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Raj Kowoski

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Posts posted by Raj Kowoski

  1. Hello:

    So, we are wrapping up our sound design (minus mixing) and post work (coloring/VFX) in 2 weeks on "Emeryville". I'm looking for a QC house, preferably in NYC, who can perform Quality Check on Audio/Video so defects can be fixed before I let my post-team jump off the project. Does anyone has any recommendation on Post house that can assist with QC report?

     

    thanks in advance,

    raj

  2. Update:

    Been a month since we wrapped our 8-day shoot in Austin, TX. Without 2 cameras, it would not have been possible. DP showed up with Canon 100, sound equipment and more lights that we could have used. Cutting trailer now and will post link once done. Footage shot on 1080P Prores 422 except one shot for VFX shot on 4K. Have about 1.6 TB of footage (I'm sure 30% will be junk). Plenty of coverage, I think. Total of 12 locations, 13 speaking parts, 9 crew members (DP, Art, AD, Sound, Makeup, Grip plus 3 PAs). Average of 11 hours per day. Shot 4 days. Break. Shot the remaining 4. There were pockets for 2 days where crew was ideal for 2 hours each waiting for Sundown to shoot night scenes. Ended up using 2 1250 watts HMI for a few night scenes. 2 rental generators were live savers (Honda 2000 & 3000). Flew in April 3, DP drove (22 hours) April 5, began shoot April 6, wrapped April 14, Flew back April 15. Initial colored footage on DaVinci looks great. Don't take my word for it. Be the judge once I post trailer link by June 15.

  3. What about roles? Saw youtube video that explains how to label each of the audio tracks as role and set each audio track as mono before you export as QT file. It retains all those audio tracks that can be sent to sound designer. Anyone else done that?

  4. Hello:

    We shot a feature using 2 cameras - BMCC 4K and Canon 100. Sound mixer has provided 4 tracks for each take. I laid down both videos on FCPX timeline and synced audio files below. In short, I have 2 video tracks and 4 audio tracks for each track that I know plan to edit. Question: When I render, .mov file consolidates footage and audio into 1 mov file. How do I provide my Sound designer raw 4 dialogue tracks that he can use for miXing? Is there a way I can output 4 audio tracks from final picture lock that Sound designer can use along with a timecoded Video track?

  5. Thanks, Tyler. Got off the phone with Atmos support and they recommended that I don't have to go through conversion. FCPX has built-in functionality that will drop the extra frames when I drop the footage to timeline. Confirmed that it works. So, I have the same timeline set at 1080P, 24fps that shares 29.97i and 24 p footage. Hope this helps.

  6. Just finished shooting a feature with 2 cameras - BMCC 4K and C100. Recorded at 24fps, 1080P, prores 4:2:2.

     

    C100 recorded on Atmos Ninja via HDMI. So, recorded footage is 60i. When I import .mov file, it comes in as 29.97i 1080i. Using Apple Compressor to convert 60i to 24P prores 422 and noticed that final converted files are half the size of source files. Is that normal? Are there any other 2:3 pulldown software that leave the image quality intact?

  7. Shooting a feature in 3 weeks and ironing out the workflow as suggested by a few folks on this board.

     

    Final workflow I have is:

     

    1. Shoot c-log on Canon (24fps) and Prores 4K (24fps) on BMCC.

    2. Pick the best shots and have colorist color\grade them to match desired look in DaVinci. (I know this is an overkill but adds simplicity and round trips)

    3. Export color corrected footage in high-res .mov format.

    4. Import footage in FCP X. Lay audio. Edit. Add FX, Transitions, Titles etc..Edit Lock.

    5. Export Audio file. Send it out for Post Sound mix. ALong with Burnt Timecodes .mov file.

    6. Audio creates DM&E tracks and provides a final master mixed sound file.

    7. Lay final audio file. Export master out.

     

    Questions:

    1. C100 image size is 1920 x 1080 while BMCC 4K is 3840 x 2160. For editing in FCP, what should base template be? If I use 4K, c100 image would stretch out to fill the size. If I use C100 frame as baseline, 4k image will shrink to match. Any advise?

     

    2. Any issues to expect since source footage if from 2 sources or would my colorist know how to deal? ANything I can do to make his life easier..

     

    Many thanks - raj

  8. Guys. If it's too good to be true, it 'probably' is not. Having said that, my expectations from this dude are way low & for the $$ & time I have, I'm by no means looking for someone to shoot "Lawrence of Arabia" for me. Reality is, as long as he is good at framing and pumping that c-log file with higher bit rate, I have a shot at post color grading etc. Granted, not an ideal shoot but will have to do. Images for me are a luxury (It is a personal choice, no offense) and will always take a back seat to Story, Acting and Sound.

     

    Plan is to have rehearsals. Get shots in order of priority within a specific window. Will be shooting wide shots with my Black Magic Production Cinema Camera as well (second camera). My bigger concern is talent and their readiness & MUA. Otherwise 60% of Master Shots with a few close ups & inserts for cutaway.

     

    Wasn't "Little Shop of Horrors" shot in a day and half?

  9. Many thanks for keeping this alive and insights. To answer my own question, yes. I was able to find someone in Virginia who has a full service company. He's been in the game since the 80's and owns lights that should be enough for my needs. In addition to basic 1000/650 watts tungsten, Kinos, gels, flags,several c-stands, dolly etc, he also owns 3 1250 wats HMI that I plan to use for night scenes. He will bring his lights, c-100 camera (including steadycam). set of prime lens plus 2 grips to this 8 day gig. Thanks, raj

  10. Many thanks. I own Black Magic Cinema Camera 4K EF mount. Plan to use Rokinon Cine lens. 24mm for wide, 85mm for tight. RAW may not be an option but would like to see is color grade material is significantly different between HD, Prores 422 and RAW for an average human eye. Especially on screen less than 100 inches. From what I've read, ISO 400 works best with 4K. Table above i plan for BMCC. Not sure if there are equivalent tests for Canon esp. if I shoot c-log. I will post results in couple of weeks with some sample videos.

  11. Albion Hockney, you make good points. Nothing can get you 35mm look except ...of course, 35mm stock. Having said that, in recent history there have been several features shot on digital medium and are darn "close" to those kodak images. At least for the masses. However, my biggest concerns are EXT daylight shots. Could just be me, but Digital medium just lacks that color space. Color Correct, they try to mask those shortcomings but "video" element is still there.

     

    One other option is to shoot EXT shots using film camera. Perhaps, S16mm to save $$ and have it telecined. All in all, I've got probably 20 minutes of scenes that require EXT DAY and if push comes to shove, I can shoot those on Film. Question then becomes, would those look film or telecine takes a bit out of those .

     

    INT scenes, I'm not too overly concerned about. With right lighting, shallow DOF and post work I can probably sell those as film.

     

    thoughts?

  12. Thanks, Guys. Per recommendations, following is what I plan to test this weeked. Take actors at location. All shots EXT. F-Stops are TBD depending on how bright it is and how much my ND filter supports. Any recommendations on C100 recording comparable format? I own BMCC 4K and C100 is new to me. Goal - Color Grade each of the following 10 second clip and see how it looks.

     

    ISO/ASA LENS FORMAT
    200 24mm ProRes422
    400 24mm ProRes422
    200 24mm RAW
    400 24mm RAW
    200 24mm ProRes HD
    400 24mm ProRes HD
    200 85mm ProRes
    400 85mm ProRes
    200 85mm RAW
    400 85mm RAW
    200 85mm ProRes HD
    400 85mm ProRes HD

  13. So, here is my conundrum. Once again. Was initially planning to shoot narrative feature on BMCC 4K (ProRes 422) until found out that my DP owns a C-100 and doesn't have rig for BMCC. Goal is to create 35mm Kodak look using plugins after color correction. DP convincing me that if we shoot flat using c-100 with atmos Ninja (rates upto 128mbps/sec), I can get any look I want in the post. No need to go with BMCC. I don't have much of an idea on c-log. Assuming that format is similar to RAW except a lot smaller file sizes. Question:

     

    Can anyone on this board please advise? I'm aiming for that 80's look..creamy, saturated, look you see in movies like "Evid Dead 2", "Friday the 13th", "Halloween", etc. Both camera's have 12 stops.

     

    Distribution for this feature will most probably won't be on big screen.

     

    Anyone help please.

     

    raj

  14. Thanks for the workflow and apologies for being noob. We are shooting 4K Prores 422.

     

    In layman's term,

    1. drop (or import) Prores 422 files in DaVinci,

    2. convert (transcode) this footage to Prores Proxy files (these files will continue to have .mov extenstion),

    3. import these lower quality files in FCPX,

    4. edit in FCPX,

    5. export xml from FCPX

    6. import this xml to DaVinci

    7. DaVinci is smart enough to line up these Proxy files back to original ProRes timecode source,

    8. grade the ProRes 422 in Davinci,

    9. export the final product.

     

    Couple of follow up questions:

    1. How does Davinci align elements such as Titles, Transitions, sound after I import. Will there be any out-of-sync sound issue?

    2. Can you please point me to any youtube tutorials if you have those?

    This will be a 90 min feature. Prores 422 records at 471 Mb/s and 212 GB/hour. So, I'm looking at around 300+GB of final file. Does MacBook pro 16GB RAM have that kind of power to render?

    3. The goal is to apply film emulation to get me that 35mm Kodak Stock look of 1980's horror films. Skin tone, grain, saturation etc. With so many third party film emulation tools in market and this probably will make non-theatrical markets (VOD, DVD), will there be a noticable drop in picture quality if I stay with Prores LT instead of 422? To me, final sound mix is the most important element. Images are a luxury. No offense to DPs on this board.

  15. Guys:

    Planning a feature shoot in 2 months and need some advise from seasoned editors. Here I go:

     

    Last spring we shot 3 days in NYC on BMCC 4K with a goal to create spec trailer. Taking this opportunity to learn editing, I got myself MacBook Pro 16GB with graphic card + FCP X. Great experience and invaluable lessons learnt that I plan to carry to this next venture.

     

    Feature is probably 90 minute long compared with 2.32 min of trailer. While Mac was able to handle 4K Prores voulme for a small trailer, not sure if it has the juice to handle 90 minute of 4K. May end up shooting some footage on RED Scarlett as well. Question:

     

    Can someone please point to an optimum post workflow?

  16. Many thanks.Checked out Home depot, Lowes and Sports Authority. Soent quite sometime on Amazon. All they have is LED.

     

    Final question - If we chose to build our own by converting kerosene lantern, what is the biggest bulb that we can fit with regular batteries? I've seen several movies where a person holds lantern out and walks through dark hallwalls or caves. My guess is those are battery lanterns with bulbs bright enough for print.

  17. Hello:

    In our shoot, we have a cabin location scene where there is supposedly no electricity. China Lantern and Oil Lanterns are 2 practicals that come to my mind for that scene. Question is, where do I find Oil Lanterns that are converted to battery/electric? How large can light source be? Couple of examples are attached. Many thanks! Raj

     

     

     

     

    post-67176-0-03122600-1423064628_thumb.jpg

    post-67176-0-68981100-1423064644_thumb.jpg

  18. Bill, that is correct. While there will be a few PA's to help out, key photgraphy crew will be 3 people. It's 84 page script all confined to one location. Most scenes will be Master shot only. Granted, designing each scene will be a challenge. Again, it's not by choice. It's by necessity. cheers

  19. Is it uncommon for a smal indie producer to seek DP with lighting gear? Here's where I'm coming from:

     

    We have an 8 day feature shoot coming up in early April in Austin, TX. One location shoot. I know I'm raising a few eye brows here with such a compact schedule, reality is, that is all I can afford. Granted I won't be able to get ideal visual coverage, but my hope is that with compact shotlist (mostly Master with very few punch in's), storyboard, right blocking, usage of SteadyCam/OTS & planning lighting per location/shot would help. Plus, sound design & post work will bridge missing gaps.

     

    At my level, I would love to consolidate Camera and Electrical department where DP brings his 2 person crew to assist plus is equipments. While AC, 2nd AC, Grip, Best Boy, Gaffer etc. would be ideal, smaller production like our does not have $$ luxury.

     

    thoughts?

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