MEDIA 100 eHD Workflow

[cyberdog]

I’m intrigued with this Red One technology. I currently use a Media 100 HD NLE system and I’d like to know if anyone out there has used the Red One with this system.

What would be the workflow? How long does it take to convert 4k footage to editable material on a Media100 platform? Are there any snags? Any and all help appreciated.

[jimhare]

I used Media100 for years, but switched to FCP in 2006.

Media100 can play standard QT CODECs, and RED can write them so compatibility is no problem.

Transcoding from the original R3D files (RED) to QT, DPX, TIFF etc. can be quite time consuming, somewhere between 5:1 and 20:1 depending on what you are doing.

It's best to equate the workflow to film, where you naturally would be waiting for processing and telecine to get your footage ready to edit.

Don't let this scare you, you can still work quickly if you need to. Yesterday I shot 10 minutes of footage and was editing about 90 minutes later. Looked great!

There are faster workflows coming on line daily and hopefully Media100 will create a nice one.

Even if they don't, all you need to do is transcode and you'll be fine.

Hope this helps!

Jim Hare
Sydney

[cyberdog]

thanks friend

[cyberdog]

I'm considering a swith to Final Cut Pro in 2009. Could you elaborate on the workflow with these RedOne files?

[jimhare]

Happy to. There are a couple of approaches:

1. The easiest thing to do is transcode your footage, ready for editing. This means using the RED software to color correct and export your footage into QuickTime. This can be 2K, 1080, 720, SD, pretty much whatever you need it to be. Most people use either ProRes or Uncompressed. ProRes is great for performance and file size, but if you want to further grade the footage, your options become a bit limited.

2. The other way is to edit directly with the RED reference files, that are created by the camera automatically. These refer back to the RAW 4k (or 2k) files so performance is limited, and the computer isn't really "developing" the footage correctly. We could talk hours about this point but the fact is that it doesn't look as good as what you can create using the RED software to prepare the clips.

Anyway, from here you can either create an EDL to do a "real" color correct using RED software, or some people feel that the reference file quality is good enough for some types of work and resolutions.

If you do go the EDL route, at this point you need some third party software (very affordable, less than $200) to get you back into the RED software.

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It sounds complicated and messy, but it's really not that bad.

Working with tape, you always had an ingestion phase to get your clips into the computer. This is just replaced with a transcoding or EDL phase and the results are really worth the trouble. The footage is amazing!

There are other workflows coming online every day. Adobe will soon release a very simple workflow for Premiere, where you can basically start editing immediately, without any of the hubbub above.

Let me know if you would like further detail.

Cheers,

Jim