Andrew Somers
Forum Replies Created
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Hey Ari, how ya been?
If you want them all to have nice arcs, an expression with javascript Math.sin(); is the down and dirty way. Or use a spreadsheet like LibreOffice (it’s free) , since you can cut and past keyframes from and to the timeline and a spreadsheet, that’s an easy way to handle math tricks.
Cheers,
Andy
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Hi Graham,
There is more than one method that is/was used, just as there is more than one method used to go from film to video/digital.
The earliest and lowest quality was the kinescope, which was along the lines of pointing a camera at a video monitor and shooting it. Before video TAPE, this was the only way to preserve a live television program. While there was signal processing and various innovations over the years, the quality suffered as you might imagine. “I Love Lucy” was the first show to adopt a “shoot on film, broadcast later” workflow, still used today for sitcoms — this eliminated the need for kinescopes, improving quality.
Over the years there have been many methods of film recording, not necessarily for motion film. For instance, electron beam recording for computer output microfilm.
As digital filmmaking progressed in the 1990s, the need for recording to film necessitated a high quality method. One method used a “flying spot” type CRT with color filters that would rotate in place, as the flying spot would record the C Y or M records of the film negative.
ARRI Laser is “probably” the most common laser-type film recorder, at least here in Hollywood at the few places that still do film-out.
But as far as “early artists” how early do you mean? Do you have some examples?
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.generaltitles.com/featured-help-files -
Hi Ellen,
You list some of your machine specs, but not a critical one: how much RAM do you have?
Next, what settings and resolution are your proxies at?
What is the resolution and colorspace settings of the AfterEffects project?
What specifically is “slow” in AE? and What specifically are you trying to do?
What do you mean by “everything is set to the lowest resolution?”
NOTE: AE is not like Premiere, it is not a real-time editor. Don’t expect to push play and have realtime playback without rendering first.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.generaltitles.com/featured-help-files -
Hi Emir,
The short answer is “it depends” as I don’t know anything about your project — what are your source files, what are you rendering to, and where are those files going next, and what does the DI need, etc etc. I can’t answer your question without specifics.
Here is an article I wrote some time ago on workflow considerations that might be helpful:
In general, today I mostly recommend not using ICC color management for video/film projects. Instead OpenColorIO is a more useful tool for the job, and it’s free.
Cheers
Andy
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
[Jack Chavez] “R3Ds — In both AE and Fusion, I’ve started with the default interpretation, which references the metadata for deBayering, so to my mind they SHOULD match on the scopes, but don’t for some reason. Perhaps AE is doing some soft-clipping.
Since Fusion is a default linear workspace, there is no reason to default to a softclip. BUT
Since AE is not a default “linear” workspace, and many use it in a gamma encoded way, Adobe seems to keep their presets/defaults oriented toward that workflow. Linear in AE was something they added when they incorporated CMM/ICC, which….
[Jack Chavez] Didn’t know that about ProPoto. I’ve seen it recommended in a few different places but, yeah, in the Adobe documentation for sure.
…Using ICC profiles and a color management engine seemed like a neat idea… at first.
Here’s the problem: It’s not well suited to video/film workflows.
Color Management using ICC profiles was created for the purpose of going from a D65 RGB color model to a D50 CMYK color model, using profiles specific to the output device.
To do that, the image data is transformed from D65 RGB into the D50 “Profile Connection Space” (PCS) which is either CIEXYZ or CIELAB. This requires both a Bradford transformation matrix (for white point), and the matrix into the PCS (though the math can be combined). Then it gets transformed to the CMYK space of the output device via another matrix/LUT of the profile. That’s a lot of transformations, but was the solution to make a “one size mangles all” solution for desktop printing and prepress.
For video/film we don’t need all that. We need a LUT to display on our computer monitor what the image will look like through the show LUT (the look that is developed for the show). OpenColorIO is one way to use LUTs instead of CMM/ICC profiles, and avoid relying on color management in AE.
The problem with ProPhoto, is that it was intended for photo editing for print, which is D50, and so by using ProPhoto you can work in RGB without clipping, and also not have to do the Bradford transformation when converting to CMYK etc.
ProPhoto is good for that, but bad for Video/Film (something along the lines of using a metric socket wrench to hammer rusty nails into a Ming vase)…
[Jack Chavez] If I export an EXR sequence out of AE with certain settings it does match the AE interpretation of the R3D. Same for Fusion to Fusion. Not for Fusion to AE so far. EXRs from RED Cine-X look nothing like the original image.”
This sounds like more or less expected behavior (not prefered behavior, just expected LOL).
My suggested workflow is:
Choose one method to create the EXRs, and create all that same way, then use the EXRs for the entire workflow.
Cheers,
Andy
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
Hi Jack,
I am a little unclear on what you need to be doing — did you just want to compare the EXRs you’re generating out of Fusion to see that they match?
Based on the AE histogram, it looks like you have softclipping. But the upshot here is that you must have different settings for R3D import for AE vs what you are doing in Fusion.
Try: make a note of all the values for the R3D conversion in Fusion, and then apply those values in the R3D importer in AE (lower left “more” in the import dialog).
Adobe has a tendency to set their defaults to do things like soft clip, it seems clear that the RAW convert settings are different in the two apps.
“Preserve RGB” won’t help because R3D are not RGB, they are RAW and need debayering first, and there are plenty of adjustments to control that, that can (and obviously are) different between AE and Fusion.
OTHER NOTES:
Use EXR
If your colorist wants “full control” then use EXR and not DPX. DPX is only 10 bit integer, EXR is 16 but float, and the difference is non trivial. USE EXR for intermedia steps whenever possible.DPX is a depreciated format IMO, especially for intermediate stages.
Never use ProPhoto
ALSO: You mentioned once using ProPhoto – I recommend never, ever, using ProPhoto for any video/film project. The most important reason is that ProPhoto uses a D50 white point, and video/film is almost always D65 (D63 for DCI P3). Using a D50 whitepoint means that all your D65 footage has to undergo a Bradford matrix into D50, and will have to undergo that *again* from D50 to D65 on the way back out.These needless transformations can result in a lot of unexpected color problems and artifacts. A second issue with ProPhoto is that is uses IMAGINARY primaries — the ProPhoto gamut includes colors that do not exist in reality including some that are NEGATIVE.
It is shocking to me that A Dough Bee suggests using ProPhoto in some of their documentation for color management and film. It should NEVER be used in our workflows. ProPhoto is mainly useful for photo editing for print destinations, as it allows you to work in RGB without clipping for a CMYK output.
FOR FILM: If you want to work in an ultra-big gamut, consider ACEScg, the cgi version of ACES, designed for VFX workflows.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
When creating 3D projects I usually export the subject out of Cinema 4D in an mp4 format and with a green backplate.
I read that sentence three times to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
First, stop doing this. PLEASE. mp4 is approximately the worst format for an element you are going to do further work on. Second, putting in a green screen in said mp4 is beyond non-sensical. You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face. mp4 is exactly the kind of format you never want for any kind of green screen work. YIKES! Please stop shooting yourself in the foot, eventually you’re going to blow a hole in the floor and annoy your downstairs neighbors.
TRY THIS:
Export from C4D using ProRes4444 with an alpha channel. OR use an Avid DNxHD codec with an alpha. But please stop using mp4 with a rendered green bg! Doing just this change will solve your problem.Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
Which plug in is it saying?
This can be an issue esp. with third-party plugins that might duplicate a standard one. Plugins can be installed in multiple places in the user library, system library, and the app folder.
The best way is to search for it by name, and set the search to “system files: include”.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
Not sure about Sweden, but most nations are similar to US law in this regard. This Wiki article lists some exceptions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protection_of_typefaces
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com -
I was about to ask if you were in Linear mode — the anti-aliasing in Linear mode causes text to be rasterized thicker as well.
Andrew Somers
VFX & Title Supervisor
https://www.GeneralTitles.com