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1 RED WORKFLOW FOR AVID MEDIA COMPOSER This workbook is meant to guide you through the theoretically laborious chain of working with the high quality digital video footage produced by any of RED Digital Cinema's RED cameras, including the RED One, RED Scarlett, and RED Epic. This workbook is also blueprint for several methods that post-production professionals would effectively utilize using RED footage within AVID, specifically AVID Media Composer. We will go over the basics of bringing RED footage into AVID Media Composer, editing the imported/linked RED footage via offline/online edit, color correcting in AVID or other third party programs, and transcoding footage within AVID. Before you dive into editing your RED footage, however, it would be best to secure a greater understanding of some of the concepts you will be tackling in this guide... COLOR CORRECTION Known as Color Grading in the world of post-production, Color Correction is the process of altering/enhancing the color(s) of a video image, which, in our case, would take place in AVID Media Composer and/or in RED Digital Cinema's REDCINE-X PRO. The Color Correction interface in AVID Media Composer 2 The interface of REDCINE-X PRO There are a multitude of workflows an editor can abide by when working AVID Media Composer and RED footage, four of which we will discuss in this workbook. But first, let's talk about... AVID MEDIA FILE FORMATS Though you may be familiar with MXF (Media eXchange Format) media files and the fact that MXF is the standard media file format for AVID Media Composer, you may not be familiar with the formats and resolutions of MXF media, the per-project selection of which is a vital consideration when working with RED footage in your AVID project. First and foremost, there are different project formats within AVID, which are all based on the video mode and frame rate your RED footage was shot at – 1080p23.976, 1080p24, 1080p29.97, 1080i59.94, etc. Obviously, the RED cameras can shoot at a frame size of 2K, 3K, 4K, and 5K, but AVID Media Composer's largest frame size is 1080p. The paramount detail you should note is the frame rate at which the footage was originally filmed (23.976, 24, 29.97, or 59.94). The next consideration is your project's media file's compression type and media resolution. There are a number of different media file compression types, but for the sake of ease, we will only be using AVID DNxHD, which is the industry standard AVID media file compression type. On the top of the next page there is a chart that reviews the various compression resolution for each AVID project format. 3 Note that for each project format there are three to four resolution options, ranging from low compression (higher quality, larger file size) to high compression (lower quality, smaller file size). Also note that the resolutions that end with “x” (e.g. DNxHD 175x) have a color depth of 10 bits, meaning it has four times more color information than 8-bit video. This becomes a vital detail when you consider your project's color correction. For example, in 8-bit color depth each of the colors from the RGB color model (Red, Green, and Blue - which the RED camera utilizes) has 256 shades, thus giving 8-bit color pixels a palette of just under 17 million unique colors to choose from. However, a video with 10-bit color depth has a color palette of over one billion unique colors! Obviously, the more colors available, the greater latitude of color alteration available. So if you care about your project's quality of color correction, use a 10-bit color depth! OFFLINE EDITING If you have edited in AVID Media Composer then you are probably familiar with online editing, where you have captured/imported/linked media into AVID, edited that footage, then exported it. Easy and simple. But in the professional realm, experts employ the practice of offline editing. Offline editing is the process of converting high resolution master media (which have large file sizes and greater bit depth) into low resolution media files, editing your film using the low res media files, and relinking (using timecodes and/or Edit Decision Lists) your final edit(s) back to the original high res master media, thus saving hard drive space and lightening the load on your computer's hardware resources (video card, RAM, hard drives). Let's use a liberal shooting ratio of 3:1 (that is to say, a filmmaker uses one-third of the footage they film in their edit) for a final edit of a 10-minute 1080p23.976 short film, which counts for a master footage count of thirty minutes. If the editor of this video edited using online editing, that is to say they edit using DNxHD 220x AVID media files, master media would account for 37 GB on a hard drive. However, using an offline editing workflow, after editing with low res media files and re-linking the final, edited sequence with high res media, the overall disk usage would be around 20 GB, saving up to 45% hard drive space!! 4 MEDIA MANAGEMENT IN AVID If you have edited in AVID Media Composer (or any editing platform for that matter!) then you already realize the importance of media organization, or Media Management. Proper maintenance and knowledge of your media's location is indispensable when working with multiple and/or large projects. In some of these RED footage workflows, you will be required to separate your high resolution media files from your low resolution media files, thus needing a basic understanding of media organization in AVID Media Composer. If you are not familiar with AVID media management, then it would be best to review these concepts before continuing. Media Management within AVID and its bins is also vital. Make sure to organize your bins properly, so as to not confuse yourself through the various steps you'll take in these RED workflows. “LINK TO AMA” In the last few years AVID has introduced a whole new way to edit your master media called AMA (AVID Media Access). AMA is the process by which an AVID user is able to edit directly from the master media (in our case R3D files, RED's file type) via the AMA linking process instead of having to import/capture/transcode media within the program. In other words no media files are actually created when you bring media into AVID via AMA, thus saving you hard drive space. However, some editors do not fully trust the long-term capabilities of AMA and prefer using a native media file structure. So to these individuals, AMA is a quicker workflow to create AVID media files using RED footage. Let's jump into some of the many unique RED workflows!! 5 Workflow 1: AVID AMA Workflow The first workflow we are going to discuss is the simplest and most relaxed on hard drive capacity: editing directly from AMA media. However, while it is the simplest, it is the least efficient workflow in terms of system resource usage and reliability. Open up AVID Media Composer and (1) navigate to your hard drive's project folder by clicking on the folder icon, then (2) create a new project... When the “New Project” window pops up (1) enter the project's name. Then (2) correctly enter the project's information, specifically the “format” – most RED projects will be 1080p/23.976, though others can be used. And finally (3) click the “OK” button... 6 Back in the “Select Project” window, select “OK” to begin your new AVID project... Once the project opens, you should recognize AVID's four unique windows – the Composer window, the Timeline window, the Project window, and the Bin window(s) (of which AVID automatically creates one bin when a project is created)... 7 So to get your RED footage into AVID using the “Link to AMA Volume...” option, first ensure that your Project window or any one of your Bins are the active window (simply click on the window to make it active), then go to the top toolbar and select “File > Link to AMA Volume...” When the “Select the root of the virtual volume.” window opens, navigate to the folder(s) of raw RED files that are located on your hard drive(s). NOTE: You are only able to select one folder at a time within this window. 8 Your RED files will then populate in a new Bin window (which will automatically take the title of your hard drive's name). Note that the icon next to each AMA clip has a unique icon, ( ) making them easily discernible from standard captured/imported clips, subclips, etc. In the name of beneficial media management, go ahead and rename the bins in your Project window... (NOTE: You may separate your AMA-linked media however you wish, but please be as organized as possible. For the sake of this document, we have placed all of the AMA-linked media into a bin called “MASTER RED Footage.”) 9 From this point forward, you are able to Splice In/Overwrite your AMA-linked RED footage into your project's sequence(s), adding any number of clips, effects (specifically color correction), titles, etc. that you want... Once you have finalized your edit, you may then render everything and export your sequence(s) by going to the top toolbar and selecting “File > Export...” 10 Workflow 2: AVID AMA to HQ Media Files Workflow (Online Workflow) The second workflow for RED media also involves the AMA process. However, we will be transcoding the AMA files into high quality AVID MXF media files. While using this workflow requires far more hard drive space than Workflow 1, it provides greater system and software reliability. Open up AVID Media Composer and (1) navigate to your hard drive's project folder by clicking on the folder icon, then (2) create a new project... When the “New Project” window pops up (1) enter the project's name. Then (2) correctly enter the project's information, specifically the “format” – most RED projects will be 1080p/23.976, though others can be used. And finally (3) click the “OK” button... 11 Back in the “Select Project” window, select “OK” to begin your new AVID project... Once the project opens, you should recognize AVID's four unique windows – the Composer window, the Timeline window, the Project window, and the Bin window(s) (of which AVID automatically creates one bin when a project is created)... 12 So to get your RED footage into AVID using the “Link to AMA Volume...” option, first ensure that your Project window or any one of your Bins are the active window (simply click on the window to make it active), then go to the top toolbar and select “File > Link to AMA Volume...” When the “Select the root of the virtual volume.” window opens, navigate to the folder(s) of raw RED files that are located on your hard drive(s). NOTE: You are only able to select one folder at a time within this window. 13 Your RED files will then populate in a new Bin window (which will automatically take the title of your hard drive's name). Note that the icon next to each AMA clip has a unique icon, ( ) making them easily discernible from captured/imported clips, subclips, etc. In the name of beneficial media management, go ahead and rename the bins in your Project window... (NOTE: You may separate your AMA-linked media however you wish, but please be as organized as possible. For the sake of this document, we have placed all of the AMA-linked media into a bin called “MASTER RED Footage.”) You are now going to turn your linked RED footage into high quality AVID media files. Highlight the linked clips in your bin (Command-A, Shift-click, or Command-click) – you can select all of the clips or select only the ones that you want to transcode... 14 Now navigate to the top toolbar and click on “Clip > Consolidate/Transcode...” When the Consolidate/Transcode window pops up (1) select the Transcode bubble on at the top left of the window and (2) select the drive where you want the transcoded media files to be created. (3) In the “Target Video Resolution” drop down menu select “DNxHD 175 X MXF,” then (4) click on the Transcode button... Your transcoding will take quite a while, depending on your computer's hardware and the length and frame size of the linked RED footage... 15 When the transcoding is complete, your bin will populate with the brand new clips... Note that both the linked media and the brand new media file clips will remain in the same bin until you move and/or organize them in different bins. Also note that you can easily differentiate linked media from standard media by spotting the icon next to the clips' names - the icon for linked media, and the icon for clips based off of media files. That said, once again in the name of media management, create a new bin and move the newly transcoded clips into it... 16 From this point forward, you are able to Splice In/Overwrite your newly transcoded RED footage into your project's sequence(s), adding any number of clips, effects (specifically color correction), titles, etc. that you want... Once you have finalized your edit, you may then render everything and export your sequence(s) by going to the top toolbar and selecting “File > Export...” 17 Workflow 3: AVID AMA to LQ Media to HQ Media Workflow (Offline Workflow) The third workflow for RED media is more or less an industry standard workflow. You will be transcoding the AMA files first into low quality AVID MXF media files then converting your finalized sequence back into high quality AVID MXF media files. While using this workflow requires more hard drive space than Workflow 1, it utilizes far less hard drive space and greater system and software reliability than Workflow 2. Open up AVID Media Composer and (1) navigate to your hard drive's project folder by clicking on the folder icon, then (2) create a new project... When the “New Project” window pops up (1) enter the project's name. Then (2) correctly enter the project's information, specifically the “format” – most RED projects will be 1080p/23.976, though others can be used. And finally (3) click the “OK” button... 18 Back in the “Select Project” window, select “OK” to begin your new AVID project... Once the project opens, you should recognize AVID's four unique windows – the Composer window, the Timeline window, the Project window, and the Bin window(s) (of which AVID automatically creates one bin when a project is created)... 19 So to get your RED footage into AVID using the “Link to AMA Volume...” option, first ensure that your Project window or any one of your Bins are the active window (simply click on the window to make it active), then go to the top toolbar and select “File > Link to AMA Volume...” When the “Select the root of the virtual volume.” window opens, navigate to the folder(s) of raw RED files that are located on your hard drive(s). NOTE: You are only able to select one folder at a time within this window. 20 Your RED files will then populate in a new Bin window (which will automatically take the title of your hard drive's name). Note that the icon next to each AMA clip has a unique icon, ( ) making them easily discernible from captured/imported clips, subclips, etc. In the name of beneficial media management, go ahead and rename the bins in your Project window... (NOTE: You may separate your AMA-linked media however you wish, but please be as organized as possible. For the sake of this document, we have placed all of the AMA-linked media into a bin called “MASTER RED Footage.”) We are now going to turn our linked RED footage into high quality AVID media files. Highlight the linked clips in your bin (Command-A, Shift-click, or Command-click) – you can select all of the clips or select only the ones that you want to transcode... 21 Now navigate to the top toolbar and click on “Clip > Consolidate/Transcode...” When the Consolidate/Transcode window pops up (1) select the Transcode bubble on at the top left of the window and (2) select the drive where you want the transcoded media files to be created. (3) In the “Target Video Resolution” drop down menu select “DNxHD 36 MXF,” then (4) click on the Transcode button... Your transcoding will take quite a while, depending on your computer's hardware and the length and frame size of the linked RED footage... 22 When the transcoding is complete, your bin will populate with the brand new clips... Note that both the linked media and the brand new media file clips will remain in the same bin until you move and/or organize them in different bins. Also note that you can easily differentiate linked media from standard media by spotting the icon next to the clips' names - the icon for linked media, and the icon for clips based off of media files. That said, once again in the name of media management, create a new bin and move the newly transcoded clips into it... 23 Before you start editing the newly transcoded media, you must first initiate the separation of the DNxHD 36 media from any other media that will be created later on, which will become important after you complete your offline edit – but we'll go over that soon. Open up a new Finder window and navigate to your hard drive's “Avid MediaFiles > MXF” folder. If you recall from your introductory AVID classes, MXF media is created only in the “1” folder. So in order to separate the transcoded media from media that will later be created, you must rename this “1” folder. In this example, we renamed it “36” so that we can always know that the contents are DNxHD 36 media... From this point forward, you are able to Splice In/Overwrite your RED footage into your project's sequence(s), adding any number of clips, effects (specifically color correction), titles, etc. that you want... 24 Once you have finalized your edit (and an emphasis on finalized must be made – that means you must not make any other edits after this step) you are going to take your media files offline. This may sound counterproductive, but this aids in the transition from an “offline” edit to an “online” edit, meaning that you are going to be transforming your sequence with low resolution media into a sequence with HIGH resolution media! So open up a Finder window and navigate to your hard drive's “Avid MediaFiles > MXF” folder. Move the folder containing all of the DNxHD 36 media (which, in this example, is in a folder called “36”) one folder up, thus taking it offline. Note that there may be other folder within the “MXF” folder, so move only the one containing the project's DNxHD 36 media. Obviously, most or all of your project's media will now be offline. But that's okay! The point of doing this is to re-link the project to the original RED footage via AMA. Open up all of the bins that contain the original AMA clips (recall the linked clips in all of those bins... icon). Highlight ALL of the Now open up the bin with your finalized sequence and click on it, highlighting it... 25 Go to the top toolbar and select “Clip > Relink...” When the Relink window pops up, make sure to match it to the picture below – the top box should have “Select Items in ALL open bins” selected with the “Allow relinking to offline items check, and the middle box should have “Start Timecode and Tape” selected from the “Relink by:” drop-down menu and the “Allow relinking of imported/AMA clips by Source File name” checked. Note that “Create new sequence” in the bottom box is not required and is editor's choice whether or not they check that option... 26 Your finalized sequence should now be online, as it is once again referencing the original RED footage via AMA... You are now going to create a new bin and call it “Consolidated Sequence.” Move the now relinked sequence into this new bin... In the Consolidated Sequence bin, select the sequence, highlighting it... 27 Once again, navigate to the top toolbar and click on “Clip > Consolidate/Transcode...” The point of transcoding media a second time in this workflow is to conform the RED AMA files that are used in the finalized sequence into high quality AVID media files (DNxHD 175x), which gives you greater latitude in terms of both color correction and final output quality. In the Consolidate/Transcode window (1) select the Transcode bubble on at the top left of the window and (2) select the drive where you want the transcoded media files to be created. (3) In the “Target Video Resolution” drop down menu select “DNxHD 175 X MXF,” then (4) click on the Transcode button... Note that it's editor's decision to check the “Create new sequence” option in the top box. 28 After your transcode has completed a new “1” folder in your drive's “Avid MediaFiles” folder will populate with the new DNxHD 175x media. Rename this folder “175”... And while you are in the Finder window, move the “36” folder back into the “MXF” folder... Because you have already finalized your edit, the only items you should add/alter are effects, specifically color correction! 29 Once you are finished altering your sequence, you may then render everything and export your sequence(s) by going to the top toolbar and selecting “File > Export...” 30 Workflow 4: REDCINE-X to AVID (Online Workflow) The fourth workflow for working with RED media involves utilizing some of RED's native software, specifically REDCINE-X PRO, which provides native support for viewing, color correcting, and converting RED RAW files. Open up REDCINE-X PRO... (For a basic overview of REDCINE-X PRO visit www.red.com/learn/workflow/rcx-pro-general-overview) 31 In the top-left section of the interface rests the Browser/Project tabs. (1) Select your hard drive from the list of discs connected to the machine, and (2) navigate to the folder(s) containing your master RED footage... (Note that when a folder that contains RED media is selected a thumbnail of the media will automatically load) Preview any clip(s) by double-clicking on them. The clip(s) will open in the center of the interface, where you can then watch it using the controls underneath the monitor... 32 After you have previewed all of the media, highlight the thumbnails of the clips you wish to be included in your project... Drag the highlighted clip(s) into the Project section below... (Note that you will have to do this for each individual folder that contains RED media) 33 Your project section should now be fully populated... From here you are able to load each clip from the project section in the center monitor and color correct them individually by using the “Look” tools on the right side of the interface... (Note that this step can be skipped) 34 Once you are done color correcting highlight all of the clips in the Project section and go to the top toolbar and select “File > Export...” When the Export window opens (1) select “Avid AAF & MFX” and select the “Setup...” button... 35 In the “Avid Settings” window select the highest quality, 10-bit MXF resolution for your project's settings (see the top of page 3 for which selection is best for you), then select “OK”... Back in the “Export” window (2) click on the “Debayer Settings” button... 36 In the “Debayer Settings” window select the desired debayer values for you exported media. Note that using “Full” values is incredibly stressful on the average computer and isn't really used unless you plan on sending your project(s) back to film or to any other output higher than 1080p. The safest bet, albeit most time consuming (other than “Full”), is to select “1/2 Premium”... Once again, back in the “Export” window, (3) select “Output with Clip Filename to Selected Folder” and click on the “Select Output Folder...” button... 37 In the “Select Output Folder” window (1) select the “New Folder” button and call it something like “REDCINE-X to AVID” and (2) click “Choose” button... With all of your settings in the “Export” window properly addressed (4) click on the “Export” button... 38 Note that this process could conceivably take hours, even days, depending on the size and quantity of the RED footage you are exporting. At the bottom of the REDCINE-X PRO interface, in the Export tab, you are able to see the progress of your export... After the export is complete you may close REDCINE-X PRO. From here you must move the freshly exported MXF media from the export folder into an “Avid MediaFiles” folder. Please note that if an “Avid MediaFiles” folder and its proper contents do not exist, then you must create them. Move the new exported media into “Avid MediaFiles > MXF > 175” folder. (Note that the “Avid MediaFiles > MXF” folders must be spelled exactly as such and located on the root level of the hard drive) In this example we moved the media into a folder named “175” folder in order to organize and differentiate the DNxHD 175x media from other media. 39 Open up AVID Media Composer and (1) navigate to your hard drive's project folder by clicking on the folder icon, then (2) create a new project... When the “New Project” window pops up (1) enter the project's name. Then (2) correctly enter the project's information, specifically the “format” – most RED projects will be 1080p/23.976, though others can be used. And finally (3) click the “OK” button... 40 Back in the “Select Project” window, select “OK” to begin your new AVID project... Once the project opens, you should recognize AVID's four unique windows – the Composer window, the Timeline window, the Project window, and the Bin window(s) (of which AVID automatically creates one bin when a project is created)... 41 AVID automatically creates one bin and calls it “[Project Name] bin”. Rename this bin “MASTER RED footage”... Now go to the top toolbar and select “File > Import...” 42 In the folder containing the REDCINE-X PRO exports select all of the files in the “AAF” folder... In the bottom-left corner of the “Select files to Import” window choose the “DNxHD 175 X MXF” option in the “Resolution:” drop down menu... Your bin will now populate with your REDCINE-X PRO exports... 43 From this point forward, you are able to Splice In/Overwrite your RED footage into your project's sequence(s), adding any number of clips, effects (specifically color correction), titles, etc. that you want... Once you have finalized your edit, you may then render everything and export your sequence(s) by going to the top toolbar and select “File > Export...”