No decoder settings for Red metadata

[Brian F Johnson]

I have no problem importing red raw files into dissolve and changing the metadata values via the decoder option. However after exporting an aaf file from avid and importing into dissolve I lose all metadata options. The decode options are grayed out. I made sure project settings "red" was chose as camera bit still grayed. Like I said if I import the original raw footage everything works great. Any ideas

 

[Paul Sage]

Sounds like you conformed in Resolve using the Avid DNX material instead of the R3D material. Make sure to point to the folder where the R3D files are located when conforming.

 

[Brian F Johnson]

Paul thank you so much for your reply. Maybe a stupid question but are you speaking of the conform at the stage where I imported the aaf after editing in avid or when I conformed the original red raw as a one lite before exporting out as a mxf file

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

Paul thank you so much for your reply. Maybe a stupid question but are you speaking of the conform at the stage where I imported the aaf after editing in avid or when I conformed the original red raw as a one lite before exporting out as a mxf file

When you are pulling your timeline into Resolve *after* you have edited, it sounds like you are telling Resolve "Hey, look at these nice DNxHD files." Rather than "Nono, look over there at the better R3D files".

By default, Resolve wants to look at an XML or EDL or AAF and just follow where it's pointing. Said files is, of course, pointing to DNxHD files, because that's all Avid knows exists. Avid doesn't know about the original R3Ds, and doesn't care.

So in Resolve, when you bring in your AAF, you need to make sure to tell it to ignore file extensions, and also point it to where your R3D media is located, rather than your DNxHD media.

 

[Brian F Johnson]

Nick I believe Im halfway there. I forced it to look for the r3d files but now Im getting timecode extent problems. However at least that pinpoints me to look for mismatch Tc or reel numbers or whatever the case. Any thoughts?

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

Yeah, there can be issues there. In short, Avid cares more about Reel IDs than File Name, but if the metadata isn't handled properly when you're creating your DNxHD files for editing [side note: it's way too easy for a DIT to fuck this up. Says a DIT that learned the right way on-the-fly on a job this summer when the only thing Editorial kept saying was "It doesn't work. Fix it. I don't know what you need to do, but you need to do it."], you can end up with some mismatches or overlaps which harm you when you get to the conform stage. Spoiler alert: You are in the conform stage right now.

Also, let's say you have a 3 day shoot. You shoot something at 9AM on day 1. Then you shoot something at 9AM on day 2. Then 9AM on day 3. Well, now you have three clips that aren't named the same, but that do have the same time-of-day timecode. If none of the footage has a Reel ID, Resolve will grab the first matching-timecode that it finds and shout out "I DID IT! I FOUND IT! IT'S THIS ONE". [Side note, relatedly, when you go to render out of Resolve and back into Avid for your final assembly, if you don't tell Resolve to render out each clip with some sort of unique filename identifier, but rather tell it to render out using the original clip name, if you have used two different parts of the same footage-file in your timeline, Resolve will overwrite the first usage when it goes to render out the second usage, creating holes in your post-graded timeline. That's another learnt-on-the-fly thing to store in your back pocket for now.]

For short projects, if your timeline is 80-90% correct, just go clip by clip and force-conform to the correct clip. Once you tell Resolve "No, over-eager-buddy, it's not this one, it's THAT one" it should look at it, grab the correct section based on timecode, and go "Did I do good? Can I have a cookie?" Yes, you can have a cookie now.

For longer projects, it'll be better to go into Avid and make sure the Metadata for Reel ID is set appropriately.

If this sounds a little vague, it's because it is. I can tell you the concepts of what's going on, but for specifics, you're better off talking to someone that spends more time in Avid or more time conforming. The BlackMagic Design user forums might be helpful, actually. And then there's just learning by doing. Conforming can still be a surprising-pain-in-the-ass, but the more you do it, the more you figure out what to do and what not to do and the easier it gets.