Avid RED event and a glimpse of things to come

[Igor Ridanovic]

Michael did a pretty detailed Avid RED workflow demonstration showing most if not all available options to get material into Media Composer and to get DPX files out of .R3D files today in Hollywood.

The most exciting part of the event was the technology demo of the future MetaFuze .R3D to MXF transcoding and Avid DS .R3D importer.

The basic idea is that you'll be able to convert RAW files to DNxHD encoded MXF files for use in Media Composer. This will speed up and simplify the front end of the process. I'm particularly looking forward to trying to setup network rendering using multiple MetaFuze nodes at some point in the future.

On the DS side there is a new .R3D file importer that follows the same idea behind linking to DPX files in DS but it expands the options giving you basically all the RED specific adjustments.

Avid DS 10 already allows you to use AFE for DPX conforms and if this remains in effect for .R3D conforms there will be a level of offline-to-online translation between MC and DS unmatched in any other system. CMX 3600 EDL just doesn't come close to what is carried across in an AFE file.

I have a full writeup with more details about this future Avid RED workflow (http://www.hdhead.com/?p=156) on my site.

[Ryan Patch]

Exciting!

Anyone know if theyre'll be a similar event in NY?

[Jason Diamond]

I know there's an AVID DS event nov 20th or in that timeframe i believe. resellers prob have the info.

[Igor Ridanovic]

There is something going on in NYC soon. Check the "events" section of the Avid.com. It may not be RED related, I'm not sure.

[Jörgen Persson]

Michael did a pretty detailed Avid RED workflow demonstration showing most if not all available options to get material into Media Composer and to get DPX files out of .R3D files today in Hollywood.

The most exciting part of the event was the technology demo of the future MetaFuze .R3D to MXF transcoding and Avid DS .R3D importer.

The basic idea is that you'll be able to convert RAW files to DNxHD encoded MXF files for use in Media Composer. This will speed up and simplify the front end of the process. I'm particularly looking forward to trying to setup network rendering using multiple MetaFuze nodes at some point in the future.

On the DS side there is a new .R3D file importer that follows the same idea behind linking to DPX files in DS but it expands the options giving you basically all the RED specific adjustments.

Avid DS 10 already allows you to use AFE for DPX conforms and if this remains in effect for .R3D conforms there will be a level of offline-to-online translation between MC and DS unmatched in any other system. CMX 3600 EDL just doesn't come close to what is carried across in an AFE file.

I have a full writeup with more details about this future Avid RED workflow (http://www.hdhead.com/?p=156) on my site.

I think this is really exciting for the Avid crowd.
The distributed rendering of r3d to MXF is amazing news.

Is there a webcast or something from the event that you know of?

[MichaelP]

It was a a very nice event with great interaction with the crowd. While most of it covered existing solutions for offlne to online using all available tools today (REDrushes, REDCINE, Scratch Cine, MetaCheater, Monkey, cineXML, MPEG Syreamclip, Compressor, etc.) we did do a quick sneak peak into our work so far with the SDK. Still a technology demo as work is in progress, it takes Avid's conform and workflow expertise to the R3D format.

There was also another peek into what Deanan at RED has been up to - I showed a RED Alert that can render to other DNxHD formats! That too is quite exciting in streamlining the workflow.

There was a recording of the event, that if it looks good, will try to get posted.

Michael

[Sean]

The new MetaFuze sounds like what a lot of PC Avid editors have been waiting for from RedCine/RedAlert. I'm assuming you can convert the R3D to any flavour of DNxHD or Avid codec? Or when you say it's converting to MXF, do you mean something else.

[MichaelP]

What it means is that is transcodes directly to native MXF wrapped DNxHD media removing QT as an interim file format. It can add burn-ins, supports 1D and 3D LUTs, aspect ratio management, etc. It will do all DNxHD flavors.

Michael

[Sean]

Wow. Okay, that's what we need alright. Dare I ask when this new MetaFuze is available?

[MichaelP]

It is a cough cough technology demo... cough cough before the end of the year cough cough...

We still need to work out the audio though.

Michael

[Jason Diamond]

Hey what about options for Mac for diff DNx resolutions, et al...

[Sean]

Cough. Audio please! :-)

[MichaelP]

I also showed a preview of RED Alert that Deanan sent me to test that offered the other DNxHD resolutions which will then be available in REDrushes giving that application more flexibility in its offerings. AS far as audio support in MetaFuze, it is not in our hands at this point.

Michael

[Ross Vincent]

Will it be able to remove LUT's completely?

Peeco

[MichaelP]

Explain your need to remove LUTs. MetaFuze creates DNxHD HD media. HD is a REC709 color space so something has to happen to the original R3D file when creating offline or online HD dailies. You can look at the RAW file in the source and see the effect of the LUT for the transcoded file. That's how it works today for DPX workflows. MetaFuze would add the abilty to use an RSX file to proegate a look that was created by the DP or other upstream process.

Michael

[Philc]

Hi Michael,

I attended the Hollywood event...very informative. Your opening overview PPT presentation was packed with useful info and would be a great resource to share. Any way to post that on the AVID site or here?

Thanks,
Phil

[Igor Ridanovic]

Hi Michael,

I attended the Hollywood event...very informative. Your opening overview PPT presentation was packed with useful info and would be a great resource to share. Any way to post that on the AVID site or here?

Thanks,
Phil

I find this step by step guide very useful:

http://www.avid.com/RED/REDstepbystep.pdf

[MichaelP]

Most of the PPT was the live version of the step by step guide. I will be updating the step by step with some of the information from the PPT. The PPT had a bit more information of my view of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the third party applications when preparing dailies for offline editing. As I mentioned, there is no one perfect one at this time... so the user needs to understand what each can or cannot do to make the best decision to meet their workflow. The problem with that type of document is that is changes so fast as each of the solutions change so fast and documents on the Internet last forever with no real policing or self policing of that information. Even the step by step guide is versioned with a date so that we can refer to the current version. Perhaps a WIKI type page would solve some of those issues.

I'm glad you enjoyed the event. It was fun to do.

Michael

[Philc]

The PPT had a bit more information of my view of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the third party applications when preparing dailies for offline editing. As I mentioned, there is no one perfect one at this time... so the user needs to understand what each can or cannot do to make the best decision to meet their workflow.


It is precisely this info that I thought was valuable for helping evaluate the appropriate workflow for a project. Having not worked with RED yet (but am preparing for a big one coming after 1st of the year) I am trying to arm myself with all the info I can. Especially since we will also need to address upgrades to our Media Composers and DS in order to work in the most efficient manner.

Maybe a Wiki is a nice solution for posting this type of info.

Phil

[MichaelP]

I'll see what I can write up and post to help you through that decision process.

Michael