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Final Cut Pro Work Flow / Color for TV
I have been having a few issues with my editing work flow lately. Let me start by saying I am an independent film maker and usually know exactly what I am looking for when I start shooting and editing etc so my work flow there I know how to get to my final output. Now in this I usually dont do much Keying or SFX.
I am now working with a company that has a very heavy Motion graphics work flow and I am having issues.
I will tell you the work flow and then the problems.
We record everything through a Tricaster XD300 (HD) at 1920 by 1080. It gets transfered from the tricaster to a Mac in an MPG2 format (unfortunatly this is the only format it exports) When I hit info on the file it says Codecs Mpeg Layer 2, Mpeg-2 video.
I then convert it using MPG Streamclip into an Apple Pro Res HQ file (no size reduction) for editing.
My work flow from there is creating all Motion graphics in Motion (as it is faster for me), Doing all my color correction in Apple Color, My Keying in After Effects, and my editing in FCP.
I render from all systems as Apple Pro Res HQ except for Motion (which usually has Alpha channels) Which I render out as an Animation.
My final output is always Apple Pro Res 720×486 4×3(as the stations I go to are all SD still)
From there I have to get it to a station via DVD or BetaSP. I convert to DVD (HQ 90 min) in compressor and then burn through DVD Studio
Now my issue is that some where along the line my subject becomes very orange… not fruit orange but orange enough. I also lose most of my contrast and the image looks washed out. Here is an example… this is before the Compressor… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3fJBAPKeY4
Its practically un-usable.Is there a way to fix this? Is there a better work flow? Am I doing something wrong here.. I assumed that there would be minimal loss if I kept the codecs the same each time I rendered (approx 4 times per spot)
I really need help here.
Timothy Gaer
http://www.timothygaer.com
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3014735/
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4 Replies
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[Timothy Gaer] “We record everything through a Tricaster XD300 (HD) at 1920 by 1080.”
Why? From what cameras are you recording? By going MPEG2 via the Tricaster you’re taking a colossal compression hit. If possible, record to tape or shoot directly into your edit system’s capture card.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/ -
Also ProRes HQ is overkill. If you have FCS3 then you also have the lovely ProRes4444 codec which is much better than animation so use that as your Motion export which is not only an alpha channel codec but also 10 bit and drops into your regular ProRes timeline very nicely. Final renders will be faster.
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hmm…you haven’t mentioned it, so I have to ask, are you using an external monitor? If you are using Color, what you see in Color will look VERY different when you send it back to FCP. So you need an external monitor to know exactly what you’re looking at.
I agree with the ProRes comment as well. Regular ProRes is all you need, not ProRes HQ.
That girl is super hot too, even though she’s orange :p
Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com -
As Rob suggests, I suspect your monitoring and color correction to be at the root of the problem, otherwise everyone’s video would be orange.
Precisely how are you monitoring?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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