Quick Guide - Please Help/add

[Jonathan Burton]

Hi everyone,

I am writing this firstly because I have a video clip production coming up which is planned to be shot on red, and this will be my first time, and secondly I thought that this might be a good thread for any new user in my position wanting to gain access to some quick, basic and easy to follow info.

There seems to be no FAQ or sticky post on a basic RED workflow pattern (I could have missed it, if so sorry...) so I thought this might be a good idea to ask the question and then anyone on the forum can read through and see what people are doing/recommend.

So my specific example is a video clip for an RnB artist, its intended exhibition medium is the internet, television, and possibly dvd. its final aspect ratio is 2.4:1. This will be my first RED shoot and while I am reasonable confident with the camera, the workflow is where I get a little confused. I will be using Apple FCP version 6.0.6, I have both a new imac and a macbook pro.

What I would love, and think would super useful to others in the same boat would be if anyone could write a quick step-by-step basic guide to the RED workflow for this example. Any comments, suggestions or advice would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!

I think my setup is probably pretty similar to a lot of users, and probably even more appropriate to a lot of up coming users on a lower budget with the release of the new cameras fast approaching.

I also realize that there is a lot of professional RED help/training around in the form of classes and DVDs etc, and I am not trying to cheat out by learning everything for free, I am actually planing a trip to LA at the end of the year for the REDucation class among other things. However I think some basic pointers that simply outline the workflow from camera to delivery would be great for a lot of people! :thumbsup:

 

[Jonathan Burton]

I actually found a great document at RED Support when I downloaded the FCP plugin, so thats been really helpful!

 

[Ben Brainerd]

The RED FCP Whitepaper is always a good place to start. It's got some pretty good information, even if you might not be using FCP.

Also, http://www.avid.com/red/ is a good resource, mostly for Avid users, but again, there are some useful tidbits for everyone.

As far as step-by-step workflows go, I have two that I primarily use. I've dabbled in a few others, but not enough that I'd feel comfortable offering advice. These are both FCP workflows.

Both workflows end with the same few steps, so I'll lay out the beginnings separately, then cover the final steps together.

They all start with the couple steps, too:
1. Shoot.

2. Copy/Backup footage. If you're working on set as well, you can start with the CF Cards/RedDrive. Otherwise, start with whatever drive the client delivers.

I start by copying the cards/drive to my working drive. Then, from the Cards/Drive, I make *at least one* backup to a separate drive that's not in active use.

My folder structure tends to be pretty basic. Date -> Card# -> Entire contents of the card. (So the .RDM folder, and 2 .profile files)


Workflow #1: The Whitepaper Method
1. Ingest. I basically just follow the steps in the Whitepaper. Load all the directories into FCP L&T and do the various logging and transferring. I usually transcode to ProRes for ease of editing.

2. Let computer sit overnight while transcoding (Depending on how much footage I'm looking at, obviously.


Workflow #2: All Clipfinder, all the time.
1. Ingest. Load all the clips into Clipfinder. I don't usually do any correction work at this stage, since I know I'll be coming back here later, and with less clips. If anything, I'll push the exposure about a stop so I can see what's going on more clearly.

2. Render. Depending on the project, my ProRes proxies will either be 2K or 1K. Totally dependent on your rig and taste. But I edit 2K ProRes4 on my MBP with little to no problem.

3. Import into FCP. There are ways and ways of doing this. Drag and drop, File->Import. I'm lazy, so I just import everything en masse and do any separation/labeling from that point.


Convergence: Everything's the same from here.
1. Edit. With ProRes (Even 2K ProRes) I've never had any major problems. Proxies will trip you up, though.

2. Export XML. I export my final sequence as XML. Latest version, no special tags or anything.

3. Back to Clipfinder. File->Import Clips from FCP XML. This is the point where I do my detailed corrections. Mostly I'm doing one-light style corrections, so basic exposure, trying to make everything look "Normal" without much in the way of artistry or whatnot.

4. Render (Again). Because Color (Currently) doesn't support the new color science, we need to render out high-rez online files for grading. I usually use ProRes4444, but various flavors of Uncompressed can also work (As will DPX, but that's a whole other workflow)

5. Reconform. Using Clipfinder's "Run Conform on FCP XML" tool, reconnect the sequence to the rendered files.

6. Back to FCP. Import the conformed XML. Check everything. Send to Color.

7. Grade.

8. Render (Yet again!)

9. Back to FCP again. Do any final work, export.


Yes, there are 3 renders in those workflows. (ProRes Proxy, Online ProRes, Final) The last render's actually not that bad, since it's not doing a debayer, just corrections on the ProRes. With the impending (So they say) release of a new Color plugin that supports the new color science, we'll be able to shave a render off, and only have to render twice. (Proxy, Final)

Hopefully that's vaguely helpful in some way.