Please critique/make suggestions to my video/work flow

Started by eyeoftheabyss, July 29, 2014, 12:41:19 AM

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eyeoftheabyss

Hi, First time posting about RAW. Here's the link to the video: https://vimeo.com/100362084

All clips other than the obvious GoPro and most photos are shot on the 5d mark iii in RAW 24fps at 1080x1920.
My workflow on a Macbook Pro 15" screen was as follows:
RAW
> DNG (using either raw2dng or RAWMagic Lite - side note, some RAW files couldn't convert at all, sometimes one program could convert what the other couldn't)
> color grade in Lightroom
> export as jpg files set to 1000K maximum file size – little benefit to going beyond 1000K
> make mov file using Quicktime 7 Pro
> import to Premiere Pro
> export with the following settings:
Match Source - high bit rate
Profile: High
Render at Maximum Depth
VBR, 2 pass
Target 25
Maximum 30
Key Frame Distance: 1
Use Maximum Render Quality

After I exported the video now on vimeo, I also exported with Target 45 and Maximum 50, because I wanted to decrease noise, most noticeable in the gray jacket and other darker areas. I didn't realize the extent of the noise problem until I viewed the video on a much larger TV screen. I then got Neat video to deal with the noise, but either I'm not using it well or it didn't seem to make much of a difference. My last option, and major time commitment, would be to reexport each clip after eliminating as much noise as acceptable in Lightroom. Luckily I would not need to reedit the video as the mov files would be replaced in the source folder and Premiere would simply link to the new files because of the same name.

I've never seen anyone use my workflow exactly, so I hope it's not plain stupid and that's why o one does it this way, but I never got around to learning Da Vinci Resolve or After Effects, the most common two programs I've come across used by others with RAW Magic Lantern.

Thank you for your input,
Armin

Midphase

Ugh, that workflow sounds like it takes forever.

I would highly recommend that you learn Resolve, unless you really don't value your time all that much.

reddeercity

You need to shorten up your workflow ,  no matter what path you choose for your workflow it's always Good to learn new software.
Since you are editing in Premiere Pro is it CC or CS6 ? If CC you can export raw to 12bitCdng's  import & edit native.
Do you have A.E. ? If so import dng/Cdng pregrade & make a ProRes4444 file ( this is my choice) . But going from 14bit raw to 8bit jpeg to 10 or 12bit Mov.
I'm not surprised you have noise , keep the 8bit for the mp4 . It would be better 14bit-->10/12Mov.   :)

Sganzerla

You can import the .jpg files in Premiere as 'jpg sequence' (no need to use Quicktime for .mov, if I understood well).

ChadMuffin

Depending on your settings in Lightroom, you could have flicker is some situations. ACR/Lightroom was designed and optimized for individual pictures, not a stream of images. I recommend only adjusting white balance, exposure and maybe some lens corrections and noise reduction. Then, use VisonLog (free) or Cinelog (not free) to not have flickering. To save steps, bring it into After Effects (16 bit timeline) and then export in Proress 444, not Lightroom. Less conversion, more quality. Even faster is working in Resolve with the cDNG on BDM Film with a VisonLog lut.

There are other options too. Davinci Resolve and After effects can look intimidating to some. But, a few YouTube tutorials will point you in the right direction.

eyeoftheabyss

Thank you for replying. Which color grading program should I learn? Which is easier to learn? Easier to work with regularly? I'm leaning toward the free Da Vinci resolve lite or Adobe Speedgrade, because I have Adobe CC so it'd be free too. I like that in Premiere I can quickly send a clip to either Audition or After Effects, I haven't found a way to do this with Speedgrade.

If I use Da Vinci, do I need (not want) to use After Effects, or could I go straight to Premiere. In other words, Da Vinci to color grade to Premiere to edit, or does AE need to come before Premiere. By the way, if there's a workflow chart laying this out, please link to it. I'm afraid this is somehow common knowledge and it may be like repeated the alphabet for you.

Thank you again

getsmokes

Not sure if this will help you or If my workflows any better.

I use MlRawViewer to load up the MLV files, shots are checked and then exported as DNG's

These get loaded up in to Resolve and synced with the reference audio, colour corrected and rendered out in Apple ProRes 422 HQ. 

I either then directly import in to FCP X or if it requires syncing multiple audio sources I bang it all in to Plural Eyes and export the sequence to FCPX.

Hope that helps.

Thomas Worth

Here's how it would normally be done:

+ Convert RAW/MLV clips to CinemaDNG with RAWMagic
+ Convert GoPro footage to ProRes with 5DtoRGB or edit it natively in Premiere
+ Import footage into Premiere Pro
+ Edit DNG/ProRes/MP4 natively in Premiere
+ After edit is locked, export OMF of sound for sound mixer
+ Export XML of edit sequence to Resolve for color correction
+ Color correct in Resolve while sound is being mixed
+ Render color corrected media, export new XML from Resolve, import back into Premiere (the term for this is "roundtrip")
+ Back in Premiere, marry completed sound mix to picture, add titles, credits, etc.
+ Export master from Premiere to ProRes MOV, DPX, etc.
+ Create deliverables from master, from H.264 versions for the web all way up to a DCP.

Don't color correct before you edit. You need to color correct after editing so you can make all your shots match.

Quote from: eyeoftheabyss on August 29, 2014, 07:00:09 AM
Which color grading program should I learn?
Resolve. Don't waste time thinking about this. Just go download it now and start learning it.