Ingest using AJA IO HD vs Transcode

[WillClements]

Hi Folks

Does anyone know of any benefits with transcoding to ProRes (Within RED Rocket software) over using an AJA IO HD to ingest the footage over the HD-SDI output of a Red One? I do not need the original .R3D files as the project will be output in ProRes. It also does not matter that the Red can only output during playback over HD-SDI. Is there any difference in quality? I know it would save a lot of time!

Any input would be much appreciated

(My first post so go easy on me)

Cheers

Will

 

[Tom.Wong]

are you saying you're going to shoot then take the camera and use playback to capture into AJA io? opposed to transcoding r3d?

if you have a red rocket you can probably get close or the same real time encoding with the aja, so the time is almost negligible. if you keep your r3d you'll still have your digital negative to go back to, and allow yourself more flexibility. aja also won't give you the 4k incase you need to go back to it. with fcs3 you can use pro res 4x4 to maintain a perfect color space and a full alpha channel.

my opinion is that transcoding with red rocket will give you more flexibility in the long run and easier ability to go back to things, and the media managment would be easier too cause the r3d's are labelled accordingly and efficiently. via aja you'd have to do that manually for the most part and that will probably use up more time.

 

[WillClements]

Cheers for you answer Tom, much appreciated. Any idea how many frames a second a unibody Macbook pro can process per second when transcoding?

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Be aware that the HD-SDI output from the RedOne, either live at 720P or in playback at 1080P is still a medium quality de-bayer extraction with a number of compromises inherent in doing real time decodes in camera.

I strongly suggest you create your ProRes material from the R3D files themselves via a proper transcode. I would only use the camera tap for offline editorial (be aware that the lack of metadata may retard your workflow) or if time constraints leave you with no other option.

Bottom line: HD-SDI output from the RedOne is not anything like HD-SDI output from HD video cameras.

Cheers - #19

 

[WillClements]

Thats exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks Blair. Thats how I have ingested from HDCAM in the past and thought the workflow may be used with RED, I have alot to learn about RED workflow, looks like a new MacPro with a lot of storage is in order!

 

[ThomtheEditor]

Also; you'll be stuck with the color space of whatever the camera was set to on injest vs color correction from the raw which allows a lot more latitude not only in that you're coloring and output become a first generation clip rather than a minimum of 2nd (even further down if you do vfx work) but also prores is an 8-bit codec vs workingfrom the raw (12-bit). Rendering in full debayer vs capturing in half isn't the only place you'd loose quality in that workflow. Also having your raw around comes in handy if you need to punch into a shot; you can get upto around 150% off the raw before noticing any real loss in quality.

 

[captainblack]

hi if you have a RED Rocket™ you can probably get close or the same real time encoding with the aja, so the time is almost negligible. if you keep your r3d you'll still have your digital negative to go back to, and allow yourself more flexibility. aja also won't give you the 4k incase you need to go back to it. with fcs3 you can use pro res 4x4 to maintain a perfect color space and a full alpha channel...thanks for the post