Can 10Bit LOG DPX/Cin files from Red be Color Corrected in FCSP2?

[lynx]

Hi,

Could someone throw some light on how to export 2K / 4K Log Data from a Red Camera, take that into FCSP2 and Color Correct in Color? After that, the intention would be to convert it to Linear data that I can use for DVD mastering and Digital Cinema Projection.

Since I'm new to this, please elaborate as much as you can.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Lynx.

[Graeme Nattress]

First, see my post here about the use of the word "linear". This is my rant of the week, and I'm taking personal privilidge to rant on about it :-) So there....

First, I don't get why you'd want to grade in log in that workflow?

Graeme

[lynx]

I've been reading Steve Shaw's (Digital Praxis) guide to DI.. and my understanding is that a LOG image contains the max information in the least amount of space. To the best of my understanding the 10bit LOG is sufficient to capture what a Film Neg. can capture.

If this is not the preferred method / workflow, please elaborate on what would be - in order to get the best quality image for Feature Film Output (both Recording to a Neg. as well as a Digital Cinema output).

Thanks,
Lynx

[Graeme Nattress]

When you play the RED files in Quicktime or REDCINE, you're decoding the full 12bit recorded range, and then, if you manipulate that, directly, that's what you're working with.

We're still working on nuances of the full workflow, which we'll get to, so I don't want to be totally drawn into that for now.

LOG is designed around film density, and in that respect is more suitable for film than for a digital source with a linear sensor, where keeping things linear longest works best.

Graeme

[lynx]

If the sensor is Linear, does it mean that in the Highlights, there will be redundant information (as compared to the Low Lights)?

Also, a 12 Bit Linear (Sensor) recorded Range would be equivalent to less than a 10 Bit Log one that a Film Scanner would capture from a Negative... Right?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Regards,
Lynx

[Roger Singh]

If there's no Print LUT support in FCS2, and if you don't plan on ever going to print. I don't think going LOG will be all that useful.

I don't know much about Macs, but as of right now, I think Assimliate scratch for windows will have support for RedCine.. From there you go Colour correct in Log to the Print output you want, and do a nice conversion to Linear.

Or convert the files to DPX 10-Bit Log, and go to Lustre, or Baselight, or whatever other Colour Correction program out there. I have no idea how the raw image looks like from the Red Camera. I'm hoping myself that it'll be similar to a 10-bit DPX film Scan. Something with D-MIN|D-Max will give a lot of latitude to controlling the colour/contrast when finishing.

From what I read, and I could be wrong, but a 10-Bit Log file would be similiar to a 16-bit Linear File.

[Graeme Nattress]

Yes, there's more information in the highlights, but I'd not call it redundant. When you do colour correction, it all works best on linear data, so even if you perceptually compress it via a LOG curve, you'd got to linearize is back out to linear to correct it properly, so in the end, it works better just to keep that data in the first place.

Nope, you can't do an equivalence like that. What you can do is look at noise levels, and compare them, which, with it's grain, can be hard to do with film.

You can expand a 10bit lof file back up to any bit depth you want, but to look at equivalences, you've got to look at the amount of noise, and 16 bit linear should have 96db SNR, which would be significantly greater than film (and all digital I can think of for that matter).

Graeme

[Cail Young]

Color will read in 10-bit DPX and Cineon files in both log and lin spaces. Beyond that you'll need to be more specific.

[Thomas Mathai]

Hi,

Could someone throw some light on how to export 2K / 4K Log Data from a Red Camera, take that into FCSP2 and Color Correct in Color? After that, the intention would be to convert it to Linear data that I can use for DVD mastering and Digital Cinema Projection.

Since I'm new to this, please elaborate as much as you can.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Lynx.

Do you plan to do your own conversions to the Digital Cinema specs?

[lynx]

I would love to create my own Digital Cinema Package. I heard that if you have the software, you can easily create it yourself and send it out to theaters on a hard-drive.
I'm not sure if there's software out there that's reasonably priced though...?

Lynx