My post-production workflow with VFX and CGI. Any suggestion?

[Erik Caretta]

Hi everybody,

I'd like to post here the workflow I'm planning to use for our next production. It's a trailer for a crowdfunding campaign we are going to launch in a few months: we shot a couple of weeks ago with 5Dm3 and Magic Lantern, and now I'm trying to find the best way to deliver the best product possible.
I read almost every discussion in this session, I hope I didn't miss anything critical. Please take a look, and any comment is welcome!

PRODUCTION
- backup of CF card
- RAW to DNG conversion, with Batchelor 3.0 alpha3 (with raw2dng)
- import DNG in Resolve, applying simple metadata (shot, reel number)
- export dailies (QuickTime DNxHD) for checking shots on set, and later to choose good takes

POST-PRODUCTION
- once good takes are chosen, export proxies (QuickTime RGB 8bit non-compressed) from Resolve
- editing in Premiere CC, with proxies
- roundtrip to Resolve: import XML from Premiere CC
- white balance in Resolve
- VFX and CGI work
- compositing on original dng sequences (mainly After Effects CC)
- import VFX shots into Resolve
- color correction and grading
- export QuickTime RGB 10bit non-compressed from Resolve
- import into Premiere CC: noise reduction (Neat Video plugin), grain
- crop and 2K upscaling if needed, titles
- export final video


What do you think? Anything wrong in your opinion?

I still have to test the importing of VFX shots into Resolve: I still don't know which file format is the best (probably 16bit tiff), and I'm pretty sure I'll have some timecode shifts due to compositing application.
And I'm not sure how to proceed for the final export from Resolve: using the same XML to re-import everything in Premiere, or generate a new EDL in Resolve? I'll find out

Thanks for reading

Erik

[dariSSight]

I love this workflow, but for VFX and CGI are you doing a fresh projects with the DNG in AfterEffects then exporting to Resolve as QuickTime, and are you upscaling the QuickTime video your export from RESOLVE as uncompressed 10bit and will that stay clean?  How does this workflow works with FCPX in replace of Premiere CC, I have both.

[Kharak]

for Colour Correction like white balance, highlights and shadows I'd use ACR.

If you're going to do Chroma Key, then highlights and shadows should not cause any flickering because of the constant background. But if you got light aimed towards the lens and the light gets blocked, then you will very likely experience flickering with those sliders being used.

I shot a chroma key and abused the hell out of highlights and shadows and had no flickering, because of the constant levels of dark and white.

But don't how this will affect your workflow. I just like ACR's quality better.

[Erik Caretta]

I love this workflow, but for VFX and CGI are you doing a fresh projects with the DNG in AfterEffects then exporting to Resolve as QuickTime, and are you upscaling the QuickTime video your export from RESOLVE as uncompressed 10bit and will that stay clean?  How does this workflow works with FCPX in replace of Premiere CC, I have both.

I think for VFX I'm going to import in AE my dngs, then do my stuffs and export 16bit tiff to Resolve.
Regarding the upscaling, I still have to test, but upscaling from full HD to 2K won't be that difficult I suppose. Anyway, I need to check if 10bit instead of 8bit is of any help for noise reduction. If not, I think I'll go with 8bit.

for Colour Correction like white balance, highlights and shadows I'd use ACR.

If you're going to do Chroma Key, then highlights and shadows should not cause any flickering because of the constant background. But if you got light aimed towards the lens and the light gets blocked, then you will very likely experience flickering with those sliders being used.

I shot a chroma key and abused the hell out of highlights and shadows and had no flickering, because of the constant levels of dark and white.

But don't how this will affect your workflow. I just like ACR's quality better.

I have only a couple of chroma key shots, so that's not a major issue.
I see a lot of people preferring ACR to Resolve: so far I didn't notice big differences, but I want to be sure I'm not losing quality.
I need to perform a careful test and compare the output, even if this change would completely disrupt my workflow

[dariSSight]

I think for VFX I'm going to import in AE my dngs, then do my stuffs and export 16bit tiff to Resolve.
Regarding the upscaling, I still have to test, but upscaling from full HD to 2K won't be that difficult I suppose. Anyway, I need to check if 10bit instead of 8bit is of any help for noise reduction. If not, I think I'll go with 8bit.

I have only a couple of chroma key shots, so that's not a major issue.
I see a lot of people preferring ACR to Resolve: so far I didn't notice big differences, but I want to be sure I'm not losing quality.
I need to perform a careful test and compare the output, even if this change would completely disrupt my workflow

If the highest continuous I can do on 5D Mark II is 1880x1012 should I change the clip import as 1920x1080 as default?

[Erik Caretta]

If the highest continuous I can do on 5D Mark II is 1880x1012 should I change the clip import as 1920x1080 as default?

I would import the clips at original resolution, then upscale to full HD. The exact workflow depends on the software used.