Alan Okey
5
COW Coins
2
DaVinci Coins
Forum Replies Created
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When you record in SP mode, you are effectively recording HDV (25mbps), not XDCAM EX (35mpbs). As a result, you can’t shoot native 24p when using SP mode, nor can you shoot full-raster 1920×1080. Instead, footage is recorded as 24p over 29.97i with 3:2 pulldown added, at 1440×1080 resolution.
While recording in SP mode saves space and increases available recording time, doing so records a lower quality HDV signal that negates many of the inherent advantages of the EX series cameras.
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Perhaps I wasn’t clear. Typically VFX are done after an edit is locked so that only the required amount of necessary footage is processed. In large productions, VFX shots can be very expensive so it’s important to have picture locked before the VFX shots are produced.
Think of it this way:
Shoot > log/capture > edit > lock picture > export shots for VFX > import finished VFX shots back into edit > color grade > final output
Smoke is a very powerful integrated editing and finishing system that has many powerful VFX and compositing tools built in. It can often eliminate the need to export footage to another application for effects work, as the tools are built right into the app. You pay for the privilege, however. Smoke for Mac is $15K plus a $2K yearly maintenance contract, and it only runs on a very specific high spec Mac Pro system with specific additional hardware (AJA Kona 3, nVidia Quadro FX 4800, RAID storage capable of 500MB/sec. throughput). Smoke on Linux is sold as a turnkey hardware/software system and starts at over $40K.
There’s a great video overview of Smoke for Mac at this site:
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[Daniel Kim] “Or do you guys get clips of the footages you shot into AE and add the necessary special effects and bring the final clips into your NLE and edit your footages, then? “
This is the more common workflow for VFX shots when using NLE software. There’s a different workflow on high end finishing systems like Smoke, but in Vegas, FCP, Premiere or Avid the VFX shots are usually completed outside the editing app and brought back into the timeline for finishing.
There can be some “gotchas” to this method, most notably anticipating/dealing with gamma shits when exporting/importing footage, but that’s outside the scope of this discussion. The typical workflow is that VFX (anything beyond the capabilities of the editing app) are handled on a per-shot basis in a dedicated compositing or VFX app, then brought back into the NLE and edited into the project.
Just a quick note: get in the habit of using the term “visual effects” or VFX for short. The term “special effects” refers specifically to practical real-world physical production effects like pyrotechnics, fog, etc.
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[Kyle Davis] “Any idea why the codec doesn’t seem to even work in windows for anything besides WMP (and perhaps Vegas Studio, which doesn’t export to HD in my version)?”
Because Microsoft is notorious for using proprietary formats to lock in dependence on Windows Media Player. Microsoft has a long history of abhorring open standards that challenge its dominance.
Some history:
https://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/5F0C866C-6DDF-4A9A-9515-531B0CA0C29C.html
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Two of my favorites are Conduit Suite and dvMatte Pro from dvGarage.
Conduit gives you true nodal compositing right within FCP. It’s an extremely powerful tool and a great way to learn nodal compositing. It also allows you to build your own custom keyers to handle the job when plugin keyers fall down.
https://www.dvgarage.com/prod/prod.php?prod=conduit2
dvMatte Pro is a fast, comprehensive keying plugin that deals very well with 4:2:0 and 4:1:1 source footage.
https://www.dvgarage.com/prod/prod.php?prod=dvmattep3
dvGarage’s comprehensive free online tutorials are second to none.
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THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! WHAT WILL WE DO?!?!?
OH THE HUMANITY!!!
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You must first transcode your XDCAM clip to ProRes. Cinema Tools can’t work with long GOP compression schemes, only intraframe codecs.
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[walter biscardi] “Bob Sliga has now come out with Scone Looks which essentially gives you the exact same type of deal in Color. You can just apply looks to your shots in Color without having to take the time to learn the software. This is also a great way to learn the app more in depth by reverse engineering what he has created. “
I see the value in reverse engineering, but I guess I just have a personal aversion to using canned effects. I realize that presets can save people a lot of time, but the control freak in me finds them distasteful for my own work. Perhaps I’ve seen one too many trite, overused color treatments slapped onto poor work in a vain attempt to make it seem “edgier.”
In any case, it’s great that professionals like Bob are willing to share their talents with everyone in an effort to demystify and democratize the process. Perhaps extreme looks applied in bad taste will be a passing fad like lens flares and light rays…
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Lately I’ve run into several people who are using Magic Bullet Looks who swear by it. I’ve never seen it or used it, but the people I’ve encountered who are using it tell me that they’ve found Color’s workflow requirements too stringent or they’ve had problems trying to use Color in conjunction with Media Manager. I’ve had no issues with either.
I briefly checked out the Looks website and it seems a little cheesy to me, not like a professional grading tool. That surprises me, because the people I’ve encountered who are using it are pros – not professional colorists, but very talented editors.
Maybe I’m just an elitist snob, but I’d rather learn a deep program like Color and figure out how to build a look from the ground up than just slap on a preset filter and tweak it.
Thoughts? Anyone familiar with Looks?
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This is an easy task for Imagineer Systems Mokey, which I’ve used before for this exact purpose.
https://www.imagineersystems.com/products/mokey/
You may have to create one or more clean plates first in Photoshop, but it’s trivial.