). So these are easily found and added back in if A - you know what the shot looks like. And B - you know what clip and timecode it's supposed to be at.

Good luck. And good questions, you're head is in the right place.

 

[William Long]

Hej Nick!

Great post mate!
A good example of the very best of Red user.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

These are all great questions. To keep your reframes, try exporting an AAF as well - without media embedded.

Always do an EDL to start, because it's bullet proof. But an AAF solves the issues you speak of - it records reframe info, and other basic edit decisions.

AAF's are really the way to go, but I always advise starting with an EDL because - due to its simplicity - it just always works.

AAF's can be tricky because there are two types - embedded (where all the media is copied over), and not embedded. You want not-embedded. You just want the edit info. All the media you'll be relinking to anyway.

As to resolution, that's another great question. Remember Resolve is agnostic, and cares about nothing. If you import an EDL, it will relink to whatever files you tell it to - it goes only file name, not the extension (ie .mov, or .r3d). It just looks for filename and timecode and links accordingly.

For resolution, you decide that in your project settings - it doesn't default based on what you link to. So if you want to work in a 4K 23.98 project, set it that way. Any files that are smaller than 4K, Resolve will automatically scale up (handy feature).

Two more tricks to keep in mind.

When you prep your EDL, also flatten all the shots to one track. No colorist wants to see 4 to 12 tracks of video. They want to see one track of video only.

Two - do yourself a favor, and export a burn in reference QT of your EDL, so you can eye match your cut in Resolve. So export a ref QT with burned in SRC TIMECODE, and SRC CLIPNAME. This is super handy. Invariably, if you have a large project, a number of clips may not link over - for any number of reasons (the editor changed their name, added a slow mo fx that wasn't taken off, etc, etc). So these are easily found and added back in if A - you know what the shot looks like. And B - you know what clip and timecode it's supposed to be at.

Good luck. And good questions, you're head is in the right place.

This is truly a helpful post. I am thankful. I've cut three features and did it all with the RED files and it was always bulkier than it needed to be, so I wanted to do proxies on this one. I had that workflow down, I didn't realize that Davinci was completely agnostic.

I may reach out in the coming months (we're going into the back half of production now) but I appreciate your thoughtful response!

 

[Nick Morrison]

This is truly a helpful post. I am thankful. I've cut three features and did it all with the RED files and it was always bulkier than it needed to be, so I wanted to do proxies on this one. I had that workflow down, I didn't realize that Davinci was completely agnostic.

I may reach out in the coming months (we're going into the back half of production now) but I appreciate your thoughtful response!

Anytime - just message me.