Epic > RCX > DnXHD > MC5 > Dark footage?

[Fred Beahm]

Hey guys, thanks for your input. I brought my flanders back in today to run some tests with the SMPTE enabled. I'm currently transferring yesterdays shoot of 800GB and burning yesterdays bluray dailies. Once I have these tasks complete I will try another test render and get back to you. I appreciate your help.

Nick,

Just so you know the workflow I'm doing:
Backup Raw > RCX=bin,sync,transcode to 1080p 23.98 DnXHD 36 8 bit, Copy MXF files into the medafile folder, import ALE into MC5, Relink files, log, locators, bin, organize, dailies sequence.

[MichaelP]

I would make one slight tweak to the workflow. An ALE relink to the MXF media directly can work, but does not always link to the audio files. And something loses its further downstream in the process. The folder of AAF files is the file that knows exactly the relationships between the tracks and direct pointer links to the media. After copying the MXF files to the MediaFile folder, import the AAF and they relink instantly with no further massaging - then merge the ALE into those masterclips for all additional metadata.

Michael

[Fred Beahm]

Thanks for the tip Michael. However I'm not sure exactly how to do this and don't want to mess anything up. Like I said, I'm not an Avid guy. :P Everything seems to be re-linking fine thus far and I see the meta-data in there. Is there something I'm missing? What extra data would come across doing this extra step? I'm all for it and I appreciate the workflow critiques.

A side question with this, is there any way to listen to audio while doing Monitor Out of the rocket in RCX?

I'll get back to you with any further developments. Still handling other tasks at the moment.

[MichaelP]

The biggest issue is not the metadata but whether all the audio tracks are playing back. I have seen issues where they get lost at different points in editorial. ALE is really a metadata/logging interchange format where AAF is also the pointer to the media that got created via the Avid AMT (Avid Media Toolkit) used in Redcine X Pro. The process is simple - once you've copied MXF files to the MediaFiles folder, launch MC and your project. Create new bin, drag and drop all the AAF files that were created into the bin (or Import and select all the AAF files created). Once in the bin, the AAF needs no futher relinking as they know how to connect to the media. Select all the clips in the bin and do a File->Import. From there, click options, then shot log tab - select the last radio button "merge based on known sources" and then select the ALE. All that info is now merged into the AAF created masterclips.

Done. It really adds no time at all to the process you're doing now, and is a much more solid workflow behind the scenes inside Media Composer.

I think the audio is embedded in the HD-SDI - you can de-embed from there - others may be more savvy on this than me.

Michael

[Fred Beahm]

I just did the SMPTE test. There is a shift in gamma/brightness. I'm going to show this to the post house and see what they think. Thanks a lot Michael! As for the AAF workflow, I'm going to give that a shot here in a few. I've been at it since 7am... Gonna need some more coffee here soon. I appreciate your time and wisdom. I'll keep you posted!

[Steve Sherrick]

Please follow Michael's suggestions. He is right on the money. The proper way to bring MXF created in Redcine-x is exactly as he described.

[Fred Beahm]

Just to be certain, This radio button? The last one says 'known master clips' when Michael said 'known sources'
http://imgur.com/HUoEC

[MichaelP]

Sorry, yes. I knew it was the last radio button, but couldn't remember the exact wording as I was not in front of my system.

Michael

[Fred Beahm]

Thanks guys. I sent a test to the post house last night and then they told me this morning that they received the same answer from someone else at Red. We've found our answer! Thank you very much for your time and help. As far as the AAF workflow goes, I've mentioned to it to them three times now, waiting for them to make the call on that. I will keep this thread updated. Is the SMTPE option new in v15? or when was it introduced? Is it specifically to help with RedGamma3?

Thanks again!

[MichaelP]

The SMPTE constrain option has been in REDCINE X for many versions now - even before the X Pro I believe. It's not so much attributed to any single color space of the R3D files, but the fact that DNxHD is a REC.709 codec and adheres to the SMPTE color and levels specification.

Michael