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RED post workflows

RED Build 16 is the latest version of camera software and the file format is different from previous builds. See the RED support site
and download the newest versions of REDAlert, REDCine, RED Log andTransfer plugin, RED Quicktime codec. There are many post productinon notes in the camera operation manual for Build 16 which can be downloaded at the RED support site as well. Read the notes thoroughly!

Digital Dailies and on set viewing

REDrushes application now is part of RED Alert! v 3.3.8 release date 2008-07-10

for Mac only, this is a very useful tool as it will batch render self-contained Quicktime files, as well as DPX and TIFF files from RAW .R3D files, not just from proxies. This really helps smooth out one path of the various RED post workflows allowing for a quick way to set in/out points to create dailies (rushes) for offline editing in Final Cut. Some say that This will eventually work with Avid DNxHD.

The REDrushes tool should result in better image quality than taking Quicktime reference files through Compressor.

Editing 2K or larger Quicktime reference movies: RED recommends a top end configuration of a MacPro with 8 cores, fast RAID 0 striped drives and minimum 4GB of RAM.

You can edit 1K QT reference movies on a MacBook Pro.

Here are notes on a previous workflow:

Final Cut Studio 2 is REDCODE RAW enabled asof November 2007. The REDCODE RAW codec supports RT playback in Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 and editing of the Quicktime reference movies.

1. shoot and record 4K REDCODE RAW recorded as 4K, 4K 2:1 or 2K R3D files onto CF cards or RED Drives, data rate is 27 MB/s ( 216 Mb/s)

2. copy R3D data from the RED drive to external hard disk drives. Make sure you keep the Native R3Dfiles, Quicktime Reference movies and Magazine Profile all in the same folder. See REDCODE 3.1.0 notes. Firewire transfer is about 3 minutes for each 8 GB card. You should create TWO copies of these files, on separate drives. One is now your original and the second set is your backup as you will erase the CF cards for re-use.

3. bring R3D files into REDCINE software ( RED ALERT can be used for dailies and on set viewing ) which wraps the R3D into Quicktime movies
there are simple edit tools in REDCINE that allow you to trim the clips and discard unusable footage. You can review this footage but at this stage it is unprocessed.

Processing of RAW images, conversion to ProRes 422 HQ for editing, color correction

4. in REDCINE do a white balance and one light level adjustment on each clip, to make sure the levels are roughly equal from shot to shot. Make sure there is no clipping in the blacks or whites. Or presets can be used. For television or DVD release the familiar REC 709 color space is used. For DI and film out use a Log color space.

5. batch convert and export to ProRes 422 HQ, this takes lots of rendering time. Your files will be larger than R3D filesand take up more disk space than before even though they are not as high in resolution. Again make sure you make the right color space choice, see Final Cut Studio: Color space settings for REDCODE to ProRes transcoding.

In the Inspector Window, click the filters button to disclose the tabs for Video, Audio and Color. Click the color tab. Typically choose HD(709).

note: Quicktime Reference Movies aka QT proxies using the RED Quicktime codec 1.5 are only 8 bit, so do not use these files to edit unless you plan to go back and re-conform later. However this offers much faster rendering

Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec is 10bit YUV at 1920x1080 resolution with 16 Chs of 24bit AES audio
target data rate is approx 220 Mb/s for 30 fps ( 176 Mb/s for 24p ) using wavelet compression. see Apple Pro Res 422 whitepaper

ProRes 422 HQ data can play from Firewire 800 drives
MacBook Pro laptops can play this footage in HD in real time using the smaller 1KQT reference files.

storage requirements: variable bit rate, target HQ data rate for 1920x180 24p 176 Mbs equals 1.32 GB/min
80 GB storage for 1 hour at 24p......a 500 GB drive will hold 6 hours of media

6. import all the rendered ProRes clips into Apple Final Cut Pro and edit your project
Easy Setup: Apple ProRes 422 HQ 1920x1080 24p 48 KHz
This is a combined offline and online at this point if you are outputting to HD videotape or BluRay deliverables.

7. Green screen and VFX shots: take your 4K R3D and export as DPX at 4K; or bring into the compositing software,
use 16 bit project settings in Motion and After Effects then export as ProRes 422 HQ and drop the shots into Final Cut

8. Export from FCP to Apple Color for scene to scene color correction ( scenes may be color graded while editing as well )

9. Output to HD videotape, hi def BluRay DVD, standard DVD, and back up your project on hard drives and/or LT0-3 data tapes

10. Output to 35mm Film: use REDCINE to export 10 bit DPX files for Digital Intermediate color correction, then create a DCDM Digital Cinema Distribution Master and for output to film.

in the future Final Cut Studio may get native REDCODE support; and Adobe Premiere Pro is rumored to have that capability as early as August 2008.
in the future REDCine will work with the Avid DNxHD codec
in the future RED says it will offer 4K scaled down to 2K recording but using the entire sensor, current 2K uses a smaller part of the sensor

link to a complicated but comprehensive WORKFLOW CHART by Michael Morlan

HD Cinema Production and Post Production Services for RED

RED camera rental, also lenses, monitors, matteboxes, tripods

DP, 1st AC, DIT digital imaging technician, Post Supervisor, Editor recommendations and referrals

MacBook Pro laptop rental for on-set copying of CF cards

one light color and level correction

selects converted to DPX files and output for visual efx work

batch conversion and rendering then export to ProRes 422 HQ

archiving of safety copies of data

DVD screeners created

Digital Intermediate color correction

output of edited programs to HDCAM SR, HD D5 or HDCAM

multi-track audio layback

Last modified: April 30, 2009