[Daniel Beahm]

Alright… after a couple weeks of research and work, I’m a little more knowledgeable than what I was when I posted this, so I’m revisiting some of my posts to update them for anyone who may come across them in the future. Basically, this is going to be some information for noobs, so you can get to work quicker instead of having to spend days searching for answers as you’re getting started with RED and Premiere.

My initial worry and the reason for the post was that I was scared I would set up my project incorrectly in Premiere and then have to change everything later (after hours of editing).

The beauty of how Premiere (CS4.1 and later) works with RED is that it really minimizes the possibility of this happening.

Within a project, you can set up many sequences. Those sequences can all be different (1k, 2k, 4k, etc.). The difference between those settings is simply how large (at what resolution) your project will display in your program monitor at 100% (the full resolution of what you can view). Depending upon your aspect ratio (the following are 2:1) 1k is 1024×512, 2k is 2048×1024, 4k is 4096×2048.

My 24″ monitor is currently set to 1920×1200. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t view a 2k sequence at full size. However, since there’s a pretty big jump between the 2k and 1k size (2k is bigger than my screen, 1k is pretty tiny at full size, about a quarter of the screen), I generally work in a 2k sequence so I can view it larger than 1024×512. I just select “fit” in my Program Monitor and then hit the tilde key to make the panel full screen. Not ideal, but the best with what I’ve currently got (my new video card arrives soon, so I’ll be able to view 2k full screen, full resolution).

As I mentioned in a previous post, don’t forget to right click on a clip and select “scale to frame size” when placing is on the time line, so it’s not cropped in your Program Monitor. You can also set this to automatically happen in your preferences (tick “default scale to frame sizes” in the “general” tab of preferences).

If you’ve created a sequence at 1k, and you’d rather be in 2k, simply create your new 2k sequence, select everything on your 1k time line, and then cut and paste to your new 2k sequence.

[Daniel Beahm]

Now I’m really curious about the answer to this question, as most of the results I’ve seen regarding using DisplayPort to run a 30″ monitor state that there is no problem.

Could you please explain a little more, Tim?

Thanks.

[Daniel Beahm]

[Tim Kolb] “If you plan on working with RED footage and you’d like to drive a 30″ LCD display at full res, you’d want to be sure you have a Dual-Link DVI card of course…”

I assume this means a DisplayPort can’t drive a 30″ monitor at full resolution? Just want to be sure I have that right.

After spending some time researching, I think I’m going to go for the Nvidia FX4800. I’ve found it for $1300, and though it only has one DualLink-DVI, it has two DisplayPorts.

Thus, I’m really interested in the answer to my question above (DP driving a 30″ monitor).

[Daniel Beahm]

Ahhhh… useful information!

Thanks, Tim.

[Daniel Beahm]

Searching for answers to the same problem.

I have been a devoted user of Adobe Premiere for a long, long time, but this issue has put me on the verge of making the move to Final Cut. If I can’t find a solution in the next day or so, I will likely start using Final Cut.

This is such a major, major shortcoming that Adobe REALLY needs to address.

How do they expect to be taken seriously as a professional video editing tool, if the only way to sync thousands and thousands of audio and video clips (if you’re editing a feature), is to sync everything manually, VISUALLY even (and then either export each linked clip or have to save it -and rename it- as a nested clip)?!

Unbelievable.

[Daniel Beahm]

Surely this is not the only way?

How does Adobe Premiere expect to compete with AVID and Final Cut if this is true? Both those programs will sync to time code and merge the files.

This is a MAJOR shortcoming if the above method is the only method for syncing audio and video.

[Daniel Beahm]

Both of these solutions take an insane amount of time and space.

Are you really telling me that you can’t create a file (that would show up in your media bin) that is simply the audio and video linked (in other words, the video file just shows up with the “speaker icon” showing that there is audio linke to it)?

I am editing a feature film, and I have thousands and thousands of video clips (RED .r3d files) that need to be synced to externally recorded audio.

Are you saying that I have to created a nested clip (create it, name it, organize it), or export from the timeline, EVERY clip of video that we shot over 24 days, thousands of takes, thus creating thousands of more files, be they nested sequences or exported combined files?!

If this is true, then Adobe had better get off their butts and fix this MAJOR short-coming if they expect to be taken seriously as a Pro-Video editing tool.

It’s bad enough that they don’t seem to be addressing time code for audio (I should be able to link audio and video with time code, not have to go in and VISUALLY sync audio and video).

Both Final Cut and AVID simply import the audio with time code, sync the files to the time code on the video, and store the audio and video together, showing the files as linked in the media bin. It’s all pretty automatic and extremely simple.

GET WITH IT ADOBE.

[Daniel Beahm]

I am making this exact same decision right now, and I keep flip-flopping between the i7 and the dual Nehalem Xeon. I will primarily be editing RED 4K footage with Premeire CS4.1, but I will definitely be doing some things in After Effects as well (which falls into the “rendering power” category).

Cost isn’t the biggest factor, but I suppose I can’t just completely ignore it.

In regard to “virtual 8 cores,” I remember back when HT was first being pushed that it didn’t last too long (multiple cores made HT kind of irrelevant and quickly replaced it). I’m wondering if that may happen to the i7?

Right now, I’m leaning toward the Bloomfield 950 i7 processor on an ASUS P6T7 mobo and 16GB of 1600 DDR3 RAM. My search started with the HP z800, but it’s soooooo much more expensive than building something myself and I don’t know that it’s really worth it (I’d also prefer a rackmount case, as the rest of my equipment is all rackmount to save on floor space).

Even worse than not being able to decide between the processors, is deciding which card. I can’t decide if the Nvidia Quadro CX is worth it, if it’s better to go with a higher end Nvidia FX series, or if I even need anything that expensive for what I’m doing. Both are incredibly expensive, but I can’t really figure out which is best for my needs.

Again, I’ll definitely be doing some rendering in After Effects (and when exporting from Premiere), but primarily I will be editing RED 4k data, and I think the real speed issue there is in making sure my data storage transfer rates are as high as possible.

[Daniel Beahm]

[Tim Kolb] “G-Tech is referring to uncompressed…keep in mind that you’re editing RED footage on a laptop.”

But only for the time being. By next week I’ll be on a dual Nehalem Quadcore machine with an Nvidia Quadro CX.

[Tim Kolb] “you’re better off searching for a value-added reseller that provides some support and make the brand secondary.”

I was under the impression that Maxx Digital and G-Tech both offered decent tech support. Am I wrong?

[Daniel Beahm]

Not sure exactly what you mean by this one (rendering for native playback).

I’ve set up a time line with both 2k and 4k and used the same files in both sequences, and both seem to play the same (without a need to render before viewing). Perhaps that’s not what you mean though.

As for my system specs, currently I’m just utilizing a DELL Core2 Duo M4400 Precision laptop while deciding on my final system build. I’m torn between just purchasing an HP z800 and being done with it, or building my own system from scratch utilizing either a high-end i7 (to get to 8 cores via HyperThreading) or perhaps one of the new MOBO’s that accommodates dual Nehalem Xeon x5500 processors.

Also still trying to decide which RAID unit to get. A friend swears by Maxx Digital, but most other people recommend G-Technology, so I’m having a hard time pulling the trigger on either. Also… I’m still worried that G-Tech advertises “2K Workflow” (not 4K) while all the files I’m referencing are 4K.