Blackmagic Forum

How can I iport footage to fusion? I assume there is some issue in my workflow.
Im trying to import files. It's importing to flow window with the loader, but its not there. The node is red and I can't preview it.

I'm on a pc, and installed quicktime

Any help?
Thanks

What kind of footage (file type) are you attempting to load? When you have the Loader selected, look at its control panel. Does the Trim Out field have a value other than 0?

Ok. I found the solution! I installed Avid codecs for quicktime and it works, but the next issue appears. When working with ProRes files everything works smooth (I'm on a PC) but With DNxHD it's nightmare. Playback is around 1 fps so it's inpossible to work. What codec do you reccomend to encode files for Fusion?

Thanks in advance


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Fusion works best with image sequences.

Thanks Sander for your answer.

So DPX for example?

Dpx is fine, but it might be overkill depending on what compression your original source footage is.
Try to keep the color fidelity intact when importing, that's the most important part and don't introduce any new compression artefacts.

I usually work with DNxHD or ProRes.
If you say that the DPX could be overkill than what do you suggest instead?

Thanks

I am a bit surprised that DnxHD doesn't work though. I've done a film with only DNxHD footage in Fusion and slow playback never was a problem. That wasn't in Fusion 8 though, so maybe things have changed.

As far as alternative file formats: I am not that up to date on my codecs. I used to do everything with tga's, but they max out at 8-bit, so you'll probably want to use something else.
On second thought maybe DPX is the best format after all. I hope someone else chimes in to help us out here

Thank you Sander for you answer.

I noticed that I cant get any smooth playback on any possible pc codecs. I'm wondering how much RAM do I need to work with no lags? No I'm operating with 16 GB now (not to much for this kind of stuff), 2 Titan x cards and Xeon E5-2630 v3 2.4 GHz. I can get around 4-5 fps in 4K - it's almost impossible to work at all

ProRes and DNxHD both have both 10- and 8-bit variants. If you have 8-bit video, dumping it into a 10-bit DPX won't do anything other than add ~20% to your file size.

Also, Fusion will assume that a DPX file is logarithmic color. If you have Rec.709 DPXs, you'll have to remember to enable the "Bypass Conversion" switch in the Loader's Format tab.

Here's a brief run-down on your most likely filetype candidates. Unless otherwise stated, the gamut for most files is assumed to be sRGB.

Targa (tga): 8-bits integer, uncompressed, alpha. Supported almost universally.
PNG: 8- or 16-bits integer, lossless compression, alpha. Compresses graphics fairly well but doesn't do much for photographic imagery. 16-bit format is not widely supported by software.
DPX: 10-bits integer, uncompressed, alpha. Supported by most post-production software, but some prosumer-level programs might not recognize it. Assumed to be log color.
OpenEXR (exr): 16- or 32-bit floating point, can be compressed or uncompressed, carries an arbitrary number of channels. Usually assumed to be linear. Widely supported in visual effects software, but some other post-production software may not recognize it.
TIFF: Any common bit-depth, can be compressed or uncompressed, carries an arbitrary number of channels. The most common variants of TIFF can be opened by almost anything, but some software has trouble with some options.

Don't even bother with jpeg, bmp, or gif. None of them is suitable for post-production work.

Generally, DPX is the best balance between bit depth, file size, and support. You just have to watch out for the color handling issues. If you're sure it can be supported throughout your pipeline, though, EXR is superior in most respects. Our pipeline usually goes from the client-supplied ProRes reel -> DPX -> preprocessing to reduce noise and convert to linear -> EXR -> Visual effects processes -> Rec.709 H.264 for review and log DPX for deliverables.

If you want a ridiculously in-depth look at gamut, bit-depth, and file types, among other topics:
http://www.bryanray.name/wordpress/anatomy-of-an-image/

edit: I have no theories to offer concerning your performance problem. I've noticed Fusion takes a while to load a Quicktime, but once it's there it seems to play smoothly for me. Not sure I've ever dealt directly with DNx, though.

Decode times on PNG could be an issue. DPX is uncompressed, so it's huge but fast. Moves the load from CPU to I/O.

Most flavors of DNxHx and ProRes are 4:2:2 YUV so any RGB format is going to have extra interpolated data that will pad out the file sizes. Something like JPEG or JPEG2K will at least match that format, but it's only a benefit if you transcode in YUV. Might be worth checking out.

Good point on the YUV issue, although I imagine any pipeline that includes Fusion is going to wind up in RGB at some point, so my thinking is you might as well make that conversion at the same time as the file type conversion.

I don't think I would recommend standard jpeg due to the lossy compression, even at "100% quality." Jpeg 2000 has an option for lossless compression, but I'm not sure how well supported that format is. I probably should have mentioned it anyway, though. It also has some additional advantages, such as high bit-depth and alpha channel support.

Also, Fusion will assume that a DPX file is logarithmic color. If you have Rec.709 DPXs, you'll have to remember to enable the "Bypass Conversion" switch in the Loader's Format tab.

Thank you Bryan! That exactly wahat I was confused about. Also all info from your post is so valuable to me.

Most flavors of DNxHx and ProRes are 4:2:2 YUV so any RGB format is going to have extra interpolated data that will pad out the file sizes. Something like JPEG or JPEG2K will at least match that format, but it's only a benefit if you transcode in YUV. Might be worth checking out.

Will try it Chad. Thank you!

I just trying to connect clip from Davinci to Fusion, so there is no big choice of codecs. Frankly I dont know what happening here, but even when I'm trying to delete node i need to wait 2-3 sek sometimes :/