Writing R3D files

[Stephen Eckelberry]

Working in a 4K HD R3D on a feature film project in Premiere. There is no option in PrPro or AE to output to R3D. Maybe it's not possible to write to R3D files, maybe only Red cameras can do that. Since I am editing in R3D, it seems to me a smart idea to render VFX shots into the same format, then put them back into the timeline with the rest of the R3D footage.

[Mohammed El Sharqawy]

I think its technically not possible to convert RGB data back to raw bayer data..
and you'd better search the forum a little.. this topic has been discussed many times..

[Stephen Eckelberry]

I figured it had been. But in Premiere i am editing native R3D, not a QT wrapper, so technically I am working in bayer, no? I will search.

[Mohammed El Sharqawy]

the PPro read the R3Ds through the RED SDK, and does the debayering at that level.. then renders it to RGB image that is viewable to your screen and to the playback engine.. so there is a dialogue first for the R3Ds which have controls for debayering.. then you deal with footage normally inside the application.. same as photoshop.. you convert raw stills first in the ACR then edit in 8bit/16bit mode inside photoshop..

the topic where discussed mainly for RED apps (REDCINE-X, REDALERT etc) as these have all the privilages that other apps doesn't..
and the only feature that where promissed to be available sometime is that you can cut the R3D files to reduce space usage and storage requirements for future archival of R3D files and also for sending less footage for DI suites..

[shashbugu]

R3dD is a firmware/software acquisition format, that encodes what the imager is seeing into a proprietary Raw/like format. All the information the image resolve's is stored as Metadata. Its up to you to reconstruct that information into an image of your liking. Its a one way deal. You can always go back an tweak re-tweak as many times as you wish, but you cannot write to R3D. Writing to R3D wont make any sense anyway. Most pixel purist want to write back to R3D, for what purpose I don't really know.
There are many industrial strength Codecs you can write R3D's to. Like prores 444, Tiff16, openexr, Cineform, DPX, Dnxhd etc. My advice is figure out the look you want, edit your footage in Pre Pro, the tweak the R3d to your liking, then Render to a Gradable codec.
A lot of people like to grade the R3D, I think its a waste of time and resources since your final image wont gain much from sticking with the R3D. If you you read and understand the principles of all the parameters in an an R3d codec you can recreate them in a more conducive environment using temperature balanced flat de-bayered footage.
I have tried and seen most of what you are trying to achieve done, don't waste your time. The Red footage is deeply rich in color once de-bayered. Any color grading software will give beautiful results. Stay away from 4k export. Stick to full de-bayered 2k export its more than adequate. Yes 4k is richer and smoother.
The Red One MX, gives absolutely gorgeous sexy images and its available today.

[Stephen Eckelberry]

Thanks, very informative. I have had good success exporting to DPX image sequence, and since this is an industry standard, especially for VFX & Color Grading, this is probably what I will end up by doing.

[Mohammed El Sharqawy]

just take care of the white balance in the R3Ds before you export them to other formats.. especially WB when baked you loose a lot of color information.. this is also not very strict but just don't white balance a 3200K shot as a 6000K shot.. also try to compensate exposure not clip highlights or shadows those also are not very recoverable after convertion..

[Linda Nelson]

We just used Dynamic Link. At firs we were writing out DPX files and putting them back into the PP timeline, but once we realized we could use Dynamic Link, we dropped the DPX concept. When you export the sequence, the the Dynamically Linked AE clips reference the original work, so if you update the effects, the link is automatically updated.