Post Production Workflow?

I realize everyone does this different, but I wanted to share my standard workflow with all of you. If I am doing something that would make more sense to do it differently, please let me know.


1. Capture and edit the footage.
2. Split the audio and video.
3. Color-Correction
4. Do any conversions necessary (film-look type thing)
5. Crop or matte
6. Do any visual effects (compositing, etc)
7. Reconnect audio and video
8. Do sound editing and mixing.
9. Compress and resize as needed. Up until this point, everything is done at full rez.

 

It all sounds good to me, some times I do the croping and matts at the same time as some effects, but other then that, sounds good.

 

Your way is roughly the same to what I do. Normally I do take the captured footage and do a quick, raw edit to throw out all the garbage. Then I import every single take into AE, deinterlace and apply all the effects/color correction/croping there. After that every finished take comes back into Premiere and the final editing starts. The sound is then coming back and edited to the video. Finally I render out the whole movie uncompressed and use this file to make the different version for DVD, web etc..
This workflow has proved to be very efficient and it gets the best out of the footage. I always work uncompressed until the final rendering to make sure there's no loss in quality.

Well that's my 2 cents. Currious to what others do different.

 

You guys are weird. I do all my capturing AFTER I do my effects and compositing.

 

Capture and document footage
Edit first cut
Pass over Visual FX shots to VFX team
Make second cut
Compile rough score
Pass over further or new VFX shots to VFX team
Second score edit
Colour correct, crop and matte shots
Re-import completed VFX
Add Sound FX
Compile all scenes together
Complete final edit (little tweaks etc)
Complte remaining SFX
Complete final score

 

As with darren, the only real change in workflow I would suggest is color correcting AFTER you do all the VFX work. Match the FX work to the raw images, and then the color correction ties them together just a little bit more by putting them in the same color space, and makes them look even more like they were shot simultaneously.

M. Scott

 

I totally forgot the score. Usually I have specific ideas in mind for a score during preproduction. After the first raw cut after capturing I play around with different score ideas to see how the material works with it. The final score is made during the final edit after all the effects are done.

For doing color correction near the end I have the same reasons like Dorkman. The effects and the live action should match as best as possible so applying color correction to both at the same time works best.

 

I'm afraid that (for example, lightsabers) that I would do the lightsabers, and then color-correct, and the color would be wrong. Like, if I have a blue lightsaber, but then I make the footage more red, it will turn the lightsaber purple...

 

This is why you plan ahead... though I'm sure everyone already knew this... or did they....

 

hahaha, yeah, i completely do my capturing after color correction and rotoscoping...

 

On this I would say not only the color correction, but also the conversions (for film look). I mean, you would want your effects to have the same look as the rest of the film right?

The effects need to be planned in pre-production (storyboards), and followed through into post.

 

Okay -

6. Do any visual effects (compositing, etc)

I usually take some "concept art" or whatever to use as a stand-in for an effect in the editing phase.

 

I agree. Perhaps incorrectly, I just consider film-look as a form of color correction.

M. Scott

 

Well, I would think when you do your compositing, you would make it match the existing footage as best as possible...

 

I don't really have a numbered list of how I do things, but here was a basic description of post production on iSpy.

Capture.
Rough edit. If nessecary, send around to others involved in production to gauge response to it.
Cut half of the movie out. (Usually, this is known as tightening up the edits.)
Integrate soundtrack.
Tighten up edit in accordance to music.
Make a list of plot holes and such that need to be filmed.
Tighten up edit.
Add visual effects. For iSpy, this was primarily gunfire, though I also did some color correction.
Tighten up edit.
Add audio effects, including tweaking for stereo.
Tighten up edits.
Teaser ideas are thrown around while we wait for Revelations premiere to do pickups.
Film pickup shots. Follow all steps up to now.
Tighten up edit.
Seperate audio source audio (not added audio effects). By this point, the edit should be in its final stage.
Run audio through Goldwave noise reduction.
Re-integrate audio and re-apply audio effects.
Re-integrate audio.
Wait for WeirdHat to finish our opener.
Get the opener.
Release!

Edit: Whoops, forgot the scoring.

 

Right, and then you color correct the whole footage.

 

Each scene is often color corrected differently, depending on the mood and location. Hence why color correction was fairly early on the list, at least for me.

 

I was responding to beafet, actually. I think we posted at the same time.

 

Oh. That we did. Carry on, then.

 

nah, that's silly I skip the video capturing step entirely, and just film real space ships

 

Oddly enough after fumbling around for some time I sat down and tried to nail this today.

1. Didn't have a shot log so log 15 tapes worth of material
2. Capture footage
3. Work out best takes, discard everything else
4. Edit into sequence scene by scene

This is where I got a bit lost. I've been rotoscoping lightsabres for several months, and recently been mucking around with rough composites to get a better idea how the final product will flow.

But the problem is I still have a few tapes to capture and half a dozen scenes to edit. Partly this stems from wanting to get things done too quickly (I think there might be one scene in an hour long film that doesn't have effects shots, maybe two) and practicality. I don't get a lot of time to work on it at home, but am able to rotoscope during my lunch break at work. You do what you can when you can.

Anyway from here I'm guessing it'll go like this.

5. Convert all footage into DV-AVI type 2 (it was captured as type 1)
6. Get the edited footage into Premiere
7. Create special effects on live footage (sabers, lasers, green screen compositing)
8. CG effects
9. Edit CG effects into live footage
10. Titles
11. Colour correction
12. Clean up production audio and sync ADR
13. Add sound effects
14. Add music

Think that's it I guess.

On less depressing note I created a rather nifty hyperspace starlines POV, and ship jumping to hyperspace shot today - that actually worked!