To transcode or not to transcode

I'd probably transcode up front. ProRes is 10 bit. 32 bit has to do with memory architecture, not colorspace. In PPro, you can either take the hit in the beginning and transcode or take the hit at the end when you export. There are no free lunches. Also H.264 is an Intra-frame codec, like a GOP so you can't really scrub. It was never really designed as an editing codec.

My 2¢ YMMV.

Warren

Warren Eig
O 310-470-0905

email: warren@babyboompictures.com
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http://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/F5_Director_Cut.html
http://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/AFX.html
http://www.babyboompictures.com/BabyBoomPictures/KnitWits_Movie.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0251670/

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Thanks very much.

Warren.

That answers my question, I downloaded the Pro-res codecs to AME and will do the transcode up front since I have to do lots of speed change in my clips and need i-frame. File size is not a storage problem for me yet and planing to acquire 2 new Raid 5s later this year. I'm not real technical on all this but I want to make sure my workflow is optimized and not have to redo or change things that require workarounds down the road, hopefully. Thanks you very much.

Tom.

Yes, some of my projects run an hour and a half, mostly for Blu-ray so I hope the transcode will cope with that. When it comes to AE my usual number of layers will be around 40 to 60 more or less. I have not approached that yet, I'm still getting the hang of things over there but that was my norm in Motion.

I will add my equipment after this post. I currently have a 12 core Mac Pro with 32 GB Ram and QDR 4000 coming next week. My two current external raids run around 150 to 180 Mbps but as I said I'm going to get new ones latter on. Do you think I'm on the right track? Any suggestions would be more than welcome.

Thank you very much. Don

I'd like to chime in to highlight that coming from FCP workflows and ProRes that PPro does things differently. Rendering clips as you go won't reduce or speed up the export time - No matter which codec you are cutting with.

I have personally found working with both NLE's for many years on multiple duration projects that the ProRes transcode eats a heap of hard drive space and gains perhaps "some" smoother experience when scrubbing material, which is not the bulk of the editing process IMHO.

The time it takes to transcode Vs the time is takes to export only the edited frames, with effects, transitions, grade, audio mix etc has always trumped the overall post-production time frame for me.

The only caveat with longer form projects working in native codecs I have noticed (not always) is to clean the media cache once the project is finished. This will re-conform audio and index frames (that require it) so if there has been any level of corruption during the editing process it's a clean slate. Then I'll export.

You do need to budget time to export - it is not like FCP in this way.

Hope this helps.

Cheers JB

Jon Barrie
Adobe Video Solutions Consultant ANZ
Jon's YouTube Tutorial Page
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Jon

I hope I understand this, Yea, in FCP I had to do a lot of rendering since I did all my effects in motion and when I tabbed back to FCP I had to render in order to check it. Now I don't render anything until export of course but I didn't know that I should clean the media cache before export, that is really good to know.

I haven't done any lengthy projects in PPro yet but have in Encore 5.5 from existing projects in FCP. I expect export times to improve in Encore now that in CS6 it is 64 bit, but haven't tried it yet.

Thanks very much especially about the media cache.

Don
MP 12 core 2.9 GHZ
32 GB ram
Quadro 4000
2 Ext. Raids 180 Mbps

Jon

I read some of your material and watched a couple of your episodes on uTube and some of Tom's as well. I get it now, I see it as a big reference movie all linked up and will have to deal with long render times on final export. Geez, I'm just thinking about 30 or 50 clips in a sequence that contain just 20 or 30 layers each, that, I expect will take at least 3 or 4 times as long as real time.

Thanks

Don
MP 12 core 2.9 GHZ
32 GB ram
Quadro 4000
2 Ext. Raids 180 Mbps

To follow up on your thread; (btw, I am also a FCP refugee)I note that by checking the Use Preview box when exporting, it will include those files as part of the export. Is there a way to change the preview files to ProRes, as opposed to the I frame mpeg, and reduce the time for final export? I often find that w/ many filters applied to a sequence I want to render to proof before exporting, if my preview files are ProRes, I shouldn't need to re-render, wouldn't that make the export faster?

I'm grasping for best practices advice for many of the PR work-flows.

Thanks,

To sum up if I may. it all comes down to tools and telling a story even a 30 sec. commercial. Gone are the days of DV, slow processors, graphic cards and storage, as everyone knows. Everything is more expensive not less, even though things like memory and storage have come down dramatically. just look at Tom Daigons new system he's going to get and don't forget to add in enterprise drives, hell I could probably buy a Mercedes. Anyway:

For old FCP users, I have to keep about 15 projects over there because they are ongoing and require updating, the penalty is retaining the rendered projects, but I only have to render changes and then export as a self contained movie which doesn't take too long (no layers just one sequence). Further, all the tedious work I had to do in Motion, Camera scenes for instance, are all saved as presets with drop zones for all media changes, I then export one sequence again and import into PP. so it only has 1 clip to render.

I already like PP better I can see everything without having to render, big timesaver, plus I can ram preview everything in AE just like in Motion and if I wish, especally if there are a zillion layers, I can export that and get a single clip to import into PP and reduce the big crunch on final export.

Thanks very much, The Cow is the best forum I have ever come across.

Don
MP 12 core 2.9 GHZ
32 GB ram
Quadro 4000
2 Ext. Raids 180 Mbps