Need professional media encoder

Report · Jul 05, 2018

I need to export sub clips into visual effects program using the native codec from the source footage (MFX 1920x1080). Adobe media encoder is designed to create YouTube and Vimeo quality media so it's not equipped to output pro HD and 4K formats. Can anyone recommend a professional grade encoder?

FYI, I'm on PP 2015

Report · Jul 07, 2018

Yep! Updates can be a nightmare! After this, I'm never going to update Windows again!

Report · Jul 08, 2018

When they released "Creator" or whatever that was a couple months ago, their first named update, wow ... that knocked me out for a day or two.

I have to say I had zero issues with the Spring Creator's Update from Microsoft.

Well, one issue. They removed Homegroups, which is how I connected my three machines. But all my software worked identically after the update.

Report · Jul 08, 2018

My PrPro, Ae, and SpeedGrade went belly-up. Tried restarting and try ... restart & try ... workspaces went bonkers ... and after a couple days of misery I got another MS update, and after that installed it went back to mostly normal. Another few days, another update, and it was fine.

Other than that, I've not had MS update issues for some time. "Creator" hit some other video folks I know also. But only a very select, special group it seems ... sigh ...

Neil

Report · Jul 08, 2018

I'm back up and running with AE 2017 and PrPro 2015. No crashes so far. Still can't get Fusion to work, though. I'll deal with that later.

Report · Jul 08, 2018

Fusion also doesn't work on my PC.

I don't think that's normal. It's working fine here on Windows 10 Pro (1803).

Report · Jul 06, 2018

I know of people exporting in high-K counts in all sorts of formats/codecs. No clue what you're talking about. There might be a couple specific things you can't, but ... you can do as listed in other posts most of the serious mezzanine/DI formats & codecs.

Neil

Report · Jul 06, 2018

Jim_Simon schrieb
With formats like DNx, Cineform, OpenEXR, DPX, QuickTime Animation and Uncompressed, there is no shortage of Hollywood-level export options from Adobe software.

That is right.

But the AME is not so fast.

Slow is the ADOBE default, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, CEO Shantanu Narayen

does not change anything about this and many other ADOBE weak points.

Report · Jul 06, 2018

To reply to some posts regarding Resolve, its been a while i'm trying Resolve 15 Studio which is still beta, and experiencing lots of crashes on both windows and mac. try to create some animation and keyframing and the software will become a typical lagging show !!! it might be fast on export (although there are not much options in the delivery section and you are limited to saved presets rather than having the full customization abilities like in media encoder), but try to start creating some keyframes or some compositing and see for yourselves. There might be stronger machines that can handle resolve much better, but i don't think it should be categorized as better and faster and more stable than Premiere Pro, at least until this moment. that's my own opinion for now...

Report · Jul 06, 2018

Good going.

I have read that the 10 beta stuff is being worked on frantically within the next 8 months to become final and reliable, etc.

I have 12.5 and just got the manual so I can go through some basic stuff ( I use CS6 now but have used EDL or something to get into resolve for some color stuff, but I really stumble along in resolve, so got manual ).

CS6 came with speed grade which gives me a headache.

This is a cool article: The picture on laptop is avid media composer ultimate ( I downloaded, blew it up in psd, and compared to avid site of their program interface).

https://blog.frame.io/2018/03/05/oscar-2018-workflows/

In 35 years working on movie sets shooting I've NEVER seen a windows machine. Only macs.

And nobody hooks the stuff up to the internet or has weird stuff going on ( updating windows or adobe or other products, nor any subscriptions requiring even temporary internet. It would freak people out to have 200 crew and talent and stuff standing around waiting for a computer to get finished giving you permission to use your own computer .

: )

Report · Jul 06, 2018

Well, Apple used to care a great deal about professional graphics. Now, the CEO says publicly he doesn't understand why anyone buys a desktop. Took them what ... 5 years to upgrade the top end Mac?

Many of the colorists I know ... guys that both do major stuff and teach around the world ... migrated to PCs over the last 2 years. More powerful and customizable rigs than they could do with Macs. And they not had any stability issues with Resolve.

That's an intriguing app, btw. Does some smaller things faster than PrPro on less hardware... but ... go into much color ... yea, now it needs major resources just to plod. Editing capabilities... ok, somewhat less than PrPro ior Avid, but color is of course where it shines.

Though they did an odd and rather minimalist use of the Elements panels. Not so thrilled about that. And don't allow Tangent or us users any modifications either.

As a 30 year PC person, I find Apple basically abandoning the long time relationship with graphics pros for "devices" quite sad.

Also, the discussions about recent Mac OS troubles, the reduced time they allow for vendors to test and modify their firmware for new OS versions, it's all so .... Microsoft.

The weird thing is that even though the main crew working on PrPro are far more at home on Macs, the problems with MS OS updates have been less around "here" than Mac OS updates.

And some of the editors/colorists/Fx folk talking at NAB were making a big deal of the rapid movement of projects from computers on different continents throughout the entire post-process workflow of their movie whether Avid or PrPro or whatever. Directors and producers and editors tracking the moment by moment work in all the steps of the elaborate dance. Sharing project versions within minutes on 3-4 continents simultaneously.

Yea that's actually very connected. Things are changing. The "need for speed" affects everything these days.

Neil

Report · Jul 07, 2018

Boy, you are sure right about the need to share stuff all over the world really fast now...

Where it used to be overnight super fast delivery ( I guess some still is ) it is getting into cloud stuff apparently.

This place was REALLY different just 6 years ago. Hard to believe it's the same place !

https://www.bydeluxe.com/en/

https://technologies.bydeluxe.com/en/products/portal/

The article about editing that illustrated it with some pics of laptops on sets ( in driveway and on process trailer ) has to be taken with grain of salt. Using laptop to look at dailies to help match shots at different locations or on different camera platform is NOT in my opinion 'editing'.

I have an old longtime total mistrust of the internet as a safe, secure and reliable THING and shudder to think of what a fairly simple WAR might do to systems if some mean person cut a couple fiber optic cables going across the oceans. What a mess !

Cost has always limited me to PC clones. Otherwise I would have been mac. Even though apple decided to focus on phones and stumbled with desktops and laptops and FCP they might decide that even the relatively tiny market of editing stuff and 'games' is worth putting something into making new stuff that is decent.

Well, this has been an interesting learning experience, as my research has led me to look into all sorts of stuff. Luckily I can just shoot consumer grade full HD, edit the same, and export the same, on my nice pig computer with CS6. Happy as a clam.

: )

Report · Jul 07, 2018

I've heard colorists talking about how useful it is to be involved from the time that shooting schedules and gear are planned ... providing the DP with the selected tech LUTs to use for the cameras involved so the director can 'see' the general direction the film will be headed in post. Seeing the dailies themselves from another continent, passing on suggestions for lighting/gels & such to work best or updating the LUTs they've supplied.

A couple years ago suggesting that would have sounded nutso. Who involves a colorist with the DP? Yea, it's changing.

Neil

Report · Jul 07, 2018

With all due respect and acknowledging your obvious ( to me) expertise with lumetri and editing in general, and your opinions about the forum(s), I have to say a couple things. First of all, this thread can be in the lounge where we can get into tangents and delve into both technical facts as well as personal aesthetics, and the 'audience' ( people looking for specific answer to question posted by original person) would sorta realize that the thread may meander around a bit between reply-ee's . hehe, like you and me, for example.

Anyway, it is what it is, so it's here.

I can't bring into this thread the names of people I've spoken to ( DP's and Post house salesmen / reps ) about some of this stuff. It would be inappropriate. A DP who is currently doing a couple weeks prep to begin shooting an episodic TV thing is using current technology, Alexa cameras and modern Post people. If he shoots a color swatch at head, with discreet light balanced to White balance ( say, 32K) without filters and without some LUT … THAT'S what he wants post to match. What he adds ( filters, gels, lights, diffusion, etc. ) is what HE wants it to look like. If someone else ( like the colorist or whatever ) wants to shoot the stuff and convinces the production that he can do a better job then the DP would just get replaced. They more often than not have a hard time communicating ( post and DP ). I know one guy who shot Breaking Bad who used to use smoke on set for a special look re: light and clarity, and post kept messing him up, sharpening the image basically. So he stopped using smoke, Wasn't worth the confusion and bull the resulted.

Nothing ( dailies, etc. ) is going to show a director which way a film is going, cause nothing is shot in sequence. You can't shoot sc1, sc2, sc3, etc. So the only way to see what way things are going is to look at quality of stuff and use imagination of how it will cut, based on the script.

And ultimately, the final product is going to get graded LATER, and mixed, etc. so that's more or less the big surprise to everyone...like, duh, how does it look NOW ? ! DO PEOPLE LOVE IT ? DO THEY WATCH THE SHOW ?

hehe, I know one show that shoots Alexa going straight to pro res on cards. They got rid of DIT a few seasons ago, and just look at playback monitor to see if they got what they needed after each CUT, PRINT, and Check the Gate. Everyone knows this show.

Anyway, it's fun talking about stuff and I'm glad you are helping so much !

: )

Report · Jul 07, 2018

Another note: re: LUT influence and colorist adding value to shoot from day one.

Unbelievable as it may seem, even though most sets are built on stage with total control over lighting and weather etc., a portion of things ( sometimes a LOT ) are shot on locations. Interiors as well as exteriors.

Sometimes locations can't lock down something they thought was OK ( like traffic on a bridge or people walking on 42nd. St. ) even on a Sunday. So compositions change based on reality and confined spaces, etc. If you shoot something in the middle of the day in Summer and it's a partly cloudy sky, so sometimes it's like REALLY BRIGHT CONTRASTY LIGHT and sometimes it's softer light through puffy little clouds, then you fight with how to deal with it. Sometimes giant diffusion butterflies over talent and lights. Lights off when no clouds, lights ON when cloudy. Sometimes Polarizing filter. Lots of variables. There's no way to shoot stuff based on reality and have some colorist half a continent away giving you advice on how to shoot. That's ridiculous.

hehe... I can't wait to hear you response ! hugs.

Report · Jul 07, 2018

Hey, if I could shoot everything on a big controlled set, oh my, yea!

I love doing an event where I'm just recording a presentation ... and outside, the sun gets a bit hazier and less. You can't "see" that in the venue, but exposure is slowly going up & down by 2/3rds of a stop or so. Yech.

I've enjoyed reading the comments by the colorists doing the 'major film work' explain the processes they go through, including the ones who detailed the workflow they had from the get-go. I'll never get that kind of job, mind you, but hey ... they're fun to read about, or listen to the colorist speak. I do learn a lot from just listening.

And the comments from the lead coloristson a few movies have been very specific about getting involved with the director/DP/lighting-head well before shooting, testing the cameras/lenses to be involved, even to starting a base 'look' for the project. That would take a ton of experience & coordination among the various players, but ... wow.

One presentation in the Adobe booth at NAB had I think it was a colorist and a project lead editor/produce dude showing the various stages of that project from shooting through ready for delivery for festivals. I don't know how much sleep they got.

Neil