Essential tools for file based workflows Andrew Wild.

POST PRODUCTION TOOLKITEssential tools for file based workflows

Andrew Wild

Post - 1998

Standard Def

Beta / Digi Beta

DV / DVCam

Tape Tape DecksBeta / Digi

BetaDV / DVCam

NLE

Linear Online

Evolution or Revolution?RevolutionNoun A forcible overthrow of a government

or social order, in favour of a new system:the country has had a socialist revolution (often the Revolution)(in Marxism) the class struggle which is expected to lead to political change and the triumph of communism:when I grew up it was the Marxism that was very strong, it was like the revolution was coming next week

a dramatic and wide-reaching change in conditions, attitudes, or operation: marketing underwent a revolution

EvolutionNoun The process by which different kinds of living

organism are believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

The gradual development of something: the forms of written languages undergo constant evolution

Chemistrythe giving off of a gaseous product, or of heat:the evolution of oxygen occurs rapidly in this process

[count noun] a pattern of movements or manoeuvres:flocks of waders often perform aerial evolutions

Mathematics, dated the extraction of a root from a given quantitySource: Online Oxford dictionary

Post - 2009

Transitmedium

Post Storage

for editing

Archive

SD/HD/3DFile based

data

NLE Online

What’s happened? Editing and additional tool set being

reduced to commodity computers and infrastructure!

Camera to file based acquisition (Tapeless) giant increase – its here!

Acquisition to edit timescales reduced (zero time?)

Production costs driven ever lower

What can we do in Post?

Specialist skill set is still required. Specialist tool sets still required for

finished program – Grade / Dub / Deliver.

Specialist infrastructure still required. Back catalogue of tape based material

access still required.

Rule 1: Workflows You had a workflow for Tape, you just need

several now for file based material! Understand the acquisition process and the

material it makes and the needs it brings with it. Adequate provisions for the production (Toolset

for transcoding/storage etc) Data management. Delivery.

Duplicate

Transport

Store

Deliver

Archive

© 2011 Andy Wild

Workflow example

Capture

Camera Codecs

What type of file will you receive? RAW-MXF-.MOV-.MPG

Can you access the data easily? Can you process the data natively? How much footage/data will you get?

It can be hard to relate GB to HRS of footage.

Storage

How much storage? What type of storage?

Local disks Network Storage

How to manage the the storage? Man power Software tool set

Storage

What’s a TerraByte mean in real terms?In hours what does a TB mean?Its hard to tell!

Data still needs to be ingested and this still takes time. 600:1 shoot ratios are madness but sadly the norm. Desktop copies can take hours when being copied to SANs.

Local disks

Still has its place. Pocket drives still the most common

‘transit’ medium. High performance at low cost. High capacity at low cost. Finishing workstations MAY need it if

using uncompressed data streams.

Network Storage

Expensive to deploy for real time editing.

Expensive to expand and maintain. Does bring increased flexibility. Limited performance – delivery

medium depending.

NLE Systems

Can we use the camera codecs directly?

Do we need to transcode material? Are the workstations powerful

enough? Do you have enough workstations? Do you have the right type of toolset

for the job?

NLE Software

Appropriate tool set. Avid – Final Cut Pro – Adobe - Autodesk

Keep track with software versions. Native Codec support etc.

Staff training. Understand new technology, workflows and project needs.

Workstations

Hardware more important then ever! CPU speed, RAM and GFX Card.

Highly efficient high quality codecs need fast systems and GPU acceleration to decode the image for playback.

Delivery

What format does the client want delivery in? Tape File

Do you have the right tool set to deliver the right file format?

Transcoding

How much to transcode? How much time will this add to the

process? New files also need to be stored. Transcoding can be performed on

NLE workstations or dedicated transcode software.

Encoding

Files may need to encoded for delivery or shared workflows.

Dedicated software or NLE software?

Archive?

Does the client need their rushes archiving?

Does the final deliverable need to be archived?

Does the entire project need archiving, if so in what format?

Disk Archiving

Do you have the needed storage capacity for storing data indefinitely?

Do you have the appropriate RAID protection?

Do you have the power and the aircon?

Could the cloud offer you a solution?

Data Tape

Data tape solutions are easy to install...

Good software search tools however are hard to come by.

LTO5 is the current IT type solution – but expansive and only 1.5TB per tape.

What about a MAM?

What do you think you need a MAM for?

How much will the MAM cost? What’s the ROI on your MAM? What will the MAM do for you? Ask yourself again... Do you really

need a MAM?

Posts shopping list

Knowledge of cameras and workflows. Storage – plenty of it. Workstations ability. Data management skill set and SW

tools. Archiving hardware and software.

SAN

NLE

Transcoding Encoding

Ingest Archiving

Price

Talent Production Post Production Deliver

Use of technology & cost

Conclusion Costing of equipment is falling but skill set is

still king. You must keep pace with camera technology

to understand what you may have to tackle. Just because its on a drive doesn’t make it

instantly available. Make your client understand what can help

you can help them!

For further info please visit

www.causeandfx.co.uk