Someone please explain to me what Alchemy is doing

[Marc Wielage]

but for many users who do not have more then a laptpop and REDCINE these tools are allowing a whole group of film makers to produce amazing 4K films for budgets that could not have even been dreamed of before the RED Revolution began...

That's all well and good, but: bear in minds your films are going to be judged on the same home screens and cable networks on which people are watching big-budget Hollywood epics, medium-budget documentaries, weekly episodic TV shows, and modest-budget reality shows... all of which go through very torturous post paths. There is no replacement for experience and good equipment.

I would say the same thing for somebody who bought a grip truck and a bunch of lights last week and expects to know how to light this week. Realistically, it takes at least 5000 hours to become "expert" at anything -- and I would include sound, color correction, editing, and cinematography in those categories. Each of them is a very difficult craft that takes years to master.

I would never assume that just because I own Final Cut Pro that this makes me an editor. The same is true of color-corrections software. I can dabble... but I'm not really an editor. I do know color and sound, and I stick with those areas because those are my areas of expertise.

Or in one sentence or less: you get what you pay for.

[Craig Weeding]

That's all well and good, but: bear in minds your films are going to be judged on the same home screens and cable networks on which people are watching big-budget Hollywood epics, medium-budget documentaries, weekly episodic TV shows, and modest-budget reality shows... all of which go through very torturous post paths. There is no replacement for experience and good equipment.

I would say the same thing for somebody who bought a grip truck and a bunch of lights last week and expects to know how to light this week. Realistically, it takes at least 5000 hours to become "expert" at anything -- and I would include sound, color correction, editing, and cinematography in those categories. Each of them is a very difficult craft that takes years to master.


I would never assume that just because I own Final Cut Pro that this makes me an editor. The same is true of color-corrections software. I can dabble... but I'm not really an editor. I do know color and sound, and I stick with those areas because those are my areas of expertise.


Or in one sentence or less: you get what you pay for.

Hello Mark,


I completely agree with the need and value of knowledgable, trained experienced professionals to get the very best results possible.


What RED has done with their cameras and their software tools is allow a whole new group of creative film makers to get projects to the stage where they can be shown at a film festivals and get pickup for distribution for a fraction of the cost a few years ago when film was the medium.


Does this mean that now great editors, sound mixers, colorist are not needed? NO WAY.
Hopefully there will be even more work going through the pipe line to keep every one busy.
The global demand for programing grows and grows the number of new networks and stations popping up around the world is amazing.


I remember when one of the biggest questions that had to be answered when doing a locations shoot was: What country what city what Lab do we ship the negative back to get developed so we can then have them ship back dailies.
This was a major nightmare, risk sending it to a lab that was close and risk having the negative mishandled your you footage was screwed. ship it to London, New York or LA to a good lab and the turn around was crazy long.


Now you can shoot anywhere in the world and watch dailies that night.
Dailies that look damn good due to he features like alchemy that are built in to RED software, it is not possible for most productions to take a Pablo and colorist with them on location for dailies.


Does that mean the project should not be finished on a Pablo or Resolve or Luster? not at all. Everything is a tool that can be used in the production and post production process.


Thank you RED for making it possible to be on location anywhere in the world and see dailies of the footage we shoot the same day even if all we have is battery powered computers and equipment.


Skilled people and great equipment will never become obsolete, but RED is definitely disrupting many of the old assumptions and workflows and of the past and I hope they keep up the great work.

[Rob Ruffo]

I totally agree. Some of us just have a camera and a computer- and we are ok with that :)

However- it is nice to see what I can aspire to eventually. Maybe one day I'll have 90k of color control surfaces and software, but until I read a thread like this I don't even know what to dream about.

fair enough - But Resolve Lite is FREE!

[Rob Ruffo]

That's all well and good, but: bear in minds your films are going to be judged on the same home screens and cable networks on which people are watching big-budget Hollywood epics, medium-budget documentaries, weekly episodic TV shows, and modest-budget reality shows... all of which go through very torturous post paths. There is no replacement for experience and good equipment.

I would say the same thing for somebody who bought a grip truck and a bunch of lights last week and expects to know how to light this week. Realistically, it takes at least 5000 hours to become "expert" at anything -- and I would include sound, color correction, editing, and cinematography in those categories. Each of them is a very difficult craft that takes years to master.

I would never assume that just because I own Final Cut Pro that this makes me an editor. The same is true of color-corrections software. I can dabble... but I'm not really an editor. I do know color and sound, and I stick with those areas because those are my areas of expertise.

Or in one sentence or less: you get what you pay for.

+1 - although I'd say 10 000 for many things (I agree with Malcolm Gladwell)

[Elan Gunos]

Not sure what Alchemy is actually doing, but it sure looks pretty! My hunch is it's doing something with the local contrast via unsharp mask. Similar to this:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ancement.shtml

It seems all it is doing is fitting an s-curve with soft clips at high and low ends, but that is something I would rather do by hand in Davinci. Am I missing something?

WHy is everyone so excited about this?

Redcolor3 and Gamma 3 THAT's exciting, that's more than exciting. I've been checking every day to see if it is released because color2 was so awesome, but Alchemy seems just a lazy man's root to contrast grading - it can't be just that, could it?

I must be missing something...