GH4 Effects Workflow

[HelsinkiZim]

Heipa (Finnish for whats up),

i have just collected a bunch of footage documenting the Finnish summer and I would like to get some advice as to how to start 'processing' the footage. The style is the hip-right-now hyper-motion matching transitions, smash cuts and speed ramping.

The goal is to create a montage, which includes a lot of speed ramping, positioning and stabilization in AE or FCPX.

I intend on pursuing a workflow as such: select and stabilize clips/ sequences/ events in After Effects, then pre-comp and apply Twixtor as needed, pan & scan/ crop to 1080p or not, export as prores 444, import to FCPx, put it all together as a fluent series of events and rework effects as needed.

Can somoene let me know if I am heading for woes or on the right track (someone, i.e.: AaronChicago and other GH4 enthusiasts...)

Thanks

[AaronChicago]

What profile did you use for the footage?

[manueldomes]

I've never dabbled with his myself but just read this interview with the watchtowers of turkey filmmaker the other day - he used gh3 and fcpx and shares a lot about his workflow.

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/articles/1582-watchtower-of-turkey-a-stunning-piece-of-cinematic-editing-and-sound-design-created-in-final-cut-pro-x-gets-nominated-best-of-vimeo-2014

[HelsinkiZim]

What profile did you use for the footage?

In short, I used all of them. Its going to be a nightmare to grade, but i have Filmconvert for CineD (60% of the footage) and V Log (10% of the footage), and Andrews log converter for CineV (30%). For each profile I followed the advice of everyone here on exposure and settings, I was trying to figure out which I prefer and eventually settled on CineD for run and gun. How would you go about matching them?

However, my main concern is generation loss when exporting clips from AFX to edit in FCPx for final edit. I am wondering if people use Animation codec, PNG or Prores 444/ 422 when exporting and what kind of issues they have come across.

Someone on Creative Cow has suggested to ditch FCPx all together and work in Premiere Pro. I am pretty proficient in that program too, but I would still somehow have to get it to FCPx for the grading, unless there is a better way to match the footage without Filmconvert.

The other question I had was with the 0-255/ 15-235 colour space and what I need to consider when editing and exporting.

I am doing some tests now and should have my answers, but some advice would save me a bit of time.

I've never dabbled with his myself but just read this interview with the watchtowers of turkey filmmaker the other day - he used gh3 and fcpx and shares a lot about his workflow.

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/articles/1582-watchtower-of-turkey-a-stunning-piece-of-cinematic-editing-and-sound-design-created-in-final-cut-pro-x-gets-nominated-best-of-vimeo-2014

It would be easier to do it all in FCPX, but its just a personal/ practice project where the goal was to get some experience with After Effects.

[AaronChicago]

I use Premiere so I never conform the files since it uses 32 bit float. I think you're on the right track with using Filmconvert as a first step to get Cine D, V Log, and Cine V looking similar. Inazuma has a great LUT that I would use on Cine D and V that corrects the yellow/orange tint to a natural red. Im on my phone right now but maybe he could send you a link.

[HelsinkiZim]

I use Premiere so I never conform the files since it uses 32 bit float. I think you're on the right track with using Filmconvert as a first step to get Cine D, V Log, and Cine V looking similar. Inazuma has a great LUT that I would use on Cine D and V that corrects the yellow/orange tint to a natural red. Im on my phone right now but maybe he could send you a link.

Thanks, I will have a look at that LUT!

[AaronChicago]

Here's a link in case you couldn't find it.

 

[M Carter]

If you don't have a super-butt-kicking pile of computing horsepower - it's often smart to do the most render-heavy stuff up front and pre-render those clips. For instance, I'll do a neat video pass if noise is an issue, or do my re-timing, stabilizing, and scaling down, and render that stuff out. Usually just to ProRes HQ if it'll go back into AE. Lossless is fine too, just bigger files.

If I have motion graphics backgrounds with layers of trapcode particular or any advanced lens flare plugins, and so on - I pre render that stuff too. For camera tracking, I often make a sharpened prerender that's optimized for the most track points (open the shadows way up, denoise, etc), use that to get a track and then switch to the normal footage (which still has the same motion, just hasn't been tweaked for the best camera track).

I wouldn't worry about prores generation loss. It's  a very robust codec and very edit friendly. I use regular prores (not HQ or proxy) for my final renders and then assemble edits in FCP. You really won't see any compression issues. And unless you're projecting this stuff in a digital cinema theater, you'll be compressing down for your final delivery anyway.

[HelsinkiZim]

If you don't have a super-butt-kicking pile of computing horsepower - it's often smart to do the most render-heavy stuff up front and pre-render those clips. For instance, I'll do a neat video pass if noise is an issue, or do my re-timing, stabilizing, and scaling down, and render that stuff out. Usually just to ProRes HQ if it'll go back into AE. Lossless is fine too, just bigger files.

If I have motion graphics backgrounds with layers of trapcode particular or any advanced lens flare plugins, and so on - I pre render that stuff too. For camera tracking, I often make a sharpened prerender that's optimized for the most track points (open the shadows way up, denoise, etc), use that to get a track and then switch to the normal footage (which still has the same motion, just hasn't been tweaked for the best camera track).

I wouldn't worry about prores generation loss. It's  a very robust codec and very edit friendly. I use regular prores (not HQ or proxy) for my final renders and then assemble edits in FCP. You really won't see any compression issues. And unless you're projecting this stuff in a digital cinema theater, you'll be compressing down for your final delivery anyway.

Thank you, you just saved me terabytes and time. I appreciate it. I have taken in as much as I can from various sources (the internet has a way of overloading you with differing opinions) and Prores it is.

I also appreciate the extra advice on tracking, I have not come across that technique before. I'm still learning AE from Lynda and youtube, and noone has suggested upping the sharpness and shadows to get better tracking points. If I understand you correctly, tracking points love contrast, so boost and revert. Nice.