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After Effects CC 2014 and Red Footage
Hi Guys…..I need some advice. I have been asked to perform some compositing in AE CC 2014 using Red Epic footage. What is the best workflow? I have read that most VFX houses ask for the R3D files to be converted to 10 bit DPX sequences. Which color space should I set my AE project to when I import them into AE to work in a Red Log Film color space? How can I “normalize” the red footage so I can complete the comp in a correct linear image? Do I use adjustment layers with a lut? When I export, do I set the output to a Log format like Universal Camera Printing Density so the colorist has a log space to work in with the fx added? I’m confused….am I on the right page…any help is much appreciated, thank you!
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8 Replies
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I’m piggybacking on your request as well. I’d like to start off on the right foot with Red footage, but at present, can’t import the .r3d files I’ve been given. If the answer isn’t easy, anyone have link to a thorough workflow tutorial?
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ANYONE???
Leon Sanginiti, Jr.
Obie Ray Post and VFX -
Leon, while the free REDCINE-X PRO app will adjust and export RED to most any file format you use, I discovered that I can also view the edit in Adobe Premiere Pro natively, which saved me from having to rebuild the edit. (The editor gave me the XML EDL as well, which is what I opened in PP)
Why Premiere can view it but Quicktime Player can’t is beyond me, but nonetheless, that gave me the ability to export the whole sequence from Premiere to ProRes, which is what I’m using for my intermediate format.
In theory it would be even better to import that Premiere project as a dynamic link into After Effects, but I’m not doing that for two reasons:
1. After Effects immediately (without hang) throws an error: “failed to connect to adobe premiere pro dynamic link”. A bit of research turned up no answers, so I need to move on and deal with that another time.
2. I’ve also read here in another post that while possible to dynamic link your AE comp to PP, it just slows things down keeping that edit live. My edit is locked at the post house, so while we might save a bit of quality by not re-compressing to another format, having that “change the edit” flexibility wouldn’t be worth the attested sluggishness I read about.Hope it helps,
Greg -
Thanks Greg, but the issue I’m having isn’t so much an issue with importing the footage…I already intend to import a 10 bit DPX sequence of the r3d files…this makes it easier to work with for VFX in AE…I’m just confused on how to set the proper colorspace in AE so I can see a proper linear colorspace (sRGB) and do my FX and be able to match colors properly with the r3d footage (DPX sequence) and my FX layers. Also, I want to make sure I can render out appropriate log DPX files to the colorist who will then have the proper latitude to do a correction that matches the other non vfx footage he has worked on. I have seen several articles on doing this with Alexa Log C footage in DPX, but not sure if it’s the same with Red footage. Again…all about the color space workflow and VFX
Leon Sanginiti, Jr.
Obie Ray Post and VFX -
Ah. Yeah, I could use the same advice.
Can you tell me briefly why 10 bit DPX is better to work with for VFX?
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Hi Leon and Greg,
Have you found your answers yet? Doing a correct Linear workflow should be the default, but it seems to be the hardest thing to get right.
I have heard that the correct way to work with R3Ds is to do a one-light correction in REDCINE and export to exr sequences. This is because After Effects correctly interprets the exr files as linear-to-light, whereas it can screw up the colors in a R3D file. When you export your comp, that’s when you do the conversion to 10bit log.
-Aidan
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I know that this is an old thread, but perhaps this may help someone…
As Leon eluded to in the original post, the R3D files had already been debayered to DPX Log file sequences. The proper way to handle them in AE is to setup the project as 16 or 32 bit, color managed and to interpret the files as Universal Camera Printing Density. As long as you use this same Universal Camera Printing Density profile on the render, you will get output that matches the input. In the end, the rendered media should match exactly to what they gave you to begin with. You can check this in a non-color managed project.
To “normalize” the working space, simply check the “Linearize Working Space” checkbox in the project/color settings. The workspace can be anything you want. If you have the color management setup correctly and you interpret all of your elements correctly, there is no need to ever apply a LUT in a comp.
You should NOT be using the original R3D files as your debayer settings will not match the rest of the project’s debayered settings, unless you are debayering everything to begin with, or you have the exact recipe for the debayer. You should never do a “one light” as this bakes in YOUR color into the shot… which the colorist will not appreciate at all. You should ask for “vfx pulls” for the shots you are working on and use those (DPX or EXR sequences) and give back exactly what they gave you. “They” would be the people who are putting the conform together. If They can’t provide this to you… then good luck to you… you are working with amateurs, and they probably won’t even notice the color shifts anyways.
It would be nice to see AE support RED as much as they support the ARRI profiles. There are even output profiles for Sony S-Log. But as long as the input matches the output, you should be fine.
To answer Greg’s question, why DPX? DPX sequences make for a great way to preserve all of the information required to represent a film scans resolution and dynamic range (as well as tape and timecode and keycode, etc.). It just became an industry standard since Kodak created the Cineon format back in the day. EXRs have mostly taken over as they can better represent the very wide dynamic ranges required for HDR.
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To me, it all depends on the level of work required.
I’ve gone as high as EXR to the low sequential BMPs when dealing with VFX.
In the middle is where I usually my bread and butter suchProRes4444 and sequential TIFF/TGAs.
Since this level can be soup to nuts, Colorspace tends to be a last minute thing.
Not my call just how I’ve experienced it locally.
So for now working with AE and RED RAW will have to be a case by case basis IMHO.
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