Prep for Color Correction. (non-standard worflow)

The show was shot mostly with a sony camera in HDV, some of it was shot with an HVX200. Everything was trans-coded to ProRes.

Colorist originally asked for an uncompressed file in a FCP timeline, that had been notched. (the edits between the original files re-created as splices in the uncompressed file.) This cooks in all my smoothcams and other effects, a good thing. but requires a time consuming manual effort. Unless someone can suggest a xml or edl work around for re-importing the edits into a timeline onto a single file.

Colorist said he recently used a media managed ProRes Project and it worked great, except I need to bake in my effects. This show was shot like 2 days before DSLRs got hot, and was shot with one of those useless adapters that leave the image flipped. So 90% has a flip filter on it. I'd have thought the re-encode option would bake it in in Media manager, but it doesn't.

I've given enough to this show. I'll make the files, but I'm not sitting around for half a day hitting the splice button for free. Any work around suggestions are appreciated.

how long is the show?
how many edits?

using your existing edit on V2 as a guide, it would take an hour or so to add the splices.
you'd have to reduce it to as few tracks as possible of course.
actually, put your edit on V1, etc, and the exported file on the top track, maybe reduced to a box so you can see both

if you use Macro apps it would take not much time at all to program a cycle of:
Down Arrow,
Control V

when you media manage you do keep all filters & motion effects,
so you would have your flip filter still applied

so your colorist is doing the grade in FCP?
another alternative would be to find another colorist.
why don't they just use your original HDV???
converting it into Prores wont give much advantage, will it?


cheers,
nick

This post reminded me to check up on this cool Applescript to automate the baking in FCP. This is a lovely script, courtesy of Johannes Noe

If you are running Snow Leopard, and FCP 7, launch Automator. In Automator, select "services", and switch to "service receives 'no input' in 'any application'.

Then do a search for applescript in the left pane, and drag "run applescript" to the right pane. Then copy this Applescript here):

And paste it over "(your script goes here)". Compile the script (it's the icon that looks like a sledgehammer) Save the Automator service.

Then go to system preferences> keyboard> keyboard shortcuts. Scroll down to services, and find that baking script. Make sure that script is checked, and double click in the space on the right of the script and key in your keyboard shortcut (eg. ctrl y). Wait a while for services to familiarize with your keyboard shortcut (services takes about a minute or two to kick in). Then go back to FCP, mark in and out (shortcut key 'x' in FCP 7), and hit that shortcut. The script will run and simply follow the instructions.

If you are not running FCP 7, map the export button to "Apple E". You may have to do a find and replace in the AppleScript and change "Final Cut Pro 7" to "Final Cut Pro 6" or whatever you are using with Textedit, before you can paste it in.

For non-Snow Leopard users, download Quicksilver from Blacktree. Then copy the script and compile it in AppleScript Editor. Compile the script and save that in User>library>scripts. Then launch Quicksilver and add a custom trigger and attach hotkey to the Applescript.



www.strypesinpost.com

>why don't they just use your original HDV???

Not many coloring tools work well with HDV. I'm not sure if Color lets you ingest HDV. It took a while for XDCAM EX support.

>Colorist originally asked for an uncompressed file in a FCP timeline, that had been notched.

If he is using the Resolve it has scene detection built in. There is a scene detector for FCP, and you can give it a shot. I tried it and it seems to be off by about a frame or so on each cut. Not sure if that's because it was running on a Tiger.



www.strypesinpost.com

"I'm not sure if Color lets you ingest HDV"

it does, and gives you ProRes files back.

however if he was working in Color, an EDL would be an option for notching.


for FCP, one solution could be to create an EDL,
then in a text edit app, copy & paste all the record times into hte source columns,
and change the reel#s to one number (which you'd apply to your export)

re-import the modified DL to FCP, and use Video Tools-Shed's "FCP Reconnect" to connect.

it would be simpler to just Down-Arrow, Control V x 200 or whatever.
talk to the producers about paying you for an extra half day.
it will be cheaper for them then paying for all the manual notching time for the colorist.

i've use Scene Detector for manual notching in FCP.
that would not be faster for the OP than Down-Arrow & Control V,
but would be faster for the colorist.

unless the colorist is working in FCP in which case THEY can do Down-Arrow & Control V.


i think the workflow needs some clarification


nick

Scene detector? You can ingest a qt file and it will notch it and export either an XML or trimmed qt clips. The issue I had was that the cut points were always one it two frames off. Does it happen for you, Nick?

The advantage of not flattening everything into a qt movie, but rather mm'ed EDL/XML is that transitions don't get mixed in. So dissolves don't look as mucky because the colors are not 'merged' and your fade in/outs will look better (cc affects the fade ramp). Otherwise you need to slap on those shots at the back and re-do the effects later.

You could always loop the down arrow and ctrl v command a thousand times in automator and go out for a coffee break.



www.strypesinpost.com

Scene Detector:
i don't remember getting false edits one or two frames off.
i did get false edits on rapid camera moves, or fast action, (to be expected, really)
i remember being pretty pleased with it, compared to others i'd tried,
but haven't used it for a long time.


nick