Serious XML issues

[raw01]

Hi, I’m cutting a feature and I’m having some serious issues I’d appreciate some help with.

Im editing cinema DNG files in sequences with the plan to then export a sequence’s XML to DaVinci Resolve where by it will link to the same DNG files for grading. I tested this workflow at the beginning of the project and it worked fine.

Now I’m about half way through the feature and I brought in a couple of sequences.

Basically the problem I’m having is resolve is linking some sequences and not others (all same DNG files from same camera same settings). It will link a complex sequence and then not a super simple one, there’s no logic to it. I have the guys at Blackmagic looking into this but they haven’t figured it out yet. We have tried pretty much everything.

One thing we did was cut some footage in resolve export it to xml and bring it back into resolve and Premier, it links up fine. Yet that same footage exported from Premier does not link up in resolve although it comes back into Premier fine.

i guess I’m asking has anyone got any ideas as to whtether this could be a Premier problem and if so is there anything I could try?

The closest thing to success ive had is to use resolve to create a ProRes 444 file and then to replace the files in Premier with them. That on its own doesn’t work however, I then must modify timecode in Premier to something random before exporting XML. If I do that resolve links it all fine. That’s a long winded way around this problem however.

Wierdly if I let Premier create proxies resolve can link the proxies fine if pointed to them. So I used media encoder to create ProRes 444 files which I then attached as proxies to the Premier footage. This actually works when exporting and linking the files in resolve however the files are terrible. Very noisy and poor quality compared to DNG played natively in resolve.

Any ideas on getting Premier to output XML that resolve can consistently read correctlywould be very much appreciated!

[R Neil Haugen]

I do some XML out of PrPro, some EDL also. And at times get wonky results, so yea, it can happen. Let's see if some more experienced at XML to Resolve can pop in with ideas ...

Neil

[rodneyb56060189]

I got weird results from certain things which kinda messed me up and negated the whole idea of grading a nearly final cut. I haven't done it but a couple times a while back (xml or edl to resolve ).

Basically resolve HATED psd for titles. Also hated certain transitions, even simple ones like fading out and fading in ( I don't like using the automatic cross dissolve stuff ).

If you turn off effects before doing your xml thing ( maybe test small area that is not working well now ) does that fix it ??

duh, I haven't tried it myself cause I deleted all that stuff off my computer a long time ago.

[R Neil Haugen]

Resolve say 14 does handle PrPro XML's and EDL's better than earlier versions. That said, I've been through extensive videos on how colorists setup their options within Resolve, and request the editors set up their options in PrPro in order to get conforms down to only a couple hours.

It's complicated, and at times, takes a bit of experience to sort.

Which is why I was so angered when PrPro dropped the Direct Link to SpeedGrade. Ok, I was probably one of the few that "grokked" that app's intriguing interface and figured how to work with it's masking oddities & such. But with the Direct Link, there wasn't any time wasted on XML/EDL and conforming.

Lumetri is starting to get there, I'll give them that ... especially if one has a control surface to work with (as I do).  But I'm still faster in Sg, and can layer multiple secondaries without slowing the project to a crawl back in PrPro. So sometimes I do still mod a recent prproj file to be able to work it in "direct link mode" in the last SpeedGrade version that shipped.

Neil

[raw01 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I actually made it way simpler. I did a test export to XML of a sequence with only one clip and no FX on it, still no joy.

I can see now the correct timecode is in Premiers XML but in resolve the clip starting timecode (not in and out) is way out. It makes no sense.

My biggest worry was not having a workaround that wasn’t going to take days, mean using tonnes more storage and be a massive pain. I found that today.

So the best thing to do is the Following:

- Go to Media Pool in Resolve and your already imported clips.

- Make sure these clips are in list view not thumbnail.

- Select a clip and put the playhead at the start.

- Right click clip choose clip attributes.

- Put the proper timecode Premier says it is in the field called ‘current frame’.

- Back in the edit page you’ll see that clip linked up and in the right place.

Note: Clips must be in list view because if in thumbnail the ‘current frame’ is where the thumbnail video is left at.

Its actually pretty quick to do all that and a massive massive life saver. Just a bit of data entry.

For context I couldn’t render out of Premier because it does such a poor job of treating DNGs compared to resolve. Anyway so it’s not a fix but a pretty quick workaround that maintains the workflow integrity. Thank the stars for that!

[rodneyb56060189]

Thanks for sharing your fix. Or work-a-round, or whatever it's called. My stupid video recorder doesn't even HAVE timecode from camera ( hdmi output doesn't have it ). I'll never remember what you just said, but others will and it will be recorded for all time in the adobe forum.

Thanks !

: )