Michael Phillips
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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So I take it that the original files are greater than 1920 x 1080 coming from the animation side of things? What aspect ratio?
I guess it’s going to come down to an offline/online workflow for you when using Media Composer if files are bigger than HD. Media Composer can certainly do the editing, tracking of file names, frame counts, etc. with all that metadata management for a conform either in MC/Symphony (if resolution wasn’t an issue) or via lists such as AAF, EDL. XML, etc. for conforms and processes downstream. If you need to edit at greater than HD, then almost every other NLE, if not all, can work natively at 2K or even higher. From Avid, it would be an Avid DS product. If operating system is an issue, then there are solutions for both Mac and PC for editorial. These days I find myself editing in Media Composer, but all work requiring a finish higher than HD, I either go to Autodesk Smoke, or Resolve depending on the finishing needs.
In your scenario, I would look carefully to the workflow pipeline coming from Nuke as DPX which includes color space, file naming convention for original to versioning, as well as will there be timecode or not generated at source or will everything be tracked as filename starting at 00:00:00:00? It certainly can be done with careful file naming. I conformed a feature with over 200 VFX shots that were all just filename and 00:00:00:00 timecode.
DPX from Nuke can certainly use Resolve as your dailies tool to handle color space (LUT), DPX input, and native Avid DNxHD media as output. Since you will be using MC as an offline, then DNxHD 36 will be more than fine for editorial. Over the years I have done a lot of consulting in animation pipeline and have seen the processes from Pixar, to Blue Sky and such – in the end, it all about the asset management processes, naming and versioning that will make your life easier. All those companies use MC for editorial, but it is planned out and managed, and finished in a different system.
Michael
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What are the original camera file’s resolution? Media Composer and Symphony max out at 1920 x 1080 resolution, just under 2K. Also, DPX is not a native file export format, but you might be able to use GlueTools DPX/QuickTime as a solution for that. Alternatively, you could open the AAF from a rendered timeline or QuickTime of sequence in Resolve and export DPX from there. Just know that the free version is limited to 1920 x 1080 and you will need to purchase the $995 version for 2K and higher. Are you conforming and color correcting?
Michael
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I do this all the time between Boston and Los Angeles.
Does one system see the media and the other doesn’t?If the drives are copies of each other, then both systems have all the media. The first thing to look at is whether the Avid MediaFiles folder structure is the same and at the root level of the drive on both systems.
hard drive/Avid MediaFiles/MXF/ then a series of numbered folders.
Then, in each of the numbered folders, delete the msm… files to force Media Composer to rebuild the database just in case.
Now with the same Avid project to start, Media Composer will find the media.
At this point, you are not sharing AAF or ALE, but sending a bin from the project. I would advise zipping the .avb file (bin) before sending as some email programs can damage the header of the file. This is going to be up to you how you manage sending updates and such. I always make a new bin for transfer and put sequence and such in there before sending so as to not overwrite any existing bins on the other system.
Michael
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Is the archivist going through the timeline clip by clip, or are they using one of the reporting methods out of a MC timecode such as EDL, XM, TAB, etc. and working from that? In those cases, the clip persists as needed. But knowing exactly how the archivist wants to work would probably lead to one solution over another.
Michael
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Some codecs may use GPU acceleration, some don’t. I believe DNxHD is all CPU. Usually effects, color correction and such can all be done in GPU.
Michael
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To me, sync is defined by sticks and waveform. Timecode works great for getting me close via AutoSync, but I will slip sync based on what I see in the frames, and where the spike in the waveform lies. Even though my projects may not be film-based, I still make 35mm/4 perf projects in order to be able to slip by 1/4 frame. By looking at the speed of the clap closing over a couple frames, I adjust the spike to where true sync lies. Media Composer will adjust the timecode accordingly for EDL’s when it slips over frame boundaries. The PerfSlip column tracks +/1 1/4 frame increments.
Michael
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In the timeline, do you have red, blue or yellow bars in the timecode ribbon for the spans where it stutters? The colors will indicate whether it is the drive, the effect trying to play in real time, etc. If I remember correctly, blue was for drive being unable to keep up.
Michael
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If Prelude or PPro can export an ALE file, or even a TAB delimited file, you could do a metadata merge in Media Composer. Media Composer can export an ALE or TAB file, but I am not familiar whether PPro can import that file in any meaningful way.
Michael
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There have been a few issues with mono files a you have seen – if I had a sample set of files to play with, I may see if there is another workaround, but I think Wave Agent should be able to get you where you need to go.
Michael
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Are the individual tracks from each take part of the import? There is support to bring in multitrack monophonic as a single clip with multiple tracks. I don’t think monophonic respects original track once imported which is what you’re seeing when importing and preserving monophonic files individually.
I would need to get my hands on a sample file (all tracks) to see what can be done. You should be able to marry then into a polyphonic with Wave Agent first as a possible workaround.
Michael