RED Feature post budget

[Justin O'Neill]

We are doing the post budget for a RED feature and the post houses we are calling keep saying they are "working on" the pricing for RED post.

Am I insane or shouldn't the pricing be the same as doing a 4k film scan in post? (without the cost of scanning obviously).

RED ALERT puts out a 4k tiff sequence or DPX files. Isn't that what 4k post uses already?

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

Happy to quote your job if you are willing to color grade in the Big Apple.

PM me.

 

[Tim Fassnacht]

Obendega-

Try Plaster City Digital Post in hollywood. They are working on quotes. Last i heard it was like 450/hr... which is kinda silly. But give them a holler, they're super smart guys and run stricktly apple for editorial, have a 22ft screen for grading etc.

best-

 

[Lucas Wilson]

We are doing the post budget for a RED feature and the post houses we are calling keep saying they are "working on" the pricing for RED post.

Am I insane or shouldn't the pricing be the same as doing a 4k film scan in post? (without the cost of scanning obviously).

RED ALERT puts out a 4k tiff sequence or DPX files. Isn't that what 4k post uses already?

Justin,

I strongly believe that is because most post houses don't know what the hell a RED post workflow is yet! I see that you're in San Diego - contact me offlist and I'll hook you up with some post houses in the area that have a headstart and have been doing a lot of work to get up to speed on RED workflow. lucas at assimilateinc dot com.

Lucas
-----
ASSIMILATE, Inc.
LA, CA, USA

 

[Simon Blackledge]

450 an hour! eek.. were not aiming anywhere near that!..

 

[Thomas Mathai]

We are doing the post budget for a RED feature and the post houses we are calling keep saying they are "working on" the pricing for RED post.

Am I insane or shouldn't the pricing be the same as doing a 4k film scan in post? (without the cost of scanning obviously).

RED ALERT puts out a 4k tiff sequence or DPX files. Isn't that what 4k post uses already?

What are you expecting for 4k post?

 

[MikeCurtis]

flameop - but yeah, that's what good, professional colorists, in a DI suite with a calibrated projector go for. That's actually a pretty good rate. Coupla years ago, HD telecine off a Spirit with a Pogle was $800/hr in Dallas with a good Sony CRT for broadcast work.

 

[Greg M]

450 an hour! eek.. were not aiming anywhere near that!..

If you have a Flame, you should be getting more than that.

$450/hr is a reasonable rate.

 

[ian.vertovec]

What makes the DI on a RED feature unique is the peripheral lab services. Small indie RED films will probably do their own dallies and media management for editorial. Much like todays indie films shot on P2. However, on the studio level having a playable LUT filtered DVD with window for the executives and a tape for editorial the next morning is critical. This is a huge difference in cost.

Once you're in a color correction session, it doesn't matter if the source material is shot on film, RED, or shoestring. If you wanna grade uncompressed 4K, it's gonna be expensive.

The key is to build a custom workflow for your budget, which is all about compromise. If you can't afford a uncompressed 4K finish, run the numbers for a ProRes 1080 finish.

As far as the rate, numbers may change according to scope of the project and the work involved.


Ian Vertovec
plastercitypost.com

 

[Simon Blackledge]

Depends where you are and the type of work also though no?

Most shops do deals now on the whole job..

Flame at my old place ran at £1700 a day, and they still payed it off and turned a profit..

I'm not trying to put any artists down for the rates they charge.. just so thats clear.

Si

 

[MikeCurtis]

Can't help myself to throw this in here - "What does a Red post workflow cost?" is the metric equivalent of asking "How much is it to post a movie?" which is the same thing as "How much is a decent car?"

Depends on your needs, expectations, budget, quality demands, time available, technical expertise, etc.

Need a beater Honda to just get around town? Or an armored vehicle for Baghdad touring? Allllll depends.

There will be a variety of valid options, at a variety of valid budgets, for a variety of quality/speed/flexibility options.

As Ian says (hey man!), numbers will be highly contingent on a number of variables.

-mike (who consults on this kinda stuff, BTW)

 

[Greg M]

Depends where you are and the type of work also though no?

Most shops do deals now on the whole job..

Flame at my old place ran at £1700 a day, and they still payed it off and turned a profit..

I'm not trying to put any artists down for the rates they charge.. just so thats clear.

Si

Thats still $450/hr...very cheap for Flame work. Most shops get $500-800/hr. We charge $450/hr for our 2K Smoke Suite, which I feel is a bargain.

 

[Coloristpaul]

Post Budget

Post Budget

I am happy to give you a post budget and a ticket to New Zealand, if you want to use Images Post.

Most post houses haven't had any Red footage to work on and don't have a work flow which makes it incredibly hard to quote on. We have been one of the luck few that have.

Are you looking for a film finish or video finish? Do you need a 35mm print and HD masters 16x9 and 4x3 pan and scan?

Let me know how I can help.

 

[Shawn Nelson]

Thats still $450/hr...very cheap for Flame work. Most shops get $500-800/hr. We charge $450/hr for our 2K Smoke Suite, which I feel is a bargain.

So then how many hours, on average, does it take?

 

[Coloristpaul]

Never Enough Time

Never Enough Time

It take between 50 and 120 hours to grade a feature film. Then you have to add the graphics, 5 - 10 hours. Create a textless reel. Print to film. Complete a colour conversion from film space (10 bit log) to video space (10 bit linear) and create HD masters. In the end you will still want more time.

 

[jbeale]

Here's a rate card if you're interested, for "The Mill" which Offhollywood has mentioned was looking at Red vs. 35mm film for some work:
http://www.the-mill.com/pdf/Mill_NYC_LA_Ratecard_2007.pdf

They list $1100 per hour for Inferno/Flame. If that's the real price and if there was someone in that position working regular hours, that one person would bring in over $2 million gross per year. Not too shabby.