2009

Workflow Summary for Digital Intermediate Finishing and Film Printing
If you intend to use a digital intermediate workflow to finish your program, there are
several approaches you can take. The easiest, from a workflow perspective, is to transfer
the camera negative via a datacine (a device that scans each frame of film as an
uncompressed image file) to create DPX image sequences of all the shots you want to
edit. These shots are organized into directories, named with the number of the film roll
from which the shots originated. Also, each frame of every image sequence should have
embedded timecode metadata that reflects its frame number.
You can then convert the DPX media to offline QuickTime media with matching reel
numbers and timecode using Color, which clones the timecode and roll numbers from
the DPX media as part of the process. These offline clips are then imported into
Final Cut Pro and used to perform the offline edit.
After editing is complete, you export an EDL from Final Cut Pro for use by Color in
conforming the original DPX media to your edited sequence. You then grade your program
in Color. When grading is complete, the entire program is rendered and output from
Color as a single DPX or Cineon image sequence, which is delivered to a film-printing
facility.
Tip: Another possible workflow is to use Color to convert the scanned DPX image
sequences to Apple ProRes 4444 media, and to then create offline QuickTime media from
that. Although lightly compressed, Apple ProRes 4444 is a high-quality RGB 4:4:4 data
format suitable for film mastering, and you may find the eventual reconform workflow
to be simpler to manage using QuickTime media rather than image sequences. If you use
Color to do this conversion, make sure to save and keep the project file that you used to
do the conversion, in case you need to reconvert the original DPX media with the same
filenames that Color automatically generated originally.
Acquired via Digital Cinema Camera for Theatrical Exhibition
This workflow refers to programs shot with digital cinema cameras, typically at HD through
4K resolutions, and then mastered and output for theatrical exhibition via film or digital
projection.
Types of Programs
Program types include advertising spots, shorts, and features intended for theatrical
exhibition.
Typical Acquisition Formats and Means of Ingest
The acquisition format is captured using a digital cinema camera such as the Thomson
Viper FilmStream, Panavision Genesis, RED ONE, and Arriflex D-21, among others. There
are several ways in which these cameras record images. What this means for ingest is:
• Some digital cinema cameras record at HD resolutions using the HDCAM SR tape format,
necessitating a tape-ingest workflow in Final Cut Pro.
24 Chapter 1 Developing a Post-Production Strategy