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Red Workflow


Bill DiPietra

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I see that Red now has a plug-in for Final Cut Pro 10 users. Does anyone know if footage from any Red camera system would be compatible with Final Cut Pro 7? Or would one have to use the Red editing platforms that were initially introduced with the Red One?

 

Just trying to get a handle on what the workflow is like these days with those systems. Thanks.

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with fcp7 there was at least the "quicktime proxy" possibility, meaning that you would make the proxies in camera or with Redcine and then you can edit with a plugin in fcp7 and choose from different proxy resolutions (which translate the original r3d raw file to the fcp7 and were quite small and handy although you had to choose different proxy file for different debayer resolution. they have nothing to do with rgb or yuv formats, they are only like a brief debayer guide for the raw files and the original r3d's need to always be present when editing)

 

You can always edit offline using for example prores format in fcp7 and online it in for example Redcine using xml, then either transfer the online directly to other programs using xml or render it to an intermediate format for finishing, for example dpx or tiff. I recommend Resolve for making the offline files before editing, it is a bit quicker to use for that purpose I think. If you are making an intermediate render for online then the Redcine may give better results in some situations

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with fcp7 there was at least the "quicktime proxy" possibility, meaning that you would make the proxies in camera or with Redcine and then you can edit with a plugin in fcp7 and choose from different proxy resolutions (which translate the original r3d raw file to the fcp7 and were quite small and handy although you had to choose different proxy file for different debayer resolution. they have nothing to do with rgb or yuv formats, they are only like a brief debayer guide for the raw files and the original r3d's need to always be present when editing)

 

You can always edit offline using for example prores format in fcp7 and online it in for example Redcine using xml, then either transfer the online directly to other programs using xml or render it to an intermediate format for finishing, for example dpx or tiff. I recommend Resolve for making the offline files before editing, it is a bit quicker to use for that purpose I think. If you are making an intermediate render for online then the Redcine may give better results in some situations

 

Interesting. Thanks! Have you worked with the FCP 10 plug-in? If so, how do you find the performance in comparison?

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My reaction with Red is always to get it transcoded to something sensible to begin with. Both the JPEG2000 codec and the debayering are hard work you don't want to be doing while trying to cut.

 

In extremis, on modern Red cameras the live output is sort of acceptable, and you could in a pinch just record that.

 

P

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Interesting. Thanks! Have you worked with the FCP 10 plug-in? If so, how do you find the performance in comparison?

haven't tested the plugin, I very rarely do anything with the X.

 

I think it is maybe easier to go offline with Red cameras, reconfirm to original files when the cut is finished, and then either grade in RAW or use intermediate format for later post.

 

Of course you can edit directly from raw files using for example Premiere CC but then it is always buffering buffering buffering and you don't usually need full resolution 5k or 6k for basic editing.

It is of course a bit quicker to move the project to post when it is cut online from the original files but if you are planning to use intermediate format (for example dpx) then you have to consider if the premiere's raw decoding is good enough for you or do you need better quality.

 

I myself, for example, am making vfx for my short film which is shot with Scarlet-x in 4k, it is cut offline in fcp7 using proresLT 1080 files, then reconformed in Redcine using xml. Because of the heavy VFX content, I then rendered all the movie to an intermediate codec (16-bit TIFF in 4k ) so I can do all the vfx in rgb. That's why I chose Redcine for raw decoding instead of for example roundtripping from Premiere to AE and making vfx using original raw files or making intermediate renders; the Redcine made a lot better decoding than AE for those raw files (my opinion) and it is much quicker and easier to do vfx to the rgb files. It also has the added benefit of maintaining uniform look throughout the film, I don't have to hassle with the raw settings in AE to make sure that the clips match to each other. Maybe if I would need 32bit rgb for vfx it would benefit a little to use the original r3d's but even then I could use 32bit rgb format, for example EXR, for the intermediates. And I need still sequences for match moving anyways so I can use the same tiffs for that purpose

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