Should I color grade my green screen footage before passing it off to get composited?

[Forrest Kos]

Hi all,

Just wondering what is the proper way of going about this, I shot some video of talent on green screen in 4k Raw.

Now that it is time to pass off the footage to a third party for compositing, should I give it a color grade and export it out at a high ProRes codec, or would I pass along the raw footage?

Is it easier to key Raw footage instead of footage that is graded?

Just looking for some professional tips, I am asking the third party their preferred method as well! 

Thanks!

[Uli Meyer]

The compositor should  be able to balance all the elements, so it’s best to pass on ungraded footage. 

[David Mullen ASC]

The vfx supervisor should deliver the finished composite with the alpha channels available so that the colorist has access to each layer.

[Robin Phillips]

you can send raw, though if you have a preferred algorithm for demozaicing you should make sure that info is passed along. Otherwise demozaiced DPX (at least 10 bit) log or prores4444XQ log is fine. You should sort out any color management methods with VFX, including if they want a viewer lut or not. Personally Im a big fan of using ACES when theres VFX involved.

You dont want to give them graded footage, as it can limit their ability to give you the best composite. Sometimes you need to dig deep into a color channel to get a track or isolate something and if you grade it you can tie VFX's hands.

You may also want to do a round trip test of the pipeline as well, so you know that what you get back from VFX is in the right/intended format for color

[M Joel W]

Ungraded. Let them know the color space though if it's not embedded or obvious. 

I suspect there are places (commercials) where they send graded footage but it's not normal.