Fusion Connect 101: compressed codecs do not work in Fusion??? Resolve timeline 29.97 fps rendered as Fusion Connect at 24 pfs ???

[Simon Ubsdell]

What codecs are not working for you?

Are you on a Mac or a PC?

As to frame rate, when using Fusion Connect the frame rate is fixed by whatever you send from Resolve.

This is different to the usual behaviour of Fusion were you can change the frame rate of the rendered output using the Saver. However, if you are using an image sequence for your output, a frame will always be a frame.

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki

[Michael Mccune]

Thanks for the quick reply, Simon.

Yes, doing this work on a PC.

And the Resolve original source video is 29.97 fps and the Resolve time line is 29.97, as it is shown in the Project Settings, the Edit tab media pool info and in the Media tab clip metadata. So that does actually seem to be 29.97.

But the fps for the compressed codecs may not matter, as we see that this anomaly is seen in the failed compressed codecs only, not the successful frame based codecs.

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FWIW, here is a list of the codecs tested, seeming to show that frame based codecs work but not the compressed codecs.

Love to get a DnX codec to work in Fusion, such as DnX HD 220 10-bit.

1) 1 min QT DnX HD == 1.54 GB; 44 sec encode time == fails in Fusion; _1_min_QT_DnX_HD_v01 cannot get Parameter for Input at time 0 _1_min_QT_DnX_HD_v01 failed at time 0

2) 1 min QT 444 == 3.09 GB; 60 sec encode time == fails in Fusion; V10001_1_min_QT_444 failed at time 0 _1_min_QT_444_v01 cannot get Parameter for Input at time 0_1_min_QT_444_v01 failed at time 0

3) 1 min QT Uncom RGB == 10.4 GB; 55 sec encode time == OK in Fusion

4) 1 min TIFF RGB 8bit == 10.4 GB; 148 sec sec encode time == OK in Fusion

5) 1 min DPX RGB 10bit == 14 GB; 109 sec sec encode time == OK in Fusion
6) 1 min DPX RGBA == 14 GB; 193 sec sec encode time == OK in Fusion

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Thanks for your thoughts on this, Simon.
Mike

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Michael McCune] “But the fps for the compressed codecs may not matter, as we see that this anomaly is seen in the failed compressed codecs only, not the successful frame based codecs.”

Not sure what anomaly you’re talking about there.

As for your codec problem, I’m not the right person to ask as I don’t have access to Fusion/Resolve on a PC right now.

Does DNxHD work for you in Resolve?

For working in Fusion, you ideally want to steer clear of compressed codecs unless you’re not that concerned about quality.

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki

[Michael Mccune]

Thanks again, Simon.

Yes, DNx of all flavors work in Resolve, both in and out on my PC.

And the “anomaly” I referred to was simply the fact that only the compressed codecs, the ones that do not open in Fusion, showed 24 fps, not the 29.970 fps of Resolve and the Resolve timeline.

Question: do any compressed codecs import into Fusion, in your experience???

Also, just for my curiosity, please describe your hardware and the typical render fps that you consider normal or adequate. 5 fps??? 25 fps??? 75 fps??? I realize that the node complexity will impact this. But the idea is to understand the general level of render performance is normal or acceptable for your work.

I have the impression that professionals usually run at full-tilt: that is, multiple graphics cards (Quadro or other series???), multiple processors, as many CPU cores as possible and the full complement of ram.

Today I asked Nvidia about any CUDA or OpenCL configuration tips for Resolve and Fusion and they said–and would only say–that GeForce 1080 series cards are not recommended, use Quadro. Just for due diligence, however, one has to recollect that there is almost no comparative benchmarking or other specific info.

One description from an Nvidia engineer a few years ago seemed simply to highlight driver stability rather than performance. This seems to mean that it will never crash under demanding commercial graphics applications, but otherwise they make no claims even to parity regarding performance.

Thanks again, Simon.
Mike

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Michael McCune] “Question: do any compressed codecs import into Fusion, in your experience???”

I’m on a Mac and I frequently use Apple ProRes successfully with Fusion Connect. I haven’t had any success with DNxHD however.

Have you tried not creating new media but simply selecting “Use source media” when creating your Fusion Connect clip? Usually there is no good reason to make new media.

As far as performance is concerned, as you know, it’s virtually impossible to make this sort of comparison as there are so many variables in play.

Could you describe exactly what you are doing? Maybe there are workflow optimisations that would help.

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki

[Michael Mccune]

Thanks, Simon; here is a delayed reply.

The overall goal probably seems rather simple: create multiple mattes within a clip for color adjustments.

But multiple Resolve power windows and the associated tracking slow down the PC markedly, eventually becoming unworkable. I have used perhaps seven or eight masks with tracking and a total of over three or four dozen nodes: it all works but sooo slowly that it eventually fails, even with dual Xeons and 48 GB RAM and a GeForce 1080 series card.

Fusion to the rescue: perhaps Fusion’s overall compositing skills can help. Especially with multiple masks that need to be combined. Indeed I seem to find that Fusion’s ChromaKey is actually quicker and more reliable than the several filter options in Resolve, such as HSL, Luminance, 3D or RGB, even with the various refinements applied.

Then Fusion can offload this work and its exported masks are imported into Resolve as external mattes. Works fine. Especially as Fusion Booleans can export RGB as black plus the alpha channel, keeping file size down, usually to less than a Megabyte per frame.

Indeed, Resolve seems to handle over half a dozen simultaneous external mattes without the slowdown from Resolve’s tracking, windows and filters.

Not sure if this multiple external matte process can be replicated within Fusion Connect. But it would be a huge help to have an active FC connection. Then perhaps tweak the mask in Fusion and have it recognized in Resolve on the fly.

So that is my overall plan for now. Not perfect but might get me out of the woods.

Thanks for all your help, Simon.

Mike