Filmmaking Workflow?

[FabioMSilva]

hi, i think i might help on this one.

so,

- For widescreen film work, what size do you render at? Why?

well depends on the media youre after, but if your goal if film theaters, 1920x1080 works well. if it is for hdtv 1280x720 will do. dvd's are lower.

- Do you render your scene elements separately or all together?

i usually render a far background layer, a background layer, and a character layer. each one of this Layers might have their own passes such specular, diffuse, occlusion etc. tho im finding difficult to comp these sometimes. im trying to render a character with no pass separation(only the hair) to see if works more. but im not much experienced with comp, specially at rendering passes so i am not much of help here.

- What file type do you output to? TIF, EXR. RLA...? And why?

since i render with imagemotion blur on, i usually exported as png24bit. but since that kinda leaved some black halos around my edges, im trying now TGA-32 bit with all stuff checked on(alpha splits etc). seems to work better.


- What do you use your compositing software for exactly?

for color correction, VFX, putting layers one above the others.

- When do you apply color correction and is there a specific workflow/procedure?
i think the rule "how it looks best" is the golden rule.

- Do you need color correction when only rendering from a 3D program?

if it looks better, do it.


- Do you have any special editing tips?

yeah, get yourself a professional editor!

- How do you work with sound? Stereo, 5.1, AC-3, etc... Prefer WAV, AIF, etc?

i'm afraid i dont know much of sound, but i'd say i prefer 5.1 uncompressed wave while the film is not complete.

- What is your final output format?

depends on the media im working for.


- What are the things to consider if you want to release on film as well as DVD?

make sure u make the making of while you are at it. all those extra goodies might help selling.

cheers
fábio

[Megalodon]

Thanks for the info Fabio - MUCH appreciated!

[xxxxxx]

Thx for your post. The lens camera must be on how much Mm?

[FabioMSilva]

Thx for your post. The lens camera must be on how much Mm?

im not sure of what u are asking:shrug:

[RiKToR]

I wouldnt call myself a pro but Ive been educating myself and I can give you some answers I have found.

- For widescreen film work, what size do you render at? Why?

Depending the aspect ratio 1.85 and 2.35 but basically your pixel width is 2048, If your talking projectors from a digital source, not film prints, then HD 1080p is perfectly fine and will also work for film prints as well.

- Do you render your scene elements separately or all together?

I have rarely seen anyone not render out in layers, I mean you try to get it as close to what you want in the renders as possible but you always leave an out, this also goes rendering single objects in layers for AO, beauty, diffuse, ambient, specual, normal, etc.

- What file type do you output to? TIF, EXR. RLA...? And why?

Anything that allows for at least a 16bit color output. 32bit is better but thats whether or not your pipeline can handle it. As for specifics, EXR can be used in way where all your layers and passes are broken up into one file, though your compositor will halve to support it. TIFF is a common file that can be used in about every app.

- What do you use your compositing software for exactly?

Color correction, assembly, depth of field sometimes, post motion blur, sublte color adjustments for specific passes, relighting with normals if needed.

- When do you apply color correction and is there a specific workflow/procedure?

This is a loaded question in that there is millions of ways to apporach something to give you the same result, in my opinion making different passes on 3d objects giving you the ability adjust specular, diffuse, AO and number of other common task in matching or correcting color is the best option to field any issues unique to your needs. If your talking about post edit grading then that is whole field of study unto itself and takes ones wiser then I. Keep in mind that where you want your film to be seen when color correct and always have a hardware calibrated monitor to do corrections on.

- Do you need color correction when only rendering from a 3D program?

EVERYTHING, and I mean everything is color corrected, only home videos show raw color from the source. So to answere your question, no.

- Do you have any special editing tips?

No but in 3d do your edits at the storyboard level with transitions, nothing is more useless then killing your rendering time on useless frames.

- How do you work with sound? Stereo, 5.1, AC-3, etc... Prefer WAV, AIF, etc?

Always use uncompressed sources, WAV and AIFF are both uncompressed, there are methodologies that say start with 20-24 bit sound and resample down to 16bit when done but that is preferrence. I would work with 20bit myself, as for whether your doing 5.1 (which is AC-3 in the end) or stereo is up to you, I would look at where your showing this film, and go by that.

- What is your final output format?

For printing to film, DPX or Cineon I believe. For digital projection, I don't know since you would have to use some sort of compression. When you are comming out of your editor before compression it would be uncompressed in as high color as your editor supports. Compression and formating is the last thing that happens and will kill image quality if done more then once in the workflow.


- What are the things to consider if you want to release on film as well as DVD?


Plan on regrading the color for television screens, projection is way different in the way it works then TV and colors and levels change accordingly, reprocess and mix sound for the DVD as well I would think.

Hope that helps.

[carlocodamus]

well i use after effects for compositing and premiere for chopping up videos. im not really into 3d though.

[helsing]

Wow nice! This thread is really helpful :P

[Megalodon]

Hope that helps.

Very much!

Thanks RiKToR for the insights!!

[hundredthirtyseven]

The most important thing to note about editing is the phrase Invisible Cut, or sometimes called Silent Cut. It basically means that whenever you edit a sequence you must align your cuts so that the transition from one cut to another is invisible for the viewer. The film should be like a flow.
Here is a very good documentay about this and editing in general, I can really recommend it to anyone who is interested in any kind of filmmaking.

The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing

http://imdb.com/title/tt0428441/

[FabioMSilva]

Wow nice! This thread is really helpful :P

yeah, many questions are awnsered here. maybe someone should turn this into a sticky.

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