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DSLR Documentary Workflow
I’m trying to figure out what the best post workflow is for a documentary I’m working on.
The film is shot on DSLR’s with separate sound to be synced in post. Normally, I’d just run it all through Compressor into ProRes (HQ), sync with PluralEyes and cut the film. The problem is that the raw footage alone is 1.6 terabytes and I don’t have the disk space to turn a 600 mb file into 2 gigs.
What is the best workflow for this? Is is possible to make a ProRes reference file I can cut from and then turn only the footage that makes the final cut into HQ?
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10 Replies
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For reference:
Right now, we’re shooting 5D, which means H.264 files.
Editing FCP 7 – using compressor to make ProRes 422 (HQ) files.
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I would consider using Pro Res LT. When you up res your footage from h264 to Pro Res
you don’t gain any more quality or file information. The advantage in the Pro Res has more to do with smoother color corrections and such in the expanded format due to less compression.
I find Pro Res LT works well with my HDV and DSLR. This is assuming your color corrections are moderate.
You probably still need to buy a bigger drive.Alan Stephens
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I would suggest doing a traditional offline/online workflow if disc space is very limited. I would edit with ProRes Proxy and then finish it with regular old 422 Pro Res. In order to do this properly you first need to make disc images of the cards and use the E1 plugin from canon to do the transcoding to add proper timecode that FCP understands.
I have the full workflow outlined here if you want more information:
https://chadwickpaul.net/2011/03/27/tutorial-how-to-archive-canon-hdslr-footage/
and
https://chadwickpaul.net/2011/03/28/tutorial-importing-canon-hdslr-footage-into-final-cut-pro/
I hope this helps.
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Hey Chad,
I like the idea, but I’m not sure how to execute. Specifically, if I turn all my footage into a ProRes Proxy and cut the film, how do I go from those edited clips BACK to the h.264 files to turn them into a higher quality ProRes file?
Also, this film will probably go heavy on the color correction, so making a high res final version is important.
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Well, you also need this link:
https://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless_online/1
Explains the tapeless offline/online workflow
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Dave LaRonde] “[Brendon Marotta] “Is it possible to make a ProRes reference file I can cut from and then turn only the footage that makes the final cut into HQ?”
No. It isn’t possible.”
Actually Dave, it is.
I just finished doing this very thing with a behind the scenes video using CF card disk images, media manager, and log and transfer. I was able to cut using prores proxy, I then created an offline media managed project, and then dragged the offline clips into the log and transfer window one card at a time (FCP seems to crash when you have more than 2-3 card images mounted in log and transfer). Log and transfer prompted me to mount the appropriate card and it all came in as ProRes HQ and then sent to Color for grading.
I’m not going to say it was completely flawless. It seems that the “Replace Audio” function in Pluraleyes messed up some of the interview footage naming in media manager and I had a few “General Error” messages when exporting my final render (again, I believe this to be more of a function of Pluraleyes, MM and Color than the workflow. It took me a little over an hour to conform my 8 min piece and I’d have to say it’s worth it and will probably run much smoother now that I’m aware of some of the pitfalls.
I will say this though, making disk images can be painfully slow, although there are some utilities out there that can simplify the process, e.g. DropDMG. Right now I have a 25GB card being converted to a dmg and it’s going to take a little over an hour. Kinda slows things down on the front end a bit. It helps to write to a different disk than you are reading from.
-Graham
OSX 10.6.8
AE CS5
FC Studio 3
Octo 2.26GB MacPro, 16 GB RAM -
And I’m just now discovering that they finally updated the EOS FCP plug-in so that it will recognize folders. No more DMGs.
Sweet.
-Graham
OSX 10.6.8
AE CS5
FC Studio 3
Octo 2.26GB MacPro, 16 GB RAM -
Actually, I’ve got the full clicked-and-dragged cards from the shoot backed up. So, the proxy files are being made right now from log-and-transfer. I just needed to see how to go back from those files to the originals for my final output. Thanks for the links!
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My workflow: switch to premiere pro or avid to work with the files natively. They both have draft resolutions that will allow the footage to play well if your system starts to get bogged down.
BTW, I am curious how long it would take to trans code 1TB of footage and how much space it would take if you were to use FCP 7.
Remember when you weren’t ‘supposed’ to edit native HDV, then it wasn’t a problem. I see the same thing now with the H264….
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To the OP, I’ve had great success so far in the last year with Other World Computing’s drives. I’m sure there are lots of other companies out there, but their multi-tb RAID drives are pretty inexpensive, and can give you at least RAID 1 for basic redundancy, though it won’t protect you from ultimate problems with theft, fire, etc. The drives have been very reliable, quiet and fast for a pretty low price. One of their models has a RAID card built in, so you only need a single esata cable, or you can even run FW or USB into it, if you are working on a laptop. I agree with the thought that you will have an easier go of it by getting more storage. Time is money. Maybe if you are cash strapped you can buy a couple of single drives and swap them out. I have been also using a drive caddy, costs about $35 (plus an esata card if you don’t have one, or use FW),and can run down to an office supply store and buy raw 1TB drives for less than $100 a piece. You didn’t mention how you are backing up all this data…which is also going to be an ongoing cost. The caddy allows me to backup the RAID arrays for off site storage, on a project by project basis. So far, I’ve not filled up my bank lock box. One friend has bought a fire proof safe for home use, and bolted it to the floor of his concrete garage.
And to be clear, on a ‘pay me now or pay me later’ thought, by moving to a competing platform, you pay now, but avoid needing the greater storage, at least for now. You could get all your editing done, save up for some more storage, and then take the final footage and convert to Prores or some other codec like Cineform that other software competitors support for grading. However, you might not have enough storage to do that! With storage so cheap, it seems worth buying more. I recently bought a 4 TB (3 useable in RAID 5) from OWC for less than $500.
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