Appendix D: Post Production
RED workflow is quite easy to understand, especially if you have had experience with photo-
graphic RAW image processing, or shoot 16mm or 35mm film followed by a telecine transfer to a
non-linear video editor and on-line conform.
RAW data has a wide dynamic range and color space, so you can freely change the white bal-
ance of the footage, adjust exposure and alter highlight and shadow tonality in post-production.
The RED ONE™ camera records RAW sensor data using wavelet based REDCODE™ RAW
compression to a CF card, or RED-DRIVE™ digital magazine. The compressed RAW data is then
transferred from the digital media via FireWire or USB-2 to a Macintosh OSX workstation running
RED Alert!™ or RED-CINE™, or to a Windows XP workstation running REDCIINE post produc-
tion software. These applications do not directly edit or conform the RAW data themselves, but
prepare the RAW data for editing and conforming by RGB domain post-production software
applications.
If you are using CF media, copy the clips onto the workstation’s hard drive. If you are recording
to a RED-DRIVE, it can be directly mounted as an external drive using FireWire if desired which
eliminates the media copy step.
In film processing terms, RED Alert!™ and RED-CINE™ act as an integrated film laboratory,
telecine, and one light color corrector. They convert recorded REDCODE™ RAW data to RGB
video, and provide basic one light image processing and color correction. Using RED-CINE™,
footage can also be cropped, resized, or repositioned. These functions lessen the amount of time
required for color correction or re-framing of shots after the final cut has been completed.
RED Alert!™ can generate QuickTime reference movies suitable for use in dailies applications,
and export a sequence of 2K or 4K resolution RGB image files as TIFF or DPX files for DI use.
RED-CINE™ can also encode 4K or 2K RAW footage into a variety of uncompressed RGB and
compressed 4:2:2 video formats. Provided the appropriate QuickTime codec’s are available on
the host computer workstation, compressed video choices include ProRes, DNxHD, DV100 and
M-JPEG QuickTime movies at 1080p or 720p resolution. For film out, multi-media or special ef-
fects applications, RED-CINE™ may export a sequence of 2K or 4K image files in TIFF, Open
EXR, DPX, JPEG, or Photoshop PSD file formats.
Creating 4:2:2 at 1080p or 720p resolution QuickTime movies provides compatibility with the
majority of non-linear editing systems.
Depending on the QuickTime movie resolution, material may be taken directly to a broadcast de-
livery videotape format, or after the editorial decisions have been made, video can be conformed
at full image resolution by replacing the lower resolution edit proxy (e.g. 720p at 8 bit quality) with
a high resolution 4K, 2K or 1080p image file.
