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Question about dailies (newbie)
- Thread starter Hugo Miró
- Start date
Nick Pasquariello
Well-known member
Er, well, define "view dailies". I know that sounds condescending on my part, but some productions want media transcoded to low res H264 files (as low as 360p for some jobs I do, as high as 1080p for others). Some want ProRes or DNxHD. Or you could mean that you want to view R3D files in real time without transcoding at all.
If it's the latter, you can view R3D files in RedCine-X in real time at 1/2 res debayer or even full res debayer on a modern laptop with no Red Rocket. Unless you're talking Dragon at 6K; that's a bit harder, and you'll likely need a Red Rocket-X (remember: the original Red Rocket is not compatible with Red Dragon footage). Typically, 1/2 res debayer is satisfactory, since it is a greater resolution than your screen. There are rare instances where a glitched frame isn't caught because the skipped/doubled/flipped bit is located somewhere in the data of a frame that the computer is not looking at while rendering out said frame, but assuming you are checksumming your data from Red Mags to Storage Drives, then at least you know that the glitch on the drives is the same as it was on the original mag.
If you are looking to transcode, the requirements are mostly similar if you are flipping your footage to one format. If you are creating multiple formats (DNxHD for editorial and H264 for review and maybe a 3rd kind of H264 for, say, iPads) then you will need stronger hardware.
Oh, and don't bother with the Base Station. It's only useful in very specific scenarios. You just need your mag reader of choice (the USB3.0 model is usually your best bet, with the eSata version in 2nd place) cable, new computer (mine is the MacBook Pro that is now 2 models back, and can view 5K R3D footage at 1/2 res debayer in real time), and RedCine-X. Or Scratch Play ($5 for the full version of Play, but unlike Scratch Lab, it only views, doesn't transcode.). Or DaVinci Resolve Lite or Full. Or Adobe Premiere. Or FCPX. Or . . . .well, you've got software options, is what I'm saying. Just about everything these days is GPU accelerated, making the original Red Rocket just about obsolete.
Of course, depending on specifically what you are trying to do, and how you are plumbing your data through cables, and who needs to see what, and how fast, and in what way, there are certain best-practices that will make your life easier. But with only knowing that you want to "view dailies only", it's hard for me to get more specific.
If it's the latter, you can view R3D files in RedCine-X in real time at 1/2 res debayer or even full res debayer on a modern laptop with no Red Rocket. Unless you're talking Dragon at 6K; that's a bit harder, and you'll likely need a Red Rocket-X (remember: the original Red Rocket is not compatible with Red Dragon footage). Typically, 1/2 res debayer is satisfactory, since it is a greater resolution than your screen. There are rare instances where a glitched frame isn't caught because the skipped/doubled/flipped bit is located somewhere in the data of a frame that the computer is not looking at while rendering out said frame, but assuming you are checksumming your data from Red Mags to Storage Drives, then at least you know that the glitch on the drives is the same as it was on the original mag.
If you are looking to transcode, the requirements are mostly similar if you are flipping your footage to one format. If you are creating multiple formats (DNxHD for editorial and H264 for review and maybe a 3rd kind of H264 for, say, iPads) then you will need stronger hardware.
Oh, and don't bother with the Base Station. It's only useful in very specific scenarios. You just need your mag reader of choice (the USB3.0 model is usually your best bet, with the eSata version in 2nd place) cable, new computer (mine is the MacBook Pro that is now 2 models back, and can view 5K R3D footage at 1/2 res debayer in real time), and RedCine-X. Or Scratch Play ($5 for the full version of Play, but unlike Scratch Lab, it only views, doesn't transcode.). Or DaVinci Resolve Lite or Full. Or Adobe Premiere. Or FCPX. Or . . . .well, you've got software options, is what I'm saying. Just about everything these days is GPU accelerated, making the original Red Rocket just about obsolete.
Of course, depending on specifically what you are trying to do, and how you are plumbing your data through cables, and who needs to see what, and how fast, and in what way, there are certain best-practices that will make your life easier. But with only knowing that you want to "view dailies only", it's hard for me to get more specific.
- Thread starter
- #3
Hi Nick,
First of all, thank you for your answer. It's very instructive and helpful, I really appreciate it.
I'm sorry I was so short. I'm not familiar with many technical terms and I didn't want to mess up (in addition to my bad english...). I meant to view the footage of the fastest and easiest way at the end of the working day on a TV. So I guess I could choose view R3D files in real time without transcoding. By the way, is Redcine-X free?
If you or someone else want to add something more, go ahead
First of all, thank you for your answer. It's very instructive and helpful, I really appreciate it.
I'm sorry I was so short. I'm not familiar with many technical terms and I didn't want to mess up (in addition to my bad english...). I meant to view the footage of the fastest and easiest way at the end of the working day on a TV. So I guess I could choose view R3D files in real time without transcoding. By the way, is Redcine-X free?
If you or someone else want to add something more, go ahead
Nick Pasquariello
Well-known member
Completely free. http://www.red.com/products/redcine-x
So is DaVinci Resolve Lite, and I believe there's a free version of Scratch Play as well. Never hurts to have options when you're out on a shoot, away from an office.
In all programs that can read R3D files natively, you can select the debayer resolution. If your footage isn't playing back in realtime at full debayer, knock it down to 1/2. If you can't get 1/2, knock it back to 1/4. Even really powerful machines sometimes have trouble playing full 6K, anamorphic, 3:1 Redcode R3D files. On my MacBook Pro (which, again, is 2 models old) I'm able to handle a full 4KWS, 8:1 shoot, which includes monitoring all footage, copying and checksumming to 2 locations, transcoding to ProRes 422HQ, and spitting out 360p H264 for client review. If that had bumped up to 5K, however, I probably would have had trouble getting to the H264 dailies, and probably would have needed another hour at the end of each shoot day. So it also depends on the resolution being shot, and the Redcode it's being recorded at.
So is DaVinci Resolve Lite, and I believe there's a free version of Scratch Play as well. Never hurts to have options when you're out on a shoot, away from an office.
In all programs that can read R3D files natively, you can select the debayer resolution. If your footage isn't playing back in realtime at full debayer, knock it down to 1/2. If you can't get 1/2, knock it back to 1/4. Even really powerful machines sometimes have trouble playing full 6K, anamorphic, 3:1 Redcode R3D files. On my MacBook Pro (which, again, is 2 models old) I'm able to handle a full 4KWS, 8:1 shoot, which includes monitoring all footage, copying and checksumming to 2 locations, transcoding to ProRes 422HQ, and spitting out 360p H264 for client review. If that had bumped up to 5K, however, I probably would have had trouble getting to the H264 dailies, and probably would have needed another hour at the end of each shoot day. So it also depends on the resolution being shot, and the Redcode it's being recorded at.
- Thread starter
- #5
Mike Harrington
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transcoded usually has no playback issues....
do you need 5/6k dailies? Probably not....if your hardware is struggling, then transcode it.
You will lose raw adjustments, but playback should be simple.
Also hardware wise be aware that firewire is probably pushing the limit of being able to playback raw at speed....esata or usb3 reccomended
do you need 5/6k dailies? Probably not....if your hardware is struggling, then transcode it.
You will lose raw adjustments, but playback should be simple.
Also hardware wise be aware that firewire is probably pushing the limit of being able to playback raw at speed....esata or usb3 reccomended