FS7: Premiere workflow question

mainstreetprod

mainstreetprod

Veteran
Today I've been selecting best takes for my feature, syncing the separately recorded audio and exporting a new clip for editing use. I've been dropping a REC709A LUT on each clip before exporting. Am I losing the benefit of SLOG3 when I do this, as I would if I burned in the LUT in camera?
 
The conversion to the destination color space should be done only as part of the color grading not before, the only exception should be if you convert your footage to the ACES color space.

While editing you could use an adjustment layer with a Rec.709 like LUt to make it easy on the eyes but when you export to an intermediate you should turn the adjustment layer off.
 
Cary Knoop said:
While editing you could use an adjustment layer with a Rec.709 like LUt to make it easy on the eyes but when you export to an intermediate you should turn the adjustment layer off.
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This is my workflow. I pre-grade with basic adjustments and LUT in an adjustmentlayer as i edit. Cant stand to edit s-log picture so i add some mood to get a better feel of what i am working on.

This really is a hassle once your film is 30minutes + and you have all sorts of corrections for individual clips. But i like it.
 
If you're not doing your grading in Resolve you are wasting your time dabbling with S-LOG at all. Either do it right or just shoot REC709 in the first place and call it good enough.
 
Doug Jensen said:
If you're not doing your grading in Resolve you are wasting your time dabbling with S-LOG at all. Either do it right or just shoot REC709 in the first place and call it good enough.
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I think you're somewhat universalising your personal preference here Doug. I personally agree that to get the most out of Slog footage (or almost any footage in fact), Resolve is clearly the most powerful grading software. However, to say that "you are wasting your time dabbling with S-LOG at all", by using Premiere to grade, is a gross over-simplification. If there aren't tracked masks or 'power windows', then PP can actually provide a completely competent grading experience, with complete primary and HSV secondaries as well as LUT support. Given that one of the major advantages of Slog is access to the sensors full 14-stop D/R, I can't see why one couldn't grade happily in PP.

That said, with Blackmagic pouring so much development into Resolve right now, there's never been a better time to 'jump ship' in their direction! :-)

Cheers,

jason
 
It is not my personal preference and I don't have time to defend Resolve and explain why color correcting in PP is a waste of time. Either take my word for it or do some research on your own. Or continue to grade in PP, it makes no difference to me. I'm just raising the issue so someone who doesn't know any better can't say they weren't warned. A lot of people want the benefits of S-LOG but they aren't actually willing to do the work to do it right.
 
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I prefer Resolve as well but I disagree with the above mentioned sentiment that color correcting in Premiere Pro is "a waste of time".
 
I'm not grading in Resolve because it crashed constantly and was unusable on my Mac. I'm not an expert on this, but seriously doubt that of all the software out there, Resolve is the only one capable of grading S-LOG.
 
You're right. Baselight is another one that you can use. But the nice thing about Resolve it is that it is very easy to use and best of all . . . FREE!
 
What are the specs on your iMac including the graphics card?
The new Resolve Beta 14.5 is supposed to be more efficient than 12, but my understanding is that any IMac is going to be underpowered for Resolve. Open to hearing other's experience though.
 
LennyLevy said:
What are the specs on your iMac including the graphics card?
The new Resolve Beta 14.5 is supposed to be more efficient than 12, but my understanding is that any IMac is going to be underpowered for Resolve. Open to hearing other's experience though.
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Specs:

3.1 Intel Core i7

16GB memory

NVIDIA Geforce GT750M 1024 MB

OS 10.9.5
 
Way underpowered at least in my understanding.
I have a 3.5 I7 with 32G RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M w 4096 MB of RAM and that's underpowered.
My understanding is that 4G's video RAM is minimum but you should really have 8G.
I haven't tried mine with 14.5 yet though. Not sure its worth the effort.

That's the reason a lot of people prefer Premiere or FCPX
 
That's encouraging Doug - UHD?
which version of Resolve are you using and what are your specs on the MacbookPro. Any limitations you've run into?
 
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Doug Jensen said:
I edit with Premiere and grade S-LOG and RAW using Resolve on a 2015 MacBook Pro.
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I have an even lower spec'd late 2013 Macbook Pro 13" and have been grading UHD / 4K Slog footage in Resolve Lite on it without problems (currently on latest version). Of course, it won't do any realtime playback of complicated multi node grades, no grades for that matter. Technically speaking, Resolve can't officially be installed on such machine because of integrated graphics, but surprisingly it installed fine and has been rock solid. I use it with $137 Black Magic Mini Monitor which gives HD-SDI output so I can use my HD-SDI Panasonic monitor as a reference.
 
LennyLevy said:
That's encouraging Doug - UHD?
which version of Resolve are you using and what are your specs on the MacbookPro. Any limitations you've run into?
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Oops, I made a mistake. Both of my MacBook Pros are only mid-2014 models intead of 2015.

2.8 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2049 MB

I also have three different Balckmagic boxes (depending on where I am working at the time) that output HD-SDI and HDMI simultaneously to feed all my external monitors. These Blackmagic converter boxes are essential. I don't care what software you are grading with -- you need to see the actual video signal (via HD-SDI or HDMI) to a real video monitor. Anyone who is grading to a computer monitor is wasting their time. My normal setup is five monitors: MacBook Pro; a 2nd computer monitor; Leader LV-5330 waveform; 17" Sony OLED; 40" consumer Sony Bravia. The Leader waveform is not essential and I often won't bring it while traveling. But I prefer it over Resolve's scopes and since I already have it, why not use it? You'll note that even though I'm working almost exclusively with 4K footage I don not monitor in 4K because it's not needed. I have a 4K monitor but it is in my living room!

All my editing hard drives have Thunderbolt connectivity and my main drive is a 4TB SSD.

I edit on Premiere CC and grade with Resolve 12.5. In the past year almost all of my footage has been 4K DCI, 4K UHD in both XAVC (S-LOG) and RAW. I rarely do anything in HD anymore unless it is 240 fps RAW.

4K playback in Premiere is nice and smooth but Resolve will stutter a little and can't playback at the full frame rate -- but that doesn't bother me since I'm only using it for grading. Smooth playback would be nice but it's not essential for grading. I'm looking forward to updating to the latest version of Resolve because rumors say it has better playback but I don't have time right now to bother with it.
 
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If Resolve stutters you can try Proxy mode half and quarter resolution this is similar to the resolution reduction in Premiere.
 
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