ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXCan anyone suggest a Beginner's Guide to Offline Editing using Proxies?
9 years, 8 months ago - John Osiko
Hi guys - I've directed a handful of shorts now and I've edited the DSLR / BMCC Prores ones myself in Premiere but for the two I've shot on Red One MXs I've had an editor in an offline post house do the whole thing. I'm shooting a short in a couple of weeks on the Arri Alexa and I desperately want to edit this myself but am aware that its not quite as simple as dragging and dropping the files into Premiere!! We won't be shooting RAW because of cost.
Could someone recommend a simple beginner's guide to the process of creating and using proxies from the footage so that I can edit this on my macbook pro with premiere? I need to understand EDLs etc and how this all ends up in a format that the colourist can use.
An additional question is - since we're not shooting ARRIRAW do you have any advice for getting the best out of Arri Pro Res?
Thank you x
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9 years, 8 months ago - Sam Gordon
This seems pretty helpful:
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/offline-editing/
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Sam Gordon SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Sam Gordon
Hi John
I think I can answer your question, or at least give my opinion. I've worked with footage from the Alexa before (although not shot with it myself). In my answer I'm assuming that you are directing, but not DoP.
Firstly, surprisingly, the process CAN be as simple as dragging the files in Premiere. The ALEXA shoots either ARRIRAW (which you've stated you're not going to use), or ProRes, which is a very usable online codec. As long as your system has enough processing power and fast drives (eg a fast desktop drive, RAID or SSD), you should be able to edit the files natively. Depending on the ALEXA model (there are many), the highest quality non-raw codec is ProRes 4444 XQ in 3.2k which will produce huge files, and anything less than a very powerful system will struggle. But 422 HQ should be manageable, and is used on many features.
When you come to edit, you will need to put a LUT on the footage to go from the log gamma to rec 709, so that you can see the colours more accurately. This is very simple especially in the new premiere which has LUT software built in. If you decide to go the proxy route, you can transcode to ProRes proxy or similar in davinchi resolve.
When you come to the grade, you simply export an EDL or XML, and the colorist will conform to the original footage. This is straight forward as long as the clip names remain completely unchanged. You can try this yourself in davinchi resolve to see how simple it is. Remember that complex transitions and effects will not come across in the EDL or XML, these should be rendered separately in After effects or similar, and treated as separate clips.
For the shoot, ensure that you're shooting the highest quality codec you can afford (calculate drive space/backup and offload times for the DIT), and ensure the camera is set to a log (low contrast) mode. I believe on the ALEXA this is log c, but as I said , I haven't shot with the ALEXA myself, so I'm not qualified to advise you on camera settings. There are other considerations like aspect ratio, and if you're shooting with anamorphic lenses etc, that your DoP should take care of. You will need to ensure that your monitoring solution on set (eg production monitor, on cam monitor, EVF are able to display a LUT, so you can see the 'true' image, rather than the log image which will appear very low contrast. To maximise your grading options in post your DoP should expose as normal for the highlights, and the log imagae will give you the maximum dynamic range.
Some links I found:
https://www.arri.com/camera/alexa/workflow/working_with_proresdnxhd/recording/media_and_codecs/
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/working-with-arriraw-creating-offline-proxies-in-davinci-resolve/ This is for ARRI RAW, but principal is the same.
I hope this is helpful to you. Please get in touch if you need more info
Sam Gordon
DoP and Workflow Geek
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Sam Gordon SHOW