• | Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD?
on Sep 21, 2016 at 1:18:32 pm |
Hey fam,
Just directed a low budget music video shot in 4K on a Red Epic ( dragon ).
What I got today:
285gb of R3D files.
I'm working with an older 3,1 MacPro tower ( not book ) that's been recently upgraded with a new SSD drive and a new internal 4TB raid.
I also got 2 empty external drives 2TB each.
I got FCP7
OSX 10.6.8
Processor 2 x 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Xeon
Memory 16GB 800MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
Monitors: 2 Apple Cinema Displays ( 1920 x 1200 )
My graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
So the goal is to finish in 1920 x 1080 and release on the internet ( either in HD or 1280x720 ).
Besides editing and color correction some of the footage needs to be sped up a bit.
So do I
a) attempt to convert the 4K R3D files to ProRes 422 1920x1080 on my machine, then chop it up, color correct, compress in compressor and release
or
b) download some software from red's website ( I'm assuming compressor can't handle red files ), convert 4K r3d files to ProRes 422 1920x1080 on my machine, chop it up, take it to some post house, conform online and grade. Then compress using H264 codec and release in HD or 1280x720
or
c) ?
Also not sure if there's a difference between converting from 4K to HD, cutting in HD then releasing in HD, AND Cutting in 4K then bringing it down to 1920x1080. Should look identical right? If I'm feeling gutsy maybe I'll grade it on my cinema displays and cut in HD and forget wasting money on a post house. What do you guys think. Sorry I'm asking a lot of questions.
Lastly I heard there's something free I can download so I can at least view these files
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 21, 2016 at 10:52:14 pm |
bump.
Wow, can't believe nobody replied. I remember when this forum was really happening. Like ten years ago..
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 22, 2016 at 12:29:21 am |
Problem is that FCP 7 was end of lifed 6 years ago. Many people have moved on. And I don't know RED workflows, so can't offer advice...
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog,
Little Frog in High Def
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 22, 2016 at 1:41:18 am |
I think the problem is this forum end of lifed 6-10 years ago. I'm guessing folks moved on to twitter, facebook, etc. I joined creative cow in 2009 and recall lots of experts contributing right away.
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 22, 2016 at 1:21:02 pm |
So you feel you got your money's worth, I'll chip in and say this: trying to edit 4K in FCP7 is "doable", but of course is going to chew up a lot more system resources as well as storage. Whether you cut "native" red files or first down-convert to 2K, to me, rather depends on what the subject matter of the thing is, and if staying in the 4K environment offers enough reasons (like being able to make fake zooms and pans in a 2K master) to make the extra overhead worth it.
Frankly, if I went to the expense of shooting 4k, the extra couple hundred for FCPX seems like a simple decision.
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 22, 2016 at 10:05:00 pm |
I shot a feature film on 35mm and edited in FCP7. It's still in post. I'm too scared to upgrade to FCPX. What if something funky happens with those files? I rather finish the feature in FCP7.
I think what I'll do is find a local freelancer ( Los Angeles ) with the right gear to convert my 4K R3D files to 1080p ProRes422. I'll then cut it on my FCP7 then take it to a post house to conform and grade. If I need to punch in I can do it on the offline HD files and show the post house how big of the fake zoom I need and they'll recreate it from the 4K files.
Sounds like the plan? Hopefully I'm not missing something.
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 23, 2016 at 1:57:29 am |
You can convert the r3d files to ProRes using either tools from RED like RED Cine X (I think it is still current or a variation on it) or da Vinci Resolve. Both are free, although there is a paid for version of Resolve but you don't need that to convert the files.
After edit you could reconform in Resolve and do the grade and finish. For that matter you could do the whole edit in Resolve and not go near FCP7. Your computer is a bit underpowered in the graphic dept for editing r3d files in Resolve in real time so you may wish to do a proxy workflow.
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 23, 2016 at 10:39:57 am |
Can't use RED Cine X because I don't meet minimum requirements. Like I said my Mac Pro is 10.6.8.
Anyway, looks like I'll have someone transcode the 4K red files into ProRes 422 just to chop them up. Then I'll worry about the online later.
• | Re: Best work flow for red footage shot in 4K for release in HD? on Sep 26, 2016 at 4:47:47 am |
People have been able to cut in the X and run FCP7 successfully for a while. You can take to a post house and do whhat you plan, but it's NOT going to be cheap, and it's NOT going to be easy. Hope it's worth it to you!
Dave LaRonde
Promotion Producer
KGAN (CBS) & KFXA (Fox) Cedar Rapids, IA
