RED -> Color -> Avid

[Ben Morris]

I have a project where the DP wants to do a first pass of color correction with Apple's Color before I bring the footage into Avid for editing. I have MC 4.0.4 and the DP is color correcting in the newest version of Color.

I want to cut in DNxHD 36 or something at the quality of 720p HD, and we plan to finish at least at DNxHD 175 or if we can get our hands on an Avid DS system, finish to 2K or 4K (whatever the DP shoots; he has not decided).

The question here is getting from Color into Avid with the raw footage. Is there a way to do this?


Thanks!

 

[Ben Morris]

Our initial consideration was to do R3D -> Color, and then export from Color as DPX, then bring the DPX into Metafuze, and in Metafuze create an offline (DNxHD 36) and an online. I would then cut in Avid at DNxHD 36 and conform to the online version.

The issue here was DPX files would be enormous and it would be impossible to manage material of that size.

 

[Brandon Kraemer]

I have a project where the DP wants to do a first pass of color correction with Apple's Color before I bring the footage into Avid for editing. I have MC 4.0.4 and the DP is color correcting in the newest version of Color.

I want to cut in DNxHD 36 or something at the quality of 720p HD, and we plan to finish at least at DNxHD 175 or if we can get our hands on an Avid DS system, finish to 2K or 4K (whatever the DP shoots; he has not decided).

The question here is getting from Color into Avid with the raw footage. Is there a way to do this?


Thanks!

A few things...

1. Shoot 4k, unless you over crank. Shooting 2k just to shoot it is not advised.

2. I don't understand the logic behind the workflow your suggesting, so let me suggest another way... Do your first pass correction with Redcine and process out your transcodes for Avid with this baked in. Color is a good tool for doing final color correction, with secondaries and geometry, etc... but it's over-kill for one-lighting dailies. You can set quite a look in Redcine. Since I do not believe Color will render out to an Avid codec, your looking at re-transcoding the Color renders, and I am not sure how easily it would be to preserve the metadata and TC in that way.

If you use Redcine to set your look and transcode dailies, you can match back later to the RAW again, and finish in Color and render DPX or QT Uncompressed, and final conform in Final Cut (since your using Color) but still are free to offline in Avid.

Just a thought.

 

[Ben Brainerd]

2. I don't understand the logic behind the workflow your suggesting, so let me suggest another way... Do your first pass correction with Redcine and process out your transcodes for Avid with this baked in. Color is a good tool for doing final color correction, with secondaries and geometry, etc... but it's over-kill for one-lighting dailies. You can set quite a look in Redcine. Since I do not believe Color will render out to an Avid codec, your looking at re-transcoding the Color renders, and I am not sure how easily it would be to preserve the metadata and TC in that way.

If you use Redcine to set your look and transcode dailies, you can match back later to the RAW again, and finish in Color and render DPX or QT Uncompressed, and final conform in Final Cut (since your using Color) but still are free to offline in Avid.

I have to provide a second iteration of "This makes no sense". Your DP wants to to a first pass on ALL of your footage in Color before editing? Seems like a lot of time commitment for a fairly minimal result.

If the reason for using Color vs. RC/RA is batch processing, look into Clipfinder, which has better batch abilities than the RED Apps. You can do a basic one-light type correction on all your clips, then render out to your choice of codec for your offline.

 

[Brandon Kraemer]

If the reason for using Color vs. RC/RA is batch processing, look into Clipfinder, which has better batch abilities than the RED Apps. You can do a basic one-light type correction on all your clips, then render out to your choice of codec for your offline.

Clipfinder is handy, no doubt, but Redcine can do all of this standalone. Import all your clips, chose separate folders option on output, will create a shot for each clip in imported, choose codec, and hit render.

 

[Ben Brainerd]

True, but RedCine doesn't have the convenience of ClipFinder's Lift/Stamp (AKA Copy & Paste) method of batch-applying looks. Plus RedCine is, at this point, a depreciated product, in favor of RedCine-X which, to be honest, I wouldn't recommend for full-on production yet.

Not trying to be argumentative, just laying out options. And a big Clipfinder fan, personally.

 

[Brandon Kraemer]

True, but RedCine doesn't have the convenience of ClipFinder's Lift/Stamp (AKA Copy & Paste) method of batch-applying looks. Plus RedCine is, at this point, a depreciated product, in favor of RedCine-X which, to be honest, I wouldn't recommend for full-on production yet.

Not trying to be argumentative, just laying out options. And a big Clipfinder fan, personally.

Also not trying to be argumentative... what would the point be in that... but what you said isn't true. Redcine can most certainly copy and paste all settings from the shot and color tabs to all clips en masse or selectively. I use that feature every time I transcode shots to prep them for Color.

I also don't see how Redcine is depreciated... it's the same reliable tool it's been since Redcine-X came out, nothings changed about it... and it still does the job, albeit with out "color science". I agree that Redcine-X is in some ways a step backwards and currently isn't reliable.

To each their own on what tools you prefer... but Redcine has more features than you or others might realize.

bk

 

[Ben Brainerd]

I stand totally corrected. Didn't actually know RedCine could do that. Color me educated.

Also, I didn't mean that RedCine's by any means dead. Just that RED is no longer supporting it (Or even providing it on the website). It's depreciated in software terms, not in functionality.

 

[Brandon Kraemer]

lso, I didn't mean that RedCine's by any means dead. Just that RED is no longer supporting it (Or even providing it on the website). It's depreciated in software terms, not in functionality.

I agree with you on that Ben. While I appreciate the new work Red is doing with FLUT Color Science, I think the original Redcine as an interface and tool is better in it's simplicity, and to no longer make that available is unfortunate.

Cheers,

bk
:cheers2: