ProRes transcode w/letterbox

[skim08]

Hey there,

Using Red Rushes, if you are finishing at ProRes (HQ) at 1920 x 1080, do you transcode your 4K 2:1 footage:

a) to 1920 x 1080 with letterbox
maintaining 2:1 image but rescaled

or

b) to 2048 x 1024
and then deal with aspect ratio rescaling to 1920 x 1080 with letterbox after color correction but before layoffs?

For this project I'm on now, I went the "b" route.

My Color Correctionist mentioned that in the past he's gotten transcoded RED stuff pre-scaled to 1920 x 1080. I didn't know this was an option, so I was curious what others do.

Are there benefits to either?

Thanks.
Susan

 

[CraigDavidson]

CineForm ReMaster has the option of center crop to 1920x1080. You keep the full vertical resolution and trim 112 columns (2.7%) on each side of the original image.

 

[Bruce Ingram]

I've been doing the transcoding at 2K size, as you have, and then conforming in Color to the finished size. By doing that I can grade with a larger resolution, but then just resize and crop to whatever my finished delivery needs to be.

This way, even if my initial delivery is 1920x1080, I have the option of delivering a larger res without needing to re-transcode, I give myself and the director the option for any framing adjustments that they may want last moment, and I have better quality to work with giving me more range in what I can do with the footage. Even if I wasn't cropping and was letterboxing the footage, I'd rather letterbox in my finishing rather than in my transcoding, I wouldn't want to burn that letterbox in permanently.

Honestly, I would approach it this way regardless of the grading software I was using.

 

[skim08]

Great summary. Yes, I agree... having options later makes complete sense, rather than baking it in during the transcode.

It sounds like Color won't have any troubles with conforming size, so all that makes me happy. We really want to go with a letterbox and not lose any of our image.

I wonder also if transcoding with a letterbox adds more of a level of compression? Just wondering...

cheers.