Hi again, I'm reaching the end of my first project (thanks to the amazing help I've got from this forum). I already exported my sequence into After Effects for color correction, but as this is my first time, I'm not sure if I'm doing everything correctly. Maybe some of you can check out my workflow and tell me if there's something wrong or something to be improved. I'll put the steps I've followed (it's a little long!):


1. My footage is in 1080p, recorded with a Sony camera (I couldn't get the exact model), but I have BPAV folders with CLPR and TAKR folders. Inside the CLPR there are SMI, PPN, XML, BIM files and a video file wich is a .MP4 wich is an MPEG-4 Video file with a mp4v Codec.

2. What I did was linking the footage via Link to AMA volume. That worked, I edited the footage, and now I have a sequence ready.

3. I wanted to export this sequence to After Effects for color correcting, title desing and adding a mask in a scene.

4. For what I read and tested I'm supposed to have a Quicktime Ref of my sequence. But exporting to a QtR doesn't work because a)it can't be done with AMA / b)the long GOP issue. 

5. What I need to do is a transcode or a video mixdown, right?

6. I made a video mixdown, and selected the DNxHD 175 x MXF resolution. (I gather this is the HD option wich will maintain the highest quality). This will generate a 12gb (The Sequence runs 10 minutes, and all the footage has a size around 24Gb) (note: the DNxHD 175 MXF gets the same size as the 175 x so I went with the X)

7. Once I had the mixdown exported into a Quicktime Reference. I selected "Same as Source", "Native dimensions" and "601/709" for color levels. This was the trickiest part as there's a lot to read on the subject and seems confusing for an amateur. The color space of my projects is on RGB 709 but I could change it to YCbCr 709. I'm not sure about this.

8. The exported file seems to have the same quality as the one on avid. What program/tool can I use to make sure of that?

9. I imported the exported .mov to After Effects without problems.

-So, I've got my sequence in AE, but before carrying on, I would like to know If I'm missing something or if I can do something differently.

-What I need to do in AE is: a) color correction b) dissapearing a boom from a scene (I need to use masks) c) creating the title sequence.

-The footage will be for online viewing in different qualities (1080p, 720p, 480p), DVD, and I intend to have it in 1080p and 720p on an mkv container.

-So after I have everything done in After Effects I export it, and import it back again into avid and then export it again according to what I need?

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Ok, sorry for the long thread. I'll really appreciate if some one can guide me a little, befor I procede further. Thanks again

just a few thoughts ... if all you need is a credit sequence and a shot where a boom mic needs to be removed, why not just do those two things in ae, and simply do your CC in avid? anyway, that's your call ... much of your workflow sounds right to me, the only thing to keep in mind, once you get the QT footage into AE make sure to open the interpret footage dialogue box, and interpret as uppr fields first, and any other options as needed ... include a frame or more of bars at top of your sequence and use this to confirm at every stage as you export import export that you are maintaing the proper 601 levels throughout ...

Hi, thanks for the info. So, ok, I seem to be on the right track.

About the interpret footage, when you say "interpret as uppr fields first" that's in the "Fields and Pulldown" menu, under the "sparate fields" tab, wich is by default "Off", there I should put "Upper fields first", right?

How about the "Pixel aspect ratio" options? Default is square pixels and there are two 1080 options available.

In the last tab, the Color Managment, I have only one option that is "Preserve RGB" wich is unmarked.

Where can I find what options are the correct ones? Is that info in the avid project?

(also, where are the bars to include in the sequence? Sorry if this questions are more after effects oriented than avid... you can avoid those)

dreid:

make sure to open the interpret footage dialogue box, and interpret as uppr fields first

If it's 1080p, then there is no field dominance.  

Also, title credits, color correction and even masking out the boom mic can all be done inside Avid.  I suppose with the credits, it's a matter of how you want them to look etc as there are certain things that would be easier in AE.  And depending on how the boom mic affects the scene, you could use a combination of Clone effect with tracking Animatte in Avid.  

Thanks, yes, I know those can be done with Avid. Actually, the boom I had it removed with avid, but as I'm learning to use AE aswell, I wanted to try with it.

So... I should let the interpret footage options as default?

in the interpret footage dialogue box, frame rate is 29.97, right? for seperate feilds choose upper fields first (if in fact its 1080i) and pixel astect ratio is always square in HD ... as for color management that's a longer story, if you dont know what your doing there leave it alone, but you can experiment (assuming you have a grading quality monitor to accurately view the results of your work) with embedding color settings in the project settings dialogue box, specifically the HDTV (Rec. 709) 16-235 setting ... good luck!