2009

• It’s best if you coordinate your efforts with the facility that is printing or mastering the
final project.
Delivery Specifications
A program’s distributor usually provides the exact delivery specifications that are required.
Delivery specifications for film projection include 24 fps playback, specific aperture sizes
and aspect ratios, and specific audio encoding methods. Delivery specifications for digital
projection are defined by the Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) encoding
specification, which includes specific color space encoding standards and 2K and 4K frame
sizes. What this means to you is:
• If you’re delivering 2K or 4K image data, you typically deliver a DPX image sequence.
• In some instances, it might also be possible to provide your 2K or 4K program master
as a QuickTime file using the Apple ProRes 4444 codec. (Check ahead first.)
• If you’re delivering your program at 720p or 1080p resolution, you may be able to
deliver an HDCAM SR or D-5 tape master.
Workflow Summary for Negative Conforming and Optical Printing
If you intend to go through a conventional negative conform and optical film–printing
process to finish your film, you use Cinema Tools both prior to capture and after you’ve
locked the edit.
First, you usually transfer the film negative to videotape for offline editing. The facility
that does the transfer will provide you with a telecine log file in one of several formats.
(FLEx and ALE are common formats that are compatible with Final Cut Pro and
Cinema Tools.) You import this log into Final Cut Pro by choosing File > Import >
Cinema Tools Telecine Log, which creates a Cinema Tools database of events that
establishes the correspondence between the edge code that identifies each frame of film
negative and the timecode that identifies each frame of transferred video.
Importing the telecine log also automatically creates offline clips in the Browser. One clip
is created for each event in the database. You then use these offline clips to automate
the process of ingesting the transferred videotapes via the Log and Capture window. If
necessary, you can use Cinema Tools to remove 3:2 pull-down from the imported media,
so you can edit at a true 23.98 fps progressive frame rate.
You use this ingested media to do the offline edit. After editing is complete, you can
export a cut list directly from Final Cut Pro that you can give to a negative cutter to do
the final negative conform. From the conform process through the optical grading and
printing processes, you work with a lab to obtain the final film deliverables.
23Chapter 1 Developing a Post-Production Strategy