Best AF100 / 5D workflow for MC 5.5?

[Aaron Shadwell]

Well- have you considered metafuze transcode to DNX?

you can run it in bootcamp mode on your MAC…

good luck to you!

A

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[Hector Berrebi]

if you didn’t already transcode i would suggest a different workflow, but as you did. this one should work too

considering you properly used FCP log & transfer you should have a bunch of prores HQ files for the AF100 and probably a bunch of prores HQ files for the 5D (unless you changed the preferences to a different flavor of prores…)

Prores HQ is probably the best your files can ever get to be visually and FCP does a good job transcoding to it.

MC5 and up, supports AMA link to Prores files.

organize all of your Prores masters on a decent external HDD (some RAID 0 with eSATA or at least FW800 connection, WD makes non-expensive ones)

ingest all of the material into MC using link to AMA.

place it all in one bin and call it AMA something…

the prores files will probably be too intensive on your system to comfortably cut an offline, select all of the files in the AMA bin and transcode them into DNXHD 36. send them to your work HDD, the size difference is big… 1 second of Prores HQ is 27.5 MB, 1 second of DNXHD36 is 4.5 MB

now you will have offline files that look good and as they are Avid media files, are very easy on your system. you can rename them, organize them into bins and cut your work with them even using a good external FW800 drive. some of the smaller, 2.5″ models (portable ones) would work fine. or you might have enough space in your internal drive… but that’s less recommended.

disconnect the HDD with the original masters and keep it somewhere safe.

the AMA bin will become offline. its ok for now.

when you are done cutting you will reconnect it and can relink your final sequence to original Prores files for color correction and finishing.

you have several choices at that point that will depend on your delivery requirements and finishing platform

hope this helped

hector

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Michael Phillips]

Why not AMA to both sources, transcode to a flexible low data rate format for editorial, then relink back for final conform and mastering? All this can be done in Media Composer and you eliminate the quirkiness of QuickTime as the interim format between two NLE systems.

Michael

Michael Phillips

[Nadia Brittingham]

When I transcode, I am creating new media, yes? Just lo res media? I haven’t actually worked with AMA before so I haven’t actually played around with it yet.

2.66 Intel Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro 4GB Ram OS 10.5.8 / Avid MC 5.5

[Hector Berrebi]

yes, when you transcode you create traditional avid MXF media, low res is an option, DNXHD 36 should be your choice.

when you link via AMA you create master clips that just link to the files in their current location.

in your case avid media files will work much better for comfortable editing

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Hector Berrebi]

[Michael Phillips] “Why not AMA to both sources, transcode to a flexible low data rate format”

that would be the right way to go…
but apparently she already L&T all of her media in FCP and she wants to use that…

hi Michael 🙂

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting

[Michael Phillips]

Hi Hector;

Which is why I suggested AMA, although I realized to late that there was already an L&T done in FCP. That being said, what resolution/codec was done in FCP? Even AMA can slow down when pointing to lots and lots of media via the QuickTime AMA leading the user to render/transcode anyway. So there is a tipping point of when you want to transcode based on performance expectations of the editor and of the program (lots of layers and VFX for example).

If the decision is to trancode via AMA, then I would do so via the original files, and not the already L&T’d files from FCP.

Michael

Michael Phillips

[Brendan Maghran]

Hector or Michael,

I was unaware that Avid could link DNxHD 36 sequence back to AMA’d Prores files! How does Avid know to do that? When you transcode for offline your master clips point to MXF files. I’m just not grasping how you can tell your offline-edit media to relink from mxf to AMA Prores files for online. Please let me know if you can explain it, i’m very curious.

-Brendan

[Matthew Hamby]

I agree with Brendan. My workflow has always been to do an original transcode of the AMA files to a high resolution, 145 or 220. Then from that footage, do a transcode down o the 45. The final relink to online the project should be to the 145 or 220 footage.

Also before doing the transcode from the 145 to the 45, be sure to give source tape names as this allows for an easier relink.

[Hector Berrebi]

[Brendan Maghran] “I was unaware that Avid could link DNxHD 36 sequence back to AMA’d Prores files!”

the AMA creates a master clip/media file relationship, so when you are done editing with your transcoded DNX36 you can RELINK (right click) your sequence only
to the original AMA linked files (as long as they are available)

i do it by placing a copy of the seq in the AMA files bin, select all of the AMA clips and the sequence, click relink, make sure that “relink to selected items in bin” is selected, and also that AMA check-mark. sometimes i have to hide my Avid Mediafiles folder.

this comes in handy when working with DSLR or RED as you don’t have to transcode all of your footage to high DNX just your final cut

Hector Berrebi
prePost Consulting