Blackmagic Forum

HI,
I was wondering what the preferred workflow is for Alexa Mini LF raw material. It's for theatrical release but we would want all the option for delivery.
Thank-you,
Paul Bronkar

What part of the 'work flow' are you asking about?

Is working in ACES something to consider?

Thanks,
Paul

Your question is very unspecific.

There's not a one unique way of working. So it's up to personal preference. Some use ACES, some RCM and some no color management at all.

If you know the pros and cons of each, you can choose according to personal preference or by requirements of the project at hand.

In general working with Alexa footage is pretty straight forward.

ACES is my preferred method. I find it very easy to get excellent results.

Thank-you,
Paul

Import footage, edit, export feature film. How else?

Workflow is a complicated area, and there is no simple "best" answer. If it were me, I'd archive all the Alexa ArriRaw files to (say) 3 sets of drives as backups, then make one set of compressed media for dailies/viewing/editorial, maybe in ProRes 422LT with burned-in visible timecode, but identical filenames to the original media and synced up to the multitrack audio. I'd edit with that, then once the show is locked, hand the XML to the colorist and let them reconform back to the camera original files. Don't reuse the camera cards until you've absolutely verified that the copied files are perfect (using checksum comparisons).

Lots of info on workflow in these two books:

"Modern Post: Workflow & Techniques for Digital Filmmakers"
by Scott Arundale
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Post-Work ... 0415747023

"The Guide to Managing Postproduction for Film, TV, and Digital Distribution"
by Susan Spohr & Barbara Clark
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Managing-P ... 1138482811

Whatever you do, test the workflow first by taking a camera roll, transcoding it to HD, make a few test edits, and then see if you can still relink to the original camera files. Chances are good if that process works, the whole show will work.

I'm also a fan of having the camera department shoot a color chart and a framing chart at the beginning of the day, and maybe another color chart on every location change or new light setup.

Hi Marc,
Sorry for the very late reply.
Thank-you very much for the info. I really appreciate it.