Good to file this as a feature request ... the more the better! Adobe Bug Report /Feature Request form ... https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform Neil ... View more

Creating a Look for each camera can be a HUGE timesaver. A lot of people don't realize that Adobe's "Look" is actually just their proprietary name for a ... LUT. It's a different file type ... but as in there are dot-cube, dot-this, dot-that in the wider LUT world. So in creating a custom Look, you're creating a LUT for that camera in that situation. Say if you photograph a detailed video-color card in a particular lighting, and then "normalize" that via the tools in Sg, save as a Look, you can simply apply that to any shots from that camera in that lighting/situation and get close to "there" ... if of course, you have a standardized way of prepping the cam between metering/WB and such for every shot. Standardization ... testing your gear in X situation, learning how to ALWAYS set that gear in X situation ... then creating a Look for that camera for that situation ... can massively cut down the time needed to match different cameras together or even one camera but in different situations. It's a colorists tool for both getting "clean" and getting "hot" ... and those both right quick ... by saving a ton of LUT's or Looks for your different situations. Using them, blending them, growing them ... Neil ... View more

As always, it depends. 1) How extensive is your project? A small project like most of mine, typically short (10-20 minute personal interviews or short highlights or weddings or portrait times) comprises mostly shots from the A camera that tend to be pretty similar, with some B roll & graphics to add in. Often a base grade works fine in an indoor interview that's all controlled, but when going outdoor ... things get iffier. And then even my projects will oft require adjustment/grading layers. Especially if I'm say doing more that take X grade, and some that take Y grade, it's even faster to apply an adjustment layer than copy the grade clip-to-clip. And b-roll/graphics are where I'll actually more likely use adj/grade layers. Still ... many of these projects don't involve enough complicated work to do so. If you are doing any kind of documentary or b-cast work, or mixing multiple cameras and their differing files, you'll be needing adjustment layers to blend those groups together. 2) How high are your or your client's demands? Even in "simple" projects, if there are complex demands for say, particular skin tones or an overall "look" stylistically, you will need to both utilize the layer stack to balance/adjust each clip and perhaps adjustment layers to blend groups of clips and then an overall adjustment layer, two, or three for style. Just working the stack on a base clip is simple ... but not always best. I'd recommend looking at the overall project ... separate your clips by which "fit" together with the least work, then start blending groups together, then blend the overall project. Neil ... View more

I don't know if you could pick up a LUT (might be free, maybe for cost) to utilize on the A7S SLog2 files, but you could google it I'm sure. I do know with other cameras the typical utilization is that one applies a LUT of the log-normailization for that camera in a layer right on top of the 'base' primary layer, and then do your basic WB/neutralization of color/tone on that underlying base primary. Then apply further corrections & stylistic work either in layers above the SLog2 LUT layer or on adjustment layers (from PrPro if you're using the Direct LInk in CC) or grading layers if you're using Sg in "native" mode. Is this helpful? Running a GH3 here ... those A7's are a heck of a camera. Neil ... View more

One of the main reasons to use a PrPro/SpeegGrade "Direct Link" (only in the CC versions, not available in the older CS6) is the wide range of codecs that PrPro supports without transcoding, versus the much narrower list of codecs that Sg can handle. If you have footage in PrPro, then use the "Send direct to SpeedGrade" option to do a Direct Link (DL) path, it doesn't matter what your footage is, if PrPro can handle it, using that PrPro project file ... Sg can now handle it also. AVI? Mp4? Most anything, works just fine in the DL workflow. Within that process you create a project in PrPro, navigate to your footage in the Media browser, select & right-click "Import", then from the Project panel choose a clip to drop onto the empty timeline/sequence area ... PrPro creates a sequence for that footage, you add/trim clips as desired. Then select "send to Sg" ... do your work in Sg. Save the project through either the "save" icon or clicking the "PR" icon at the top left of Sg, then back in PrPro, continue working. Especially for as much correction as you're going to need, you'd want to be in Sg and not using PrPro's "Fast" or "3 Way Corrector" color controls ... they're very basic and the scopes aren't nearly as good as in Sg. A bit of warning here ... mp4 and other well-compressed codecs (including mov) don't grade to quite the extremes that say RAW footage will go. You simply don't have the data depth and range in a "cooked" codec compared to the RAW and Log files. This is where unfortunately losing that red filter will cause some consternation as you work. I think I'd suggest going to the Overall tab first, and getting your clip as good for top to bottom range without spilling "out" the scopes for light to dark ... then go to the " + " icon circled in red ... click the Curves item and from the opened list, choose "HueSatCurve" which will then open both the control panel for that and put a new layer on your layer's stack. You'll see this ... down where the color wheels were. You can click anywhere on that line and "set a point" and anywhere else to set another one. Then if you click & drag in-between them you increase or decrease the saturation of the colors on that area. What isn't necessarily obvious is you can work both ends ... together? Watch what that line does when I set a point by clicking on the left side of the line on the edge of the yellow area, and on the right side of the screen near the magenta/red boundary, then drag up down anywhere between the two points ... and up anywhere outside those two points. The two points identified as 1 were where I clicked to set points that would then hold the line there. I then clicked to the right ... the 2 or blue dot area, and lifted the reds saturation. Note that it lifted the reddish tones on the OTHER end of the line also. Then I went to the middle, and clicked & dragged down, lowering the non-reddish tone saturation. The reason the blue #2 dot is blue ... is that was where the mouse cursor was hovering when I took the screen grab. You'll want to get a "base exposure/contrast setting first as noted about ... then come to this and hit it pretty good some color up & the rest down ... work your selection points for best effect, and you can make totally vertical lines if you wish! Then I'd re-check the luma/contrast controls, and work the input/output saturation some. I don't normally mess with input sat, but you'll probably want to up your input to give you enough data to change your output enough. When you've got sat about as much as you can get, then I'd to go the color wheels or sliders of the main corrections panel, and adjust color balance and tint and color push/pull using all the controls available to ... whatever you can get. Neil ... View more

Perhaps depends on the camera. I've ,,, in my little experience ... come across some that was. Don't remember which brand/camera was used ... but it was a total stopper. It was the first AVCHD I'd worked with, and I copied (as is not uncommon for the uninitiated) the folders that seemed to have actual video content. Finally got VLC to play it from my computer, but it was only video ... so after a bit of learning over the net, figured out the error of my ways. Sure enough, soon as I added the folder that seemed to have something odd in it but not video ... I had sound. And from the things I've seen around here with the problems of those that have trouble with sound in AVCHD (among other things) ... perhaps I'd just assumed the same thing applied universally. I've done only a little AVCHD with my GH3, just enough to test out the comments from others that the AVCHD was noisier than the MOV files ... which, yes, they are. Not terribly, but ... MOV is simpler to work with, why shoot a noisier codec? Neil ... View more

You're probably using the AVCHD codec from that camera ... which is trickier than say a simple mp4 or H.264 MOV file. Your shots are split up into separate audio & video bits put by the camera in different folders. It probably also cuts the shots into shorter bits and then uses a database to tell any programs 'reading' this later that clips 1 2 and 3 are actually clip 5967y490 as one "clip". So you have to be careful ... you must copy the ENTIRE folder structure from the card to your computer intact by taking the top level folder (and all sublfolders) in one copy/move action. Then, in PrPro, you MUST navigate to the footage with the Media panel, select the clips, right-click and "Import" ... then move to the Project panel and work with your clips from there. Neil ... View more

File a bug report ... then turn right around and file a feature request! Seriously on both those. This is something that just needs attention for so many people trying to get their output up to the higher speed that is always necessary for better profitability. Or even just getting a bit of family time now & then ... Adobe Bug Report /Feature Request form ... https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform Neil ... View more

It's quite human, really. Some parts are committee recommendations/decisions, and some are someone up the line making a choice. I've had employees who felt very much the same about changes they'd suggested/requested in my business. Different positions combined with different personalities guarantee different perspectives on what's important. Some of the threads like this that have had LONG life here ... and like that cat keep coming back ... have vastly different perspectives within the users here. There's a couple that do that involving a change in the way PrPro & Ae inter-relate, that would involve changing a couple things in the way Ae handles something. There are users that feel that process is SO outdated and ridiculous they can't imagine why that and the accompanying pathway PrPro/Ae haven't been changed years ago. And others who nearly foam at the mouth at suggesting a change of those particulars. We've had moderators have to ... amend ... posts over those issues. And yea, I've got my "issues" that they haven't in their wisdom seen fit to "fix". I don't hold my breath, but yes, it would be nice. And yea, some things ... well ... there's a lot of folks just shake their heads that something hasn't been taken care of. Jeepers, the audio stuff in PrPro ... it's not particularly obvious what many of the options do (especially in multi-track), is it? Interesting choices of nomenclature & the accompanying lack of understandable, clear explanations. But of course, the continual change in program "features" and the continual lack of new & detailed documentation ... another big problem. Neil ... View more

I'm not running any kind of surface ... just a Wacom tablet for the left hand (lefty here), Microsoft "Natural Ergonamic" keyboard with it's 10 or 15 extra configurable keys, and a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball with 2" ball, surround ring, & four large paddle/buttons. I'm thinking about how I've got them set and it could easily be improved. I've not been that encouraged to look at dedicated "surfaces" yet as the Adobe implementation for just PrPro & Sg seem perhaps not completely ... there, from the comments such as the above. It would be nice to see Adobe really go after getting these interfaces ... interfaceable? ... wouldn't it? Neil ... View more

If PrPro can edit a codec, it can normally transcode from it to something else. As Kevin notes that PrPro can as of that "ish" edit it, it will also be able to transcode also. Neil ... View more

It's always interesting for me to see how people like to work. So thanks for the workflow bit. SpeedGrade was originally designed by the Iridas folks as something they assumed was being used by experienced colorists who knew all the technical mumbo-jumbo, would use keyboard shorts or "surfaces" for all their work, and therefore ... UI "features" were just a waste of time and screen space. Hence the rather minimalist to non-existent UI ... This has even led to experienced and high-end people who do things like say edit/grade at Olympics for the evening's highlight show (think of the two biggest international "networks" who could be at an Olympics ... this dude worked for both) ... a rather professional and high-speed user? ... being totally unaware of either a couple things it could do or that some of the things he could do were also possible to get to completely differently. It means that for most people, even experienced users coming into Sg, many of it's capabilities aren't apparently there. For those like myself who've come into video production from 30+ years of professional stills image work (including building & operating a high-custom output pro portrait lab) ... that non-UI appearance is pretty stunningly opaque. In knowing hands, it can be an amazing and fast tool. But that UI doth to many of us, stand in the way of making it of obvious use to a larger audience. So there've been a lot of discussions here about that UI, and why it's still THAT UI, and the question is ... as it seems Adobe is moving to linking that more like a plug-in for PrPro than a separate single-entity grading program, how much work are they interested in putting into parts of the UI that are locked-out during a Direct LInk session anyway? No clear answer on that, other than ... they're thinking. Understandable really. The whole CC model though has made Sg of great use to me ... within my projects I can cut forth & back twixt PrPro & Sg within seconds, no transcoding, XML or EDL exports/conforming steps. I've actually found Sg (as I've come to use it better) to be the single most entrancing app on my computer. I tried a free bit of Resolve Lite ... and personally, preferred Sg. Which is natural ... I don't know two people who work in all these programs just alike. But I learn so much from other's patterns, choices, and capabilities. I shoot primarily H.264/mov and without transcoding work it through the process. But then there's not been a hack for the GH3 as there was for the GH2 and of course several of the Canon's. Those opened up other possibilities as you've chosen to utilize. Within my stuff, I'll start in PrPro and if there's something that I might think of using but wonder what it would really look like, I can in seconds put it on a sequence & take that into Sg for a minute or so of testing, and if I think it'll "fly" use it, if not, dump it. Most of the stuff I'll use of course just gets put on a timeline, adjusted, taken to Sg early on for the WB/general work before continuing in PrPro, then back to Sg a time or two later for style/feel. Simple processes for people with simpler skills? Neil ... View more

Would appreciate your thoughts on differences betwixt Resolve & SpeedGrade, and of course the PrPro->Resolve process you're using. Neil ... View more

Bill's first comment in his reply is really the key ... "it depends ... " Some effects are very GPU-intensive in their "math". Many aren't. Those that aren't typically don't get sent through the GPU when exporting to a new file, and so ... for many timelines, there may be a part of the timeline where the GPU suddenly gets involved ... and the rest of the time, mostly ... sits there. Having a hot GPU isn't any magic bullet, it's just part of the toolset. Having the world's greatest framing nail-gun isn't of any use when you're hanging drywall/sheet-rock ... very similar concept. Bill's PPBM testing will determine how well a system works in total ... and yes, part of that will rag out the GPU ... but other parts of that render won't. It's designed to test both the GPU-assisted work and the non-GPU-assisted work within PrPro, AE, & Sg. Neil ... View more

Especially on the Tweaker's Page, there's a lengthy page on current video cards ... they work on balancing systems, noting that the Adobe DVA's only use up to X amount of any one resource ... as it's all relative to what the OTHER hardware resources are. Putting a really hot video card in a system with a two-core CPU at 2.8Ghz and 6Gb RAM and everything, programs & all, on one hard-drive is a total waste of money. The Adobe apps might not even use any of that card if everything else is so limited. But building a heck of a system with an old v-card with 256Mb of v-ram is also not wise. It's a balancing act. They list quite a number of cards for comparison, and these are in operation in real systems, not from "Oh, the specs on this card are good ... ". You'll find more info than you might want over there ... Neil ... View more

Oopsies ... being an ol' Lit major, I sometimes idiomize my language too far ... the "twain" is the two choices I listed ... hardware forum & tweaker's page. Um, not obvious, I must admit ... Neil ... View more

You'll probably get some response here ... but still, the best choice is twain ... Adobe's Hardware Forum ...   https://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere/hardware_forum Tweaker's Page ... http://ppbm7.com/index.php/tweakers-page Neil ... View more

Well ... I wouldn't say they never listen to people's requests. They've responded to a couple I've howled about ... but not to a few others I've howled about. They do take the bug/feature request lists in part of the decision making project, but the unfortunate thing is the person making the Ultimate Decision doesn't take my personal views as Rule of Law. Wish it weren't so ... Neil ... View more

Thanks ... that's quite a good explanation so that I can understand it. Love learning things which is part of why I hang around here with all the work & missus & family and such ...   Neil ... View more

You were nearly a lifesaver, Jeff! Neil ... View more

Mele, I'm afraid I'm sitting right next to you "in the boat" and you just don't see me! Ha ... I've managed to pull off a few things in Ae with help from "lynda", shooternz, Jim Simon and others around here, and a few others elsewhere. Spinning graphics? Timing lower thirds to music? Haven't done those yet ... I've got some lower thirds to do that need scrolling text on a project "up" at the moment. I figure probably Tuesday I'll be doing that ... from a couple of the lynda tut's it doesn't seem too hard in PrPro really. Thankfully no need for Ae on it ... that program is mystifying to me. I do so love the members of the Ae forum that are sweet to "noobs" with that program and gently helpful to someone who's baffled & puzzled and needs explicit instructions as I DON'T even know what names for the 35 options for everything mean let alone what they do ... and "well, just try something for dang's sake ... " can mean spending a couple days punching buttons. With no progress made ... not good. Some of the old hands there can be testy with someone like me ... as in, "go play in some amateur sandbox & leave Ae to us pros". Yet my projects are also paid ... I'm just not a full-time for 30 years video person. Master at stills portraits for 35+ years, yes. Video ... fairly new. I can get around in Sg pretty good, love that program ... can survive in PrPro. Still rather intimidated by Ae. And then there's Audition & Encore ... oh my, the learning curve of the last two years ... Neil ... View more

Not yet ... we hope soon, and I think some of the staffers hope soon also so they don't keep getting the complaints about this!  Neil ... View more

Well, whaddaya know? I tried this with my laptop running Win7 "Home" and the legacy driver thing there didn't work. But with my desktop and the new Texas Instruments video card, installing the Legacy driver did allow use of the ol' Firewire400 6-pin port. Difference between computers, firewire hardware, Windows version ... ? Ah well. You are correct at least for Win7 Ultimate! Thanks ... Neil ... View more

As was noted on several of the posts I checked on this "here" and other places online, and my experience is likewise ... though I used to connect back with earlier software and WinXP using a 4-pin/6-pin cord cam/computer, that does not work now ... PrPro will not see the source as online. Switch to a 4-pin/9-pin cord camera/computer, and it sees it as online. Same card. And yes, the 6-pin sockets on the card are working for say external drives and things. Tried this on two different PC's, both Win7. Same result as posted here and elsewhere. Now, if you've got one currently "seeing" a camera through the Firewire 400 6-pin connection on Win7/8 and PrPro 8.2 ... I'd love to hear about your setup! Neil ... View more

I am curious if the 6-pin connector will work to PrPro in Mac, as it doesn't in Windows ... Neil ... View more

AME is basically the default engine for PrPro's exporting. Setting your export settings in PrPro uses presets from AME, so if you've made some for specific repeated jobs ... you would just choose that preset in PrPro and "go". Queuing over to AME allows you to use the full range of options for each format/codec, not just the presets. I'll let someone else answer about Ae ... Neil ... View more

Just got re-set to do this on PC running Win7 Ultimate ... and at least on the PC side, you have to use a 4-pin connector (small metal square-ish with a divot in one side) ... and can use the 9-pin (square shaped plug) plug out of the computer to a 9-pin to 4-pin cord but the 6-pin style connector, which is the one with one end in a V, will not work. My old cam was a Sony DCR TRV330. Maybe it's different on Mac ... but I had to get a firewire card with that 9-pin Firewire2 connector. Then PrPro can now "see" the cam in Capture mode. Neil ... View more

I've seen commercially produced LUT's available for this, you'd need to search for them. Within Sg, there's the "Looks" produced by the "Lumetri engine" which are in application exactly the same as a LUT ... though they don't export to other programs. I know a number of colorists who've made their own Looks for specific cameras by simply loading test footage of a set scene or test pattern, then working their controls until they get the correct result in scopes, then saving that as a named Look for that camera. Doesn't take much time to do once you've the hang of Sg's controls. And that can be applied either within another layer or or on a separate adjustment layer made in PrPro for a grading layer. Neil ... View more

PrPro has the library of effects in the effects panel ... and of course the ones that can be brought forward from CS6, but past that ... they expect that major "effects" are done in AfterEffects, and there's a TON of templates for that program available around the web. Or that one creates some things or acquires them around. Those coming from outside the fold so to speak oft complain of the lack of presets & templates. Those used to working within the PrPro framework tend to be either rather disdainful of "wimps" ...  or for many, simply puzzled that someone using a "professional" program expects the kind of hand-holding that amateur programs give. There are add-ons for PrPro out there ... you'll have to search for them, of course. But welcome ... we do have fun discussions here ...  Neil ... View more

In your CC Desktop applet, scroll down to the "Filters & Versions" highlighted line, and click on it ... then navigate to selecting PrPro CS6. I think actually you can unzip it and then copy the folders ... or does it actually unzip while installing ... brain freeze, sorry! And at any rate, after you've got the folders copied over you can uninstall or delete the rest of it unless you want to keep it. You can run CS6 & CC versions live on the same machine. Neil ... View more