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[nazeemshah82]

Hi there..... I'm new to this forum and need guidance in several issues....I'm editing in FCP7 with prores 4444
hmmm. i know that maybe this has been discussed before but anyway i have a number of questions regarding the topic.

1. I have tested exported an edl in 2 ways:
     1a. by drag on drop a clip from the finder>FCP bin>timeline = no metadata
     1b. by importing the XML from the SxS folders to fcp>timeline = with metadata
 
   Questions for no 1:
  - DO I really need the metadata? for future use e.g color grading?
   -Can the metadata be modified like REDRAW in color e.g ASA/KELVIN as in Apple Color/After Effects?
  - If i've done the edit by method "1a", is there anyway to retrieve the metadata if my colorist needs it?

2. We've shot in 16:9 and will be cropped to 2:35. And I've applied the Antler Log-c to REC709 filter.
    There are 2 filter applied here on all the clips.
    - The Widescreen Filter
    - Antler's LUT

    Questions for no 2:
    -Is there anyway i just remove one of the filters so that the colorist can still have the Log-C image for better tweaking?
    -Theres another way to this such as removing both of the filters right......but i still need the "WIDESCREEN" filter on as the paremeters of each clip are different and involves reframing....

i think i forgot what to ask more......mmmmm.....but i really need any help i can and is very much much appreciated...hehhe...

tq guys....

[robstiff]

We use FCP7 with DaVinci Resolve. (Actually you can get the free lite version for Resolve)
You can edit your LogC Alexa clips in FCP7. At this point I would not be using widescreen filters.
When you are ready to color grade the footage, you can export your timeline XML from FCP7.
Import the XML file right in Resolve. The edited timeline clips will appear in Resolve.
If you want to do a quick grade, you can apply the LogC to Rec709 3DLUT to each of the clips.
Then render them using the Apple ProRes444 FCP Roundtrip options, then export the XML file from resolve conform page.
Then take that Resolve XML file, import it into FCP and then it will make a new sequence with the color graded footage.

If you want the final output to be 2.35:1, you can then modify the FCP sequence settings frame size to a custom
size such as 1920 x 816. As for metadata, that's up to you, we hardly use it.

There are a lot of good options out there for working with LogC Alexa footage.

[nazeemshah82]

1. what's a roundtrip? (my english is not good enogh ...heheh)
2. what's the difference between using a widesceen filter than modify the sequence settings to 1920x816?
3. does baselight or assimilate scratch support XMLs? coz i've been dealing with this lab from India, they kept on asking me for EDL only....

nway thanks robstiff...

[robstiff]

"Roundtrip" is what black magic designs terms for taking in an edited timeline from Final Cut Pro,
grading it, and then rendering the clips to match the same or similar format as Final Cut Pro.
Download the free version and give it a try/test.

I am not sure what the wide screen filter in Final Cut Pro does. If you modify your sequence settings
and then export a quicktime with that modified 1920x816 size, the video will be 1920x816 in actual
size instead of 1920x1080 with black horizontal bars along the top and bottom of the video.

I think baselight does, it's a very involved program.

[Nick Shaw]

3. does baselight or assimilate scratch support XMLs? coz i've been dealing with this lab from India, they kept on asking me for EDL only....

Baselight has supported FCP XML for quite some time, and recent versions also support round-tripping, ie writing out a new XML pointing to the graded files, and preserving any filters etc from the original, even if they were not shown in the Baselight timeline.

[nazeemshah82]

hi guys.....been busy lately..... but i need to bring up this topic again...hehhe...

1. Well for the offline edit, i've used mr Shaw's plugin, but do i have to remove them if i want to submit it to the online editor for color grading etc to maintain the Log C dynamic range.....

2. There are some CG shots that are in the timeline, so for the CG artist to the their work, the previous offline editor put mr Shaw's LUT in the clips....therefore it results the CG shots are pre graded with the plugin.
hmmmm....if i remove Shaw's LUT plugin from my other clips, will there be any problem to grade and match the colors? or its better for me to leave the plugin in the clips? but this will also result the clips to not preserve the dynamics( maybe the  blacks crushed and whites are burned)

3. As u can see in the previous posts, i'm going to crop this movie to a 2:35 ratio, and there are keyframes involved as the frame moves. Is it possible for me, to give the Online editor 1 clip of each film reel (each film reel are rendered to 1 QT file), or is it better to give him an EDL? but i'm not sure if i give him an EDL, it will follow my keyframed 2:35 ratio....

well its hard to put in words, but i do hope u guys can understand....tq....

[Nick Shaw]

1. Well for the offline edit, i've used mr Shaw's plugin, but do i have to remove them if i want to submit it to the online editor for color grading etc to maintain the Log C dynamic range.....

You should be sending the colourist an EDL or XML and the original LogC media, NOT a QuickTime export from FCP, so plugins applied in FCP are not really relevant.

But if for some reason it becomes necessary to export media from FCP to sent to the colourist, then it is absolutely vital you remove my plugin before doing so. But I would strongly recommend against that approach. The colourist will be able to achieve the best results if they have the original media to work from, not something that has been processed through FCP.

if i remove Shaw's LUT plugin from my other clips, will there be any problem to grade and match the colors? or its better for me to leave the plugin in the clips? but this will also result the clips to not preserve the dynamics( maybe the  blacks crushed and whites are burned)

See my first answer, but worth also noting you should also send the colourist a copy of the offline as a reference.  If your colourist is not able to match what my plugin did in the offline, you should be concerned about their abilities as a colourist!

3. As u can see in the previous posts, i'm going to crop this movie to a 2:35 ratio, and there are keyframes involved as the frame moves. Is it possible for me, to give the Online editor 1 clip of each film reel (each film reel are rendered to 1 QT file), or is it better to give him an EDL? but i'm not sure if i give him an EDL, it will follow my keyframed 2:35 ratio....

The widescreen filter will not come across in an EDL, and would not be understood by Baselight in an XML. If you had simply placed a mask on another layer in FCP and used ordinary transforms to re-rack the images that would come across to Baselight via XML for example.

You have two options really:
1. Let the colourist re-build your racking manually in the grading system, using your offline as a reference.

2. If you are round tripping and finishing in FCP (this may or may not be suitable depending on your final deliverable requirements) you can grade the full image and then the widescreen filter will be reapplied when you round-trip back to FCP, although you will need to remove my LUT plugin at this point.