Why RED ONE?

[Gunleik Groven]

I've noticed that more than 50% of the visitors to my pages are non-Scandinavian...
So I've started to translate some of the more important pages into English.
This is my "Why RED page"
Please arrest me if there's BS, and correct my language if there's something bad.

I hope to get my whole site into English over the weekend, and publish some noise tests, re the nightscapes thread.

Well, here we go:
http://www.vulture.no/vulture/WhyRED.html

Gunleik

[Dan Hudgins]

I've notced that more than 50% of the visitors to my pages are non-Scandinavian...

So I've started to translate some of the more important pages into English.

This is my "Why RED page"

Please arrest me if there's BS, and correct my language if there's something bad.

I hope to get my whole site into English over the weekend, and publish some noise tests, re the nightscapes thread.

Well, here we go:
http://www.vulture.no/vulture/WhyRED.html

Gunleik

Looking at your film workflow drawing I have a question,

Crimson makes the XML for REDCINE with shot to shot color correction, or just one light for all shots?

Since REDCINE cannot do all that is required for color correction how do you automate the color correction done after the TIF files are output from REDCINE so that it matches the color changes made in FCP.

In other words, what does FCP output that sets the final color corrections in the final 4K TIF of each frame, if it can do that? (and what program is adjusting the 4K TIF to their final color with that "template").

Also is there a option in the workflow you listed for automating frame to frame color correction for multi-format output (that matches what you see in FCP)?

In my DI system, the color correction of the 4K TIF is set by the edit list where each shot has a keyframe picked for grading, then after editing all the output frames are made using the same color correction settings so that your frames for the filmrecorder match the frames for the DVD or HD. In my system you can also override the Keyframe settings if you want to by cloning the color correction file for a given resolution and making changes, that way you can make the DVD grading more centered than the filmout frames if you want, and all that data stays in the editing so you can go back later and regenerate any frames that need more work.

[Gunleik Groven]

First, now it's sorta up - sorta completely. Yeehaa...

http://www.vulture.no/vulture/Home_eng.html

I've had incredible traffic from around the world from my last post, even though there ain't many comments.

Dancad, I want to test your DI system this fall and I cannot really comment on that untill I have done. BUT I don't take any color-data from FCP and all my finnishing is in 2k.

I have been testing Scratch, and like it a lot for its simple workflow.

But when NOT using Scratch, I don't use the RED tools for CC, just for preparing the files for CC/Grade. It's a pure technical pass...

With Color, there's not really a simultanious multiformat otput option. You can add different LUTs for different purposes, though and use the same grade as the base for different passes.

I don't really care what I see in FCP colorwise. I use FCP mainly as a cutting station and image hub.

I have been thinking of doing a couple of tutorials lately, but we'll see. There's 'nough to do as it is.

But if you have some suggested topics, please post.
I have some ideas, but I am open to suggestions...

I'll try to add a noise-test over the week that comes, if time so allows.

Well, off to work!

Cheers!

Gunleik

[Dan Hudgins]

Dancad, I want to test your DI system this fall and I cannot really comment on that untill I have done. BUT I don't take any color-data from FCP and all my finnishing is in 2k.
Gunleik

Well your drawing makes more sense now, I did not see an arrow going from FCP to some mystery program that would "sync" color CC adjustments made in FCP to the end result.

So your FCP preview for the edit is just a "best light" workprint of the RED ONE footage direct from de-Bayer and you do the grading after editing.

With my system you can also have a quick set of workprint frames to edit with and do the CC later, or you can pick a keyframe for each shot right after you put it into the project's shot folder so that the workprint frames are graded. When working with film negative scans you would almost always at least do a rough grading of each shot so that the workprint frames are viewable.

I recomend not using the grading options in REDCINE much or at all since you do not want to clip any part of the histograms from each shot, just output each shot as REDLOG TIF uncompressed 16 bit 48bpp. REDCINE is useful for trimming the head and tail so that the first frame 00000000.TIF is the clapboard frame, which is how my system works, each shot and resolution has its own folder, there are 12 resolutions for 10000 shots, the "RAW" camera TIF go in I01, then the graded go in I02 and the output size in I04, the primary workprint in I11. It is possable to have more than one workprint resolution, but shots to be edited together should use the same resolution since the program plays back full screen and the video mode is set for one resolution's playback (monitors go black for a few seconds if you change modes, so you want to avoid that...) In REDCINE you need to add "00#6.E" or something like that to get 8 digit file numbers my system calls "Padded" numbered type P. Also if you change the output path to my programs project folder and output each shot into the right folder you can save a great deal of time, best to have REDCINE running under XP Home SP3, and the project folder on a slave 750GB EIDE disk FAT32, so the output path would be like,

D:\P0001\S0321\I01

and the full filenames for a shot like,

D:\P0001\S0321\I01\00000000.TIF [beep/clap/flash frame is zero always]
D:\P0001\S0321\I01\00000001.TIF
~
D:\P0001\S0321\I01\00065535.TIF

It does not matter what order the shot numbers are in since you can move them around in the edit list (then each shot has two numbers). But it is less confusing if you use the same shot numbers that are on your story board.

Anyway, in my system the KCC file that controls the color correction and such for each shot's keyframe goes in the output resolution folder, you can clone the KCC file from the workprint resolution to the output resolution so that the output color correction will match the workprint playback, or you can grade each output a little different by cloning the KCC then making changes on the clones for each shot.

Thinking about it, maybe I should add some automation tools later to process whole projects as a batch, but with CC that is hard since each shot has its own look. You could start a new project and aggregate all the frames into it, so a single keyframe would control adjustments to the whole set of frames in that project...

Since there is a limit to how many 4K shots you can fit on a 750GB disk, for editing you copy the workprint frames and the key frame TIF used for color correction onto the edit computer, and keep the original TIF and the graded frames on additional rack plug in holders. It seems faster to plug in the harddrives than to use a network, lower cost also maybe.

For sensor noise, low pass filtering the blue seems to help and you can hardly notice it since the eye is not sharp in the blue, I have a filter that does that I put in for granny film scans...

[Mark L. Pederson]

LOVE your reel gunleik!

[Spike Baumann]

I wasn't able to see the reel. I'm on a PC and the QT shows up just as a white box.

[Gunleik Groven]

@ Mark

Thanks!
Tried to catch you @ IBC, but didn't manage. Would have loved that beer/whiskey/espresso or whatever.

@ Spike
Have you downloaded Quicktime from Apple. Works pretty well here...

[DAVID McNAMARA]

Was the workflow test 04 elnaz (quick grade) corrected in FCP color?

[Gunleik Groven]

Yes it was...

[DAVID McNAMARA]

Thank You. Looks Great! Get my RED in a week your site helped me decide!