The RAW files were converted to dng sequences with Rawanizer ver 0.5.5. DNxHD proxies were used to edit the footage in Adobe Premiere CC. Once edited, the sequence was brought into Adobe After Effects CC via Dynamic Link and the proxies were replaced with the RAW footage. First light color correction was done in ACR, and additional corrections were performed in AE. All compositing was performed within AE. Gorilla Grain was added to the final output.
this is exactly the workflow i´m using now too.
first i saved the proxies by importing the dng´s straight into premiere. but the ginger plug in only works for 30 days for free....
but i´m using then EXR files in after effects and set the dnxhd files as proxy files. this can help with slower computers. for me it is the same speed.
i wrote a step by step guide on using this method. but it is outdated because of the ginger plug in issue and the slow dng performance.
what i noticed is, albeit using 32 bit floating point EXR files it is still crucial to "develop" the dngs in ACR correctly. trying to tune the exposure with colorista sort of works, but comes not even close to the exposure control possible with ACR.
i use the EXR sequences, because they process roughly 400 to 600 percent faster (depending on filters, masks, layering....etc). reducing rendertime (for my last 4 minute clip) from nearly 18 h to 6 h....
and i can use the sequences in my favourite comp software: nuke. nuke is highly optimized for 32 bit EXRs.
and yes, working in raw is a real pain.
if you plan just to edit your footage and then grade it in AE. you can stick with the dng workflow. you replace the footage, grade, adjust....hit the render button and go to bed... you can even save rendertime by adding more than one output file format in AEs render queue per comp. ( image sequence + your proxy format )
AE compositions can be rendered in the media encoder offering a much broader output file format (AE does h264 but you can´t adjust the settings.... or i am just blind...)
if you plan to add a lot of compositing to your images, then the EXR workflow is your first choice. ( or tiffs, if you wish )
the RAW dng sequences can be zipped, reducing disk space by about 25%.
what are your strategies for archiving?
i plan to save the uncut clips as dnxhd 10bit
and one consolidated AE project with only the used dngs, to reduce data amount and then zipping it in one archive file.
ah yes and the above mentioned "filmconverter" is a AE plug in, that adds not only film stock specific color tone and exposure response, but also the corresponding grain. within it you can choose different film sizes ( from 8 mm to 35 mm full frame ). this setting influences the grain size dramatically. never go under super 16 mm.
you don´t really need such filters. the grain from the 50d files is very filmic and the special film stock looks can be achieved by simple color correction and a little bit channel blurring and maybe a glow.....
