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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The Perfect RED Workflow Setup…

I still think Scratch probably has the best hardware / software / workflow for Red. They have had dual Red Rocket support for a while now. And I hear the conforming tools are top-notch.
 
i am realising more and more that there is no best, its a mix of money, preferences, knowledge and mistakes ;)
i like avid, protools, baselight and smoke plus the tiny tools like
rx, after effects, clipfinder, renamer4mac, appzapper, automator, mpeg streamclip, alchemist for dvds, but toast too.
edit: avid is new to me, but i really start to enjoy the pros over fcp.
 
I'm using Smoke on Mac since it came out end of last year. I've done a handful of TVCs with it, a complex corporate film and now a feature lengths documentary. All projects were shot on Red and I don't look back.

Smoke on Mac swallows most common file formats, including R3Ds natively. It's timeline is always 10 or 12 bit RGB uncompressed, render files are DPX sequences - your need a hell of storage space. But this way quality is always the best possible.

My old 2008 MacPro with its 5600fx is outdated and can only play back R3Ds in quarter resolution. But I know that the latest MacPro can debayer Red files half in RT.

Anyway. You can edit off the R3Ds in 1/4 res and later reconform to full resolution. Smoke does all your transcoding and can leverage a RedRocket which I haven't tested yet.

Smoke can import EDL, AAF and FCP XML, so any timeline can be conformed in Smoke. But if you want to use Smoke as your creative NLE (which it is really good at) and you don't want to do your grading in Smoke but elsewhere - no problem. Smoke can export EDLs and OMFs.

I don't want to go too in depth what Smoke can all do for you but I'm safe to say that there is not other editorial finishing system out there with this power. And if you consider the price tag it's a no-brainer. The only obstacle is the sheer size of the program and the steep learning curve. But we are all smart people, aren't we?

Hans
 
It all depends on what your, and your clients needs and expectations are... What kind of work do you do? How crazy are your deadlines?
 
Su-Jeng Sang said:
Which would you say is the best setup for RED post money can buy?
Click to expand...

Uhh, exactly how much money? At the lower end, Assimilate Scratch and Autodesk Smoke are both nice, each with plusses and minuses. At the high end, Filmlight's Baselight is a great system and extremely Red-savvy.

As I said, it really depends on how much money you're talking about.
 
The word post means a lot of things. edit cut, effects, color, score (audio edit, foley, efx) conform, quality and output.
If money is not an issue, then buy a
1.Quantel iQ
2. Mystika system.
3. Flame Advanced suite, Flame, Smoke, lustre, Flare, Maya etc
4. Smoke on a Mac/ Davinci Resolve on a Mac/ Adobe CS5 suite /C4D/Maya/ Clipfinder/Motu Digital performer/ Izotope RX (our current config)
4. Assimilate Scratch/maya/Nuke.
5. Avid DS/ MC5
6. FCP suite/ Redcine-x Clipfinder/ Adobe CS5 suite
7. Sony Vegas PRO
8. At the very base a Redrocket card with Rocketcine-X and good one light color training can enable transcode to a desirable format. After which you can edit with any NLE of your choice.

9. You can spend even less money and buy Nice Shoes R3D-form a plugin for FCP suite and transcode all your files faster than realtime, after which you can edit in FCP do your effects in Shake and cc in Apple color.

10. You can also wait for the release of the Foundry's Storm.

The configurations are endless and different systems work for different user skills and industry demands. All the above systems require time and dedication to learn all are great but none is entirely perfect for every situation.
 
Chris Parker said:
pablo. you said money was no object.
Click to expand...

He also said Red-specific, and Pablo, at least as far as I know, doesn't read R3d files directly (it requires a transcode, which it does internally, but which doesn't give you direct access to Red SDK settings on a shot by shot basis while you're grading). Baselight, Scratch, Lustre (the 2011 version), and Resolve, on the other hand, do.
 
even though we have Smoke on the Mac and Davinci Mac in House for most of color grading we still out source since we don't yet own all the room equipment for serious grading. Honestly its fairly inexpensive to send any paid job to a post house these days. Quality is key in todays market. If you can only afford an NLE which can cut Raw files and Meta tag, partner with an outside post house and save the money you would use to buy an expensive Baselight or Linux Davinci suite. Don't be greedy, clients will keep coming back and referring others to you if you continuously put out quality work.
All artists aren't created equal be the best at what you can do and share the wealth with others. We have had other professionals and post houses we send work to, in-turn refer some their clients to us for production work.
 
Uhm! we have a smoke on the mac system in house, but we also just partnered with my college buddy who is an all things Autodesk guru. He mortgaged his house a decade ago to acquire an expensive inferno system then later a flame system. He still does work for other companies on the flame system out of his garage. He has been taking about upgrading to the 2011 lustre/smoke advanced offer, he claims he can run circles around the Davinci with it. One thing I do know about him is even though he knows the system inside out he's no aesthetic colorist, he's pretty radical with his color choices, I'm a minimalist. i would never have gotten a smoke on Mac system if it were not for him. We are what you will call a low end enterprise.

To answer your question yes the Autodesk suite is by far one of the most complete out there but does rely heavily on expertise. It depends on your market, industry and post expertise. I would not advice any novice in the US market to buy an Autodesk suite. There are many other easier to use and very scaleable offerings. I am not implying you are a novice don't get me wrong.
Having the most advanced system wont bring you clients its your ability to leverage the systems creative capabilities. That said, YES the Autodesk suite is beyond awesome, i mean more awesomer than awesome. if you can imagine it you can find a way to recreate it With Autodesk products. its that simple.
 
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