Framing Controls - cropping and whatnot

[Dillon Brown]

Hello all!

I'm trying to get my head around the Framing Controls in RedCine-X Pro but unfortunately am a bit confused at the way these work. I've looked in the PDF manual but it doesn't seem to help much so perhaps I'm just not thinking about the process of cropping correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm very perplexed.

What I want to do is take 4096x2160 1.90:1 aspect ratio footage and transcode it to 1920x1080 ProRes HQ files with the edges cropped off to make it 16:9 aspect ratio without the bars on the top and bottom. I've attempted to modify the Meta framing preset to Fit Height with Center Crop and click Apply to: Bin (all clips) where my footage is in RedCine-X but it doesn't crop it. I've outlined my questions below in an attempt to figure these Framing Controls out.

- How would I best go about cropping the footage correctly to export to 16:9 aspect ratio ProRes files?
- Can the Meta preset be modified or is this locked to the footage (is this a preset made in-camera while shooting?)
- If the Meta preset is locked do I need to make a new preset to modify the Framing Control box? Or can I just use the Framing Controls and click the Apply button for all the clips in the bin?
- Do the Framing Controls look at the selected Export preset or are these completely independent?
- Can you edit Framing Presets once you make them?
- What are the differences between the Crop settings - No Crop, Center Crop, Custom, Frame Guide? (if No Crop is selected but the Fit Height/Width is selected how does this work? Does it still crop the footage?)
- Why is the Source Resolution relevant and why would you change this?
- Why does the Lock Aspect Ratio center crop the footage? Wouldn't it just crop the footage relevant to the aspect ratio of the full size? Or is this why changing Source Resolution is an option?


It looks like there's so much control but I have no clue how to properly go about doing it. I've tried a ton of ways to crop the footage but it always comes out with bars on it. Thanks so much!

- Dillon

[Justin McAleece]

I've had a lot of problems with this as well. Any presets I make only work once and then seem to be useless after that. It's a simple process but often doesn't work or works unexpectedly. It's definitely a frustrating implementation for me on Snow Leopard on the latest REDCINE-X Pro

[David Ibbitson]

Hi Dillon,

This is a pretty simply case. I'll try and answer your questions.

Basically, just set the framing tool with a locked aspect ratio 16:9, center crop, and expand the crop box until it is the full height of the image in the viewer. Leave the source resolution as it is. This will give the results you want.

No, the meta preset can not be modified. Meta should be the frame guides when set on camera.

No, you do not need to create a framing preset every time you want to apply framing to a clip, only if you want to apply it quickly to many clips. If you edit the framing tool for a particular clip those settings
will be saved to the clips RMD file (provided auto save RMD is enabled).

The framing tool is completely independent of any export presets you make. However, obviously your output resolution plays a big part in how things are scaled/cropped.

Yes, you can edit framing presets once made. Just select it, then hit the refresh button below.

The differences should be self explanatory I hope :) No crop means no crop, but yes fit is still applied in this case. For example, a fit width 2x on a 4096 x 2160 into a 1920 x 1080 is going to squeeze the image vertically (try it).
Center mode will keep the box centered for you when editing, and custom will let arbitrary movement in each dimension. Frame Guide is camera metadata.

Source resolution isn't really relevant in this case. Leave it at the clips resolution (it will default to the source res of the clip currently being edited). When you save a preset, don't try and apply a preset of one source resolution to clips of different source resolution.

It doesn't -- you can be in custom mode and have aspect locked.

Hope this helps.

David

[David Ibbitson]

Justin,

It's possible you have found a bug .. if you can reproduce it let us know at redcinex at red dot com.

Thanks!
David

[Jaakko Rinne]

When you save a preset, don't try and apply a preset of one source resolution to clips of different source resolution.

This I think is silly. Why not also have an option to choose an aspect ratio and a tick box with "crop to fit aspect"? Then you could use the same setting to crop to whatever aspect you want from whatever resolution the source is. This would make things a lot simpler and faster for many cases and you could still leave in the advanced controls for when they're needed.

[Dillon Brown]

Thanks so much David! Your info. is very helpful. I appreciate it.

[Richard Ramos]

Sorry this rather a question than a reply. I am a RED user based in Abu Dhabi. I need to crop the edges of some files when transcoding to Full HD. I am working with REDCINE-X, have tried all the settings on the framing tab, center crop, custom, frame guide, but the resulting image is kind of softer than the "uncropped" transcoded one. Can someone help please. I am transcoding to PRO RES HQ. Original files are 4K 16:9.
What am I doing wrong?



Thanks in advance

Richard

[Johnny Friday]

Ok...back to the Scaling or Cropping issue then...Scaling (Bob says) gives best results....so, scale where? in Premier then? Not RCX?

[Richard Ramos]

Hi. I am working on both Final Cut 7 and Avid 5. Do you mean not cropping in RCX and instead play with the scale effect on either FCP or Avid? Thanks! Do you shoot underwater with the RED? I haven't dared yet, although we do have access to a housing box.

[Shawn Nelson]

Gah, facing this exact same issue. I have 5k 2:1 and 2.4:1 that I need to out put as 16x9 1080p files. What I WANT to do is this:
-Set Aspect Ratio to 16x9 and watch it snap in (this doesnt work, you have to enable crop first)
-Visually move the red rectangle (this doesnt work)

Is there a better way?