Need a consultant to help getting going on Revolve.

[rand thompson]

Stephen,


If you plan on using Red's Legacy workflow only(Dragoncolor/Redgamma) then no. If however you plan on using Red's latest IPP2 Workflow, you absolutely need to no what going on before you even think about doing anything else. The IPP2 workflow is not just a Redcine-X thing it's something that can screw you a thousands different ways from Sunday if you screw it up in any NLE/ Post Production software.

[Marc Wielage]

Why I do need to use Redcine-X? I've never used Redcine anything in my life before.

There are advantages to using a proxy/transcode workflow. That way, you're using light-duty files, relatively small drives, and you can get away with older computers and not a lot of power just during the decision-making process. Once you're done, you create a new session, relink to the original camera files, and then you can begin color correction.

What I want to do is just import 5K files in to Resolve and go. . . edit and color in one program. I never want to leave that environment from input to final output. Maybe that isn't possible with Resolve. It certainly is with Premiere, however. I am currently editing in Premiere, using a Premiere plug-in for color work (Colorista II. . . and I'm VERY happy with my grading and color, by the way). All I want is a plug and play set-up. I know I do have a Black Magic 4K SDI card installed.

This can be done, but bear in mind that Resolve has fairly steep hardware requirements, particularly if you intend to use 5K or 6K or 8K source files. Blackmagic has a fairly comprehensive document that covers the hardware:

https://documents.blackmagicdesign.c...tion_Guide.pdf

The key is using a calibrated display and a color-managed output, and you have the latter if you're using a Blackmagic 4K SDI card. The Flanders monitors are good and their calibration service is excellent.

What's lacking in Premiere and the way you're working now? What are you trying to gain? You can absolutely edit and color (and mix and do VFX) in Resolve, particularly in Resolve 16, but the trick with $299 software like Resolve is the hardware demands are considerable. And it's fair to say there's a learning curve for each aspect of Resolve: conform, editing, color, mixing, and VFX. It's all learnable, but I always say you're better off hiring a specialist than trying to do it all yourself. I guarantee you there are experienced Resolve colorists in the Kansas City area.

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hey there, Mr. Wielage. . .

. . . the ONLY problem I have with Premiere Pro is that I can't edit a 4K timeline and watch the image on my 1080p Flanders monitor simultaneously. . . or so I've been told. If I CAN do it, I'd probably just opt to stay in PP, since I really hate learning new technology stuff.

And, just for the record, I absolutely can't afford to hire an outside colorist, really like doing the color myself, and honestly like the color and grading I do on my films at least as much (and usually much better!) than what I've seen anyone else do. (Fortunately, I prefer a very natural look. I think that blue, desaturated look so popular today is awful.)

I'm starting to think that Resolve isn't my boy after all.

:-(

Thanks.

Stephen

[jussi rovanpera]

First you need to install the Desktop Video driver for the card, that can be found on the BMD website.

Then in Resolve:

Preferences - Video and Audio I/O - For capture and playback use - (pick the card here)

You need to Restart Resolve for the card to start working.


For the downscaling (in this example UHD to HD monitor @25fps)

Project settings - Master settings - Timeline format:

Set "timeline resolution" to "3840 x 2160 Ultra HD"
Set "timeline frame rate" to 25
set "playback frame rate" to 25

Project settings - Master settings - Video Monitoring (these settings are for the BMD card)

Set "video format" to "HD 1080p 25"

Project settings - Image scaling - Output scaling (this is to scale the UHD timeline to the HD monitor)

Untick "Match timeline settings"

Set "output resolution" to "HD"

Set "mismatched resolution files" to "Scale entire image to fit"


Now hopefully the monitor works, and the downscaling is correct.

[Marc Wielage]

...the ONLY problem I have with Premiere Pro is that I can't edit a 4K timeline and watch the image on my 1080p Flanders monitor simultaneously. . . or so I've been told. If I CAN do it, I'd probably just opt to stay in PP, since I really hate learning new technology stuff.

Can't you just take the 4K files and bring them into an HD timeline and cut that way? You can independently monitor in HD from a 4K session in Resolve, but I'm honestly not sure about Premiere.

And, just for the record, I absolutely can't afford to hire an outside colorist, really like doing the color myself, and honestly like the color and grading I do on my films at least as much (and usually much better!) than what I've seen anyone else do. (Fortunately, I prefer a very natural look. I think that blue, desaturated look so popular today is awful.)

The advantage of hiring an outside colorist (or editor or sound mixer or VFX artist) is there's a good chance they'll give you options you never would've been able to think of on your own. Filmmaking is really a collaborative art form, and many times, I've told clients, "here's what you asked for, but as an option, what do you think of this? Or this?" And sometimes they prefer the new options rather than the look they had planned. The same is true of editors, sound people, and the other departments.

I don't generally do a desaturated blue look, but to me every sequence in every film has to be judged on its own. I don't even think there's a general trend of what movies look like nowdays: you look at 1917 or Joker or Knives Out or Jojo Rabbit or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, they're all completely different from each other. For remastered films, I try to kind of keep them straight-down-the-middle normal, but we generally have the previous home video version available for comparison, and I'll use that as a guide... except when they clearly screwed up and things didn't match or just lacked detail or blew out the highlights or something.