Premiere CC / Speedgrade Workflow?

Sly9

Sly9

Active member
I'm trying to get my "post-production" workflow setup and working properly. I have a subscription to Creative Cloud so I can utilize Premiere off of that, as well as Speedgrade. My question is, are there any of you out there that are utilizing the same workflow for editing/grading as I mentioned here? If so, how is it working out for you? Any suggestions on alternatives if it isn't as smooth as you thought it was going to be? I've heard very little about Speedgrade in regards to color correction, so any feed back on that would be much appreciated as well!
 
I use SpeedGrade to color every project. I find the controls more capable than what Premiere Pro has to offer. Or at least, I find myself using them more effectively. The Direct Link between PP and SG is a very quick and efficient way to move between programs. All considered, I feel my work has been improved with this work flow.

Having said that, I should note that my praise extends to using DNxHD media alone. The experience is quite different when editing with H.264 originals. SpeedGrade is sluggish and can be very slow to respond to your adjustments with H.264, especially if you have any other effects applied when you do the coloring. For this and other reasons, I pre-covert all my footage to DNxHD before editing, and work exclusively with that format, which edits and grades like a hot knife through warm butter.
 
Thanks for your response! Have you had any experience with ProRes editing in that workflow?
 
For what it's worth, I jumped on the Speedgrade bandwagon as soon as Adobe released it with Direct Link. Ultimately though, I have found that Colorista III can do the job faster, and it real time, without having to leave Premiere. The Speedgrade timeline drives me crazy, so I use Colorista right now. It will key skintones, push colors around, and almost anything else you need it to. No need to convert, just drop it onto your h.264's. Just my two cents
 
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Sly9 said:
Have you had any experience with ProRes editing in that workflow?
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My philosophy is that any production codec must meet three specifications:

1. Can read and write under Windows
2. Without QuickTime
3. For free.

ProRes fails on all fronts, so no...I've never used it.

DNxHD is an equivalent codec quality-wise, and meets all three critical features of a good production codec.
 
Question about the Cloud Subscription: I just want Premiere Pro and Speedgrade. I don't need any of the other apps, it's all just wasted on me. Do I have to pay for the full CS suite which is $49 per month to get access to speedgrade? It's just not worth it for me to get the two programs when I can just use Resolve for both.
 
Doctor Wu said:
Question about the Cloud Subscription: I just want Premiere Pro and Speedgrade. I don't need any of the other apps, it's all just wasted on me. Do I have to pay for the full CS suite which is $49 per month to get access to speedgrade? It's just not worth it for me to get the two programs when I can just use Resolve for both.
Click to expand...

Doc, as far as I know it is an all or nothing type of subscription. I've not had my account with CC since last year, but that's how it was when I left. Honestly, it might still be worth it depending on your needs and intentions on upgrading.
 
Jim Simon said:
My philosophy is that any production codec must meet three specifications:

1. Can read and write under Windows
2. Without QuickTime
3. For free.

ProRes fails on all fronts, so no...I've never used it.

DNxHD is an equivalent codec quality-wise, and meets all three critical features of a good production codec.
Click to expand...

Jim, thanks again for the response. I'm guessing that PP and SG have no issues handling DNxHD?
 
Jim Simon said:
I use SpeedGrade to color every project. I find the controls more capable than what Premiere Pro has to offer. Or at least, I find myself using them more effectively. The Direct Link between PP and SG is a very quick and efficient way to move between programs. All considered, I feel my work has been improved with this work flow.

Having said that, I should note that my praise extends to using DNxHD media alone. The experience is quite different when editing with H.264 originals. SpeedGrade is sluggish and can be very slow to respond to your adjustments with H.264, especially if you have any other effects applied when you do the coloring. For this and other reasons, I pre-covert all my footage to DNxHD before editing, and work exclusively with that format, which edits and grades like a hot knife through warm butter.
Click to expand...

Is anything being lost/degraded by transferring H.264 files/footage to DNxHD? No penalty, like noise level?
 
Doctor Wu said:
Question about the Cloud Subscription: I just want Premiere Pro and Speedgrade. I don't need any of the other apps, it's all just wasted on me. Do I have to pay for the full CS suite which is $49 per month to get access to speedgrade? It's just not worth it for me to get the two programs when I can just use Resolve for both.
Click to expand...

You can choose a single app for $20/mo. If you just want PPro and SG that's $40/mo so you might as well pay the extra $10 and get all the apps for $50/mo (assuming you choose the 12mo plan).


-Andrew
 
adkimery said:
You can choose a single app for $20/mo. If you just want PPro and SG that's $40/mo so you might as well pay the extra $10 and get all the apps for $50/mo (assuming you choose the 12mo plan). -Andrew
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I'd have to agree with Andrew on this one, I'd shell out a few extra bucks to have full access, but that is just me. I utilize a lot of the other programs so it makes sense for me. Thanks for pitching in, Andrew.
 
Joshua_G said:
Is anything being lost/degraded by transferring H.264 files/footage to DNxHD? No penalty, like noise level?
Click to expand...

While DNxHD is not technically lossless, the quality is so good that it is often considered to be visually lossless. Meaning the human eye simply isn't capable of detecting any difference.

So I'd say there are no visual penalties. DNx files are typically much larger than H.264 originals, so you could say there is a storage penalty. But hard drive storage is pretty cheap these days. If you need more, get more. The performance improvement of DNx over H.264 is definitely worth it.
 
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