RED Workflow - From Scratch

[Julian Gorski]

First, please excuse if I'm posting this in the wrong forum, I'm still a bit new here.

So, I work for a company who has recently upgraded their RED One to the Mysterium-X sensor and is getting more and more business renting out the package. We're now looking to upgrade our editing system so that we can also make available post services such as editing, coloring, etc.

My current assignment is to investigate the best way to maintain an R3D workflow from the first HD dump through editing in FCP, to Color, and then output to whatever format the client might want.

I know this is a bit of a basic question, but I've reviewed the workflows listed on the whitepaper that came with the FCS installer build 30 and still have a few questions.

If we purchased a Redrocket, would we be able to edit in FCP natively with R3D without rendering? It seems that in setting the sequence compressor to Prores 4444, we must render the entire timeline to view it anyway, which makes the native editing seem a bit pointless. Am I missing something here?

The only way to view the R3D footage in a timeline (without having to render) is to set the sequence compression to REDCODE, which the whitepaper advices strongly against. I believe this is only due to the fact that FCP could not then render any bit of data as it does not have the capability to transcode in REDCODE. However, if there were no dissolves, titles, etc., would it ever make sense to use REDCODE as the sequence compressor?

I guess my overall question is, is there any real way to edit R3D footage natively, without rendering? I understand the offline processes, it is this question that is particularly confusing to me.

Thanks for your help, and more likely, your patience.

[Uli Plank]

The way to edit R3D natively is called Premiere Pro CS5, in the current incarnation of FCP it's no fun at all. Transcode if you want to stay with FCP until Steve gives us something new…

[Julian Gorski]

Thanks, Uli. I was a bit worried about that.

The offline workflow isn't too horrific, just seems a bit tedious. Such is the case when using cutting-edge products, I guess. I'm sure by saying that I'm repeating something that's been said a thousand times.

I'm new to all of this, so hopefully I'll be able to eventually feel a bit more at home on planet RED. For now, besides the beautiful resolution, dynamic range, DOF, form-factor, and all-over beauty of the RED, I'm a bit homesick for the land of P2 workflows....

[RRafael]

I agree Uli Plank! Cs5 Premiere, and perfect EDL export to Scratch all in native r3d.

[Uli Plank]

An offline/online workflow with RED doesn't need to be tedious. In fact, for longer films or a high shooting ratio, it's faster than onlining from the start. Clipfinder is your friend!

[David Battistella]

First, please excuse if I'm posting this in the wrong forum, I'm still a bit new here.

Welcome!

My current assignment is to investigate the best way to maintain an R3D workflow from the first HD dump through editing in FCP, to Color, and then output to whatever format the client might want.

I know this is a bit of a basic question, but I've reviewed the workflows listed on the whitepaper that came with the FCS installer build 30 and still have a few questions.

If we purchased a Redrocket, would we be able to edit in FCP natively with R3D without rendering?

No.

It seems that in setting the sequence compressor to Prores 4444, we must render the entire timeline to view it anyway, which makes the native editing seem a bit pointless. Am I missing something here?

Set the RT extreme in the timeline to unlimited RT.

I believe this is only due to the fact that FCP could not then render any bit of data as it does not have the capability to transcode in REDCODE. However, if there were no dissolves, titles, etc., would it ever make sense to use REDCODE as the sequence compressor?

FCP does handle r3d data natively by setting the TL to RT extreme unlimited RT and prores...

I guess my overall question is, is there any real way to edit R3D footage natively, without rendering? I understand the offline processes, it is this question that is particularly confusing to me.

Yes. render quicktime media and then relink the r3d after with clipfinder or edit using the M proxy files.

David