How to get the best images

[Teague Kennedy]

Someone with some knowledge should post a somewhat simplified how to get good images/ how to get bad images from this camera workflow(s). Let me explain. I have been testing the camera, and the images are great, but I can see where some these complaints are coming from. If you take the footage into RedCine or Red Altert and adjust your curves, and output a clip (so you can view it in real time without jitter) as a QT file or DVCPRO HD or most of your choices, the resulting clips I am seeing on my monitor (perhaps it is the gamma of monitor or whatever) are terrible. For one thing there is maddening noise that presumably created by/exacerbated by the codecs. If you output a clip as a Tiff sequence you will not see this. The image looks fantastic. If you output as a ProRes 422 the image looks pretty darn good. If you get the camera, and you don't have alot of knowledge, and you don't try to debug, you are going to end up with some horrifying results. I'd like to see a place where this stuff is addressed by someone with alot of knowledge --- "make sure you're montor is calibrated like so....avoid these settings.....etc." Sure it's a beta build, but some well written direction would stave off alot of negativity. IMHO.

[Gunleik Groven]

Sorta...

Thing is:
If you go to a more compressed lower bitrate codec, you'll basically... get worse images :)

If you stay in a less compressed higher bitrate codec for as long as possible, you'll basically get better images :)

Big question is: when in the workflow you should CC, when you should grade and when you should just leave things as they are.

problem is that this depends on a lot of variables - mostly your deliveryformat and editing options and knowledge.

The number of variables are too huge to say: Do this and your image will look great, do this and it will suck.

Add to the soup that aestetics is not neccesarily a precise disipline, and I can see why noone would take the plunge on this :)

(Can you tell me what is a "good" image? 10 to 1 that I'd say: "Yes, but xxx" in best case. (there are already a million examples of such discussions over here.)

So
I guess our best bet @ the moment is the LART test, if it comes with a:
To achieve this, we did that - analysis.

And then we'll all have to experiment to find the solutions that fits our needs.

The ONE thing to remember is that red RAW is NOT a "video codec" as we are used to, it is the source for the editing codec of our choice.

If you choose to edit your red-footy in 8-bit DVCPRO HD, fine!
But you will get all of that codecs charracteristics - like noisy blacks - as part of the deal.

If you choose to edit 16-bit 4k tiff sequences - fine
But you'll need some serious machinery to pull it off, and is that really the most rational way to get that web-spot up and running by tomorrow morning?

What one could do is a step by step: How to set up your mac monitor for FCS/RedCine workflow.
But that's about it.

Just my 2c

Gunleik