The plethora of new digital cinema cameras that have been released or announced over the last six months has created some interesting and enviable problems.
Manufacturers seem to be particularly focussed on highlighting niche abilities in products in an attempt to compete with other brands various price points – a questionable marketing practice when looking at the overall product.
One such example is the latest push for big sensors as well as various frame rates and a dizzying amount of codecs, making your workflow choices interesting indeed.
Also there is form factor; DSLR, handycam, the ‘Kettle’ (C300), a huge range of cine-rigs and all kinds of resolutions and frame rates… the list goes on and on.
And now with cheap memory, fast computers and ground-breaking cameras like the Black Magic Cinema Camera shooting 2.5K RAW, Apple ProRes and Avid DnxHD for only $3,000 the choices for workflow have opened right up.
But that doesn’t mean everyone is suddenly rushing out to do their project in RAW just because they can.
Even the folks that shoot Dexter have decided to add the Nikon D800 to their production arsenal and Wilfred is even being shot exclusively on the ‘Date-Hundred.’
So what is the sensible workflow for you?
Depends… it always depends.
That can make freelance owner operators nervous because you never know what the producer is going to ask for. But they are always ready to deliver whatever format the producers want.
DOP Warwick Brown and many like him are prepared to do pre-processing before handing the footage over to the producer.
“At the end of the day I love working with the Epic, I can shoot high (4K resolution) or dial in a higher frame rate if I want, do some grading then trans-code the footage into whatever format they want,” he says.
So when do you use uncompressed RAW?
“With high-end green screen jobs the ABC want RAW. It may keep me up all night to deliver it but I give them RAW.”
RAW is by far the best option for special effects and compositing because the details on the edges of your subject are critical. Compressed video files will create a rough blocking effect on those edges.
The post-production workflow from there might go something like this:
Best takes are selected. The subject is composited with the background or special effects, which could mean a 3D CG environment, then output to a compressed format.
‘Compressed’ here might mean an uncompressed HDTV file. It then goes on to the next stage where it is edited and married with audio into the final show.
High-end feature films are often shot in RAW but the files are so enormous a compressed copy (proxy) is made of them, which is used for the main edit.
Once the proxy edit is complete, the data is used to extract the original raw footage and assemble it into the final program.
Then grading and audio mixing is applied.
However feature films can be shot in many different file formats.
Often ProRes10bit 444 is used and even ProRes 422 is getting attention these days for cinema release.
The lowest HD recording data rate for television production is commonly accepted to be a 50mbs H264 recording. The Canon C300 records this format and it is loved by many for the lush pictures it creates and its ‘run and gun’ capabilities right out of the box.
But all is not necessarily going well for the C300 because when you add accessories, it frustrates many operators with its dubious ergonomics and the fact that it slows down production because of the many lens changes required. It is also rather expensive for an 8bit machine costing around $16,000.
Lots of other cameras now include this 50mbs standard including the $1,300 GH-3 which is proving to be hugely popular.
Not only does the GH-3 admit entry into the professional TV market, it also sports an uncompressed audio channel, time-code and has the smarts to converse with your iOS or Android device.
In the end, it’s up to you.
But despite the seemingly endless options, the workflow that suits your needs is out there.
All it takes is a little digging.
This article first appeared in IF magazine edition #151