HD24p post-production decisions for indie filmmakers

For feature length movies of all budgets there are a lot of decisions that need to be made that affect cost versus quality. There are very special ways to deal with the post budget when the entire cost of the movie is under $500,000 or even under $100,000.

Once you shoot in HD24p it is necessary to downcovert from HD to Digibeta, BetaSP, DVCAM or DVCPro, or DV for Off-line Editing and all your creative decision making. What are the costs and benefits of each format?

We recommend downcoverting to DVCAM for offline creative decision making. Apply the money you would have spent going to Digibeta towards an HD24p online. DVCPro is an option but is not used as broadly as DVCAM is. Beta SP is an analog format for both video and audio which involves some losses going in and out of a system and a Beta vtr costs more than DVCAM. MiniDV does not have SMPTE time code so it is not at all a good format to go to.

Once the creative decisions have been made offline and the picture locked, then you go back to your original HD field tapes and re-capture as uncompressed HD into a non-linear edit system and conform and output your final project.

There are other workflow options, Apple and Panasonic have gotten together and with the new Panasonic 1200A DVCPro HD vtr you can load the HD tapes as native compressed files in the DVC100 codec and save on having to have a high speed disk array as ordinary Firewire 400 drives can be used. Surprisingly you can also capture HDCAM this way if you purchase a AJA Kona 2 or Blackmagic Decklink HD card for your MacG5 based Final Cut Pro system. You would rent the Sony JH3 deck for loading HDCAM tapes instead of the 1200A deck.

Off-line software and hardware decisions. Different editors prefer either Final Cut Pro or Avid for offline? Can you import a project for conforming instead of just the edit list?

At HD Cinema we use Final Cut Pro HD for online so we can import an offline project cut on that which is helpful. We can work from an Avid EDL as well for standard cuts and dissolves but layering and color correction details will not be available.

Is an accurate edit list created when off-line editing at 30 (29.97) frames per second and onlining at 24 (23.98) frames per second.

Final Cut Pro and Avid can both take 29.97 captured media and do a reverse telecine to create a 23.98 timeline.

What is the best way to get my multiple audio tracks from my video offline sent to the audio facility? What are the pros and cons of using Digibeta, DAT, DA-88, DV or OMF export of audio for sound mixing and sweetening?

An OMF export of the audio tracks you create for your offline edit transferred to a hard drive can give an audio facility a big head start on their audio sweetening and mixing if they are using Pro Tools software.

Color correction - How do you estimate how much time is needed for color correction? Are there affordable ways to ta ke advantage of a good colorist and a Da Vinci 2K ? What are the new more affordable color correction alternatives?

Currently a common workflow is to do an uncorrected assembly using Final Cut ProHD, then doing some simple scene to scene correction before outputting to HDCAM tape. Then when the budget allows, this tape can be used as a source in a color correction suite that ideally would have a talented colorist using a Da Vinci 2K system.

If I am doing a 35mm film out from a HD master, do I color correct in HD or just do it the answer print stage?

Color Correction using Digital Intermediate technology is all the rage these days, either full 2K data but often HDCAM or HD D5 tape to tape correction is the most affordable path. Talk to the film our facility that is doing your film out but they are used to getting masters that have been color corrected for HD Digital Video and then they apply their LUTs look up tables to make it look best on film.

For the creation of HD titles, credits and special effects, can I do this at HD resolution on Macs and PCs using off-the shelf software like After Effects, Shake, or Combustion? Is there still a good reason to use dedicated devices in linear on-line rooms or high end Quantel or Discreet software and hardware?

For Indie Filmmakers using Macs and PCs is very common and achieves excellent results. HD tapes are captured via AJA Kona2 and Blackmagic Decklink HD cards in Mac dual G5s as Tiff, Targa, DPX or Quicktime files that are then copied to inexpensive firewire drives to go to and from the artists and our facility.

If the filmmaker shot in HD, at what stage of distribution does he need to conform in HD? If the film does not get theatrical release but does get a video release is the HD conform necessary?

It makes sense to do a conform in HD as soon as you get into a film festival, but perhaps sooner if you want the security and safety of having that master instead of paying for ongoing negative insurance for your HD original tapes.

What are the new requirements for deliverables for digital television, DVD, and theatrical release for digital cinema?

HDCAM or HD D5 formats are currently required. In the next few years we anticipate a move to HDCAM SR a new less compressed digital video format.

Production issues that affect your post needs:

What are the production and post-production options for getting good slow motion in HD?

You can shoot 1080/60i and slow it down in post or the Panasonic Varicam can shoot 720/60p and likewise be converted in post to slower speeds. Apple Shake software has some new easier slow motion capabilities.

Do I let the DP set his exposure with the auto iris and lets the camera do the best it can, or are there cost savings in post to offset the cost of the hiring of a DIT or ”Digital Imaging Technician” to set levels with a RMP150 camera controller and waveform monitor ?

There is an excellent thread on the cinematography.net site debating this. Multicamera production especially for Network Television almost always has a DIT, many single camera features are shot without a DIT and thus may want to allocate some additional money for color correction in post.

Is it easier or harder to shoot greenscreen or bluescreen and background plates for later compositing in HD in post?

Because HD digital video is rock steady and no grain, compositing in HD is very straightforward.

Should sync sound be recorded directly onto the HD field tapes instead of double system recording on DAT? Is there a quality difference?

Audio is recorded on HD digital formats with very high quality equal the quality of a DAT recorder. You should always record audio to the camera whenever possible, this will save you thousands of dollars in synching costs. You may still want to let the soundman use his DAT too since this allows him to playback and check sound without asking the camera operator to replay as often. You should be checking audio and video playback on your tapes as you shoot, it will not hurt the original, however one should limit playing a take more than say 5 times as a precaution.

How important is it to make sure that continuous time code is recorded on the original camera tapes?

The camera can be set to recue and keep continuous code even after it is turned off then on. However it is very common to have slight breaks in time code, just make sure there is at least 5 seconds rolled before a slate, and the when capturing or digitizing your downconverts into the non-linear edit system that individual clips are logged and captured. It is much easier for an assistant editor to capture an entire tape and then sublclip, but with 24p (23.98) time code doing this would lead to inaccurate code at the breaks so make sure to capture clips not entire tapes otherwise you will face a lot of extra expense when it comes time for the online..