Michael Phillips
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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You need to have all the AMA clips highlighted (the one pointing to the new LogC 444 files) and the sequence. Right click the sequence and try again.
Michael
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Starting with MC v6.5, you can relink to any column for source/REEL ID and any timecode column for timecode. Where it says Tape/Source File you can select other sources as well as way to get to any of the columns, including custom ones.
As far as what to deliver, ProRes 444 is great – COnforms and color to that codec has been done on many televison shows as well as feature films. The Iceman for example, that I worked on, was all ProRes 444 LogC. So no worries with the codec. It’s usually the QuickTime wrapper that f***s things up, but the facility probably has plenty of experience dealing with that. When exporting to QT same as source, do so as “rec.709” so that nothing gets touched on its way out of MC.
You could always create a new sequence form the mixdown file and export an AAF with embedded media. Did they ask for the program in reels or the entire program as a single file?
Michael
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Interesting trend to see a conform process be done in editorial for 2K+ type workflows… This is one of the major reasons 4K type support is needed – not so much that finishing is being done with MC for these program types, but to be the conform and delivery of elements for downstream processing – but I digress…
“Should work” is always an interesting term. Certainly Avid DS had the best conform for MC edited sequences, but it still was not 100%, so your mileage may vary depending on effect, keyframes, etc. Camera formats might be a challenge depending on source. I would check with your colorist, but I would ask about keeping any RGB type color corrector effects when delivering as they will redo it anyway.
It would seem to me, that the VFX needs to be conformed first – and usually the plates are delivered with alpha channels so the colorist can have control over each of the layers when needed. Perhaps this is the plan for the actual conform and not the trailer?
I would give DS a try first, but another Windows based product I use is Eyeon Fusion. If you are a “Mac or nothing” type person, then take a look at Autodesk Smoke.
Michael
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I just did a three event test where there was a standard dissolve between 1 and 2, and a film dissolve between 2 and 3. Exported an AAF and both were conformed in Resolve 10. There was no difference between the two as MC deals with the luminance, but it did conform as expected.
Michael
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I would try an EDL to see if that works better in your scenario. When you say “film dissolve” you are referring to the actual film style dissolve versus the standard dissolve correct? If so, try changing that to a standard type dissolve to see if it helps. Perhaps DaVinci hasn’t tagged that as a part of the regular dissolve family. The difference being it replicates film’s response to luminance versus a straight up linear style dissolve. Something that was inherent with the finished effect in the days where they were done on film. Now days, it is a luminance blend that can be done in post as an effect. So try changing it and make notes for the conform artists as to the type of dissolve. The stabilizer would have to be done in Resolve or other product. I suspect Resolve can do it, since it has a tracker, but I am not 100% sure.
Michael
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Once you have the sequence conformed, make sure you remove any color correction effect you may have in the timeline. You want to hand over the full dynamic range of the camera originals. Once the sequence is ready, in an RGB project (switch project format to RGB) and do a video mixdown of the sequence selecting ProRes 444. export the clip with “same as source” with QT export.
Michael
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Here’s the painful process you are potentially going to go through – and when I say potentially, I mean most likely.
When you AMA to the camera originals for the conform process, AMA does not look at the embedded REEL ID that was used in the dailies process. I have been harping on this with Avid for over two years to support embedded REEL when AMA linking – but still nothing.
AMA: A001C001_120923_R33F.mov
Sequence source: A001R33FAnd all clips from that same recording will all have the same REEL so clip two from that card would have:
A001C002_120923_R33F.mov
But also have A001R33F as the REEL with the timecode being the unique identifier. Much like tape-based workflows where you could have up to 24 hours of timecode for a given Tape name or REEL ID.
So… all that being said, you have a mismatch in the conform process, so nothing is being relinked to the camera originals. A trick I do, is change the clip color on all the new camera originals to an unused color then look at the timeline at clip color -> source.
But since you are not seeing the original LogC flat image files, that conforms it as well. This means you have some work to do as you are being the conform person at this point. Put the sequence in a bin by itself. Go to “set bin display” and show “reference files”. This will now show you all the clips that made up the sequence. Sort by TAPE and you will have all the Arri files grouped and sorted. You can move these to another bin if you like. Then highlight the TAPE column and do a command-D and copy that into an empty column like Labroll or Camroll if not used, or a custom column. Then start editing each value in that column to look like the above – basically removing everything but the first 4 and last 4 characters. Once that is done, you can do the “relink to selected” but you have to change the source target to work… the one on the left will be Tape or Source File and the one on the right will be Labroll, Camroll or whatever you used. Both will be set to START for timecode. And then it should work…
Michael
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While DaVinci is getting better as a conform tool, it does not have full conform of everything an NLE can do. There is a list of effects it supports in the Resolve User Guide. An AAF carries a lot more information than an EDL, so for VFX conform, AAF has the better shot. But full AAF needs to be supported by the system exporting it, and the one receiving it – and that is not there yet. Typically, in all the features I conform with Resolve, VFX are done elsewhere and cut back in to the sequence which now looks like a straight cut. But it depends on the effect – fades, dissolves, resize, and now timewarps can be done in Resolve 10 – same for plug-in that have an OFX euivalent to the one used in Media Composer. Outside of that, it starts to break down.
If your timeline is in the finishing quality to be used, then you can always render and color correct the MXF – but if you are conforming to greater than HD camera originals, then the former applies.
Michael
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AMA to all your original 444 files while in an RGB709 project type. Duplicate your sequence and then higlight all your AMA then your sequence. Right-click your sequence and do a relink. In the relink dialog box, check “relink to selected”. Other things to be aware of when dealing with ProRes –
How were the DNxHD36 file prepared the first time around? Via AMA or third party dailies?
If the latter, add Source File and Tape to a bin view and conform what REEL ID was used. It could either be the 8 character REEL from ProRes or the full file name under Tape, or the full file name under Source File if AMA was used. Depending on what you see, things could go easy or not depending on how original dailies were done.Let us know.
Michael
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AMA is a licensed architecture from Avid that can be used by third parties to better integrate various workflows. While initially adopted by camera manufactures to be in control of their own codec support in Media Composer, it has evolved to also be used as an export mechanism. Companies like GlueTools creates AMA plug-ins for purchase, much like Panasonic charges for theirs. It is up to the developer to decide. The RED plug-in is actually developed by Avid, not RED which is why it is a bit behind in functionality compared to Premiere Pro for example getting access to all the parameters for control.
I agree that it can be better accessed by users and any plug-in that was tested as part of any release should be part of the installer and the user prompted which one they need. If there is an update, then tell me, but at least give me something that works as soon as the install is complete.
Michael