I am editing a film which is about to shoot Thursday (19th Aug 2010), the DOP has insisted on using the new Cinedeck to capture media onto its SSD. After some research online, this is the workflow I have come up with and want to put it out there to see if anyone has had any experience with the Cinedeck and their suggestions to avoid issues!

1. Download Cineform (wrapped in Quicktime .MOV) rushes from SSD onto portable HD.

2. Install the Cineform Quicktime codec NeoPlayer.

3. Meta Fuze to transcode Cineform.mov Rushes into DNxHD offline dailies with burn in timecode.

4. Import dailies, cut in MC5.

5. Export EDL.

6. Import EDL in Online suite, reconnect to original rushes.

Suggestions, comments, improvements? I don't know what system they will be using for online, if Avid I will have the specific Cineform files converted into Online DNxHD files to be relinked in MC5 Online project.

I think this will work. The only unkown part is the finishing, how the finishing system will link back to the original media. To be 100% safe you could transcode in MetaFuze to the highest quality available and use those files for finishing in Symphony or DS.

Also, MC5 allows you to play these files back in real time. I would not recommend doing that however because it can be CPU intensive if the demands of the codec are high. You could also use AMA in MC5 and transcode the files to MXF DNxHD media bypassing MetaFuze altogether. This would tie up your editing workstation and could take more time than MetaFuze. You could save some time if you load only the circle takes and have an assistant cut off any excess material.

Yes, at this stage I am unsure what system they are finishing on so an EDL is the way - I however am pushing for a Avid online suite so I can just hand them the project file.

Reason I am using MetaFuze is to get the burn-ins of file name and timecode, as a back up incase anything should go wrong and I have to rebuild the project.

Make sure they understand that all repos, blowups, etc. will be lost with an EDL.

Once you do the import, duplicate the NAME column of whatever is holding the file name itself and out it into the Camroll or Labroll column. This way you can always use that as a source ID when generating EDL's. And I am a fan of redundant metadata.

Michael

Dealing with a somewhat similar workflow from a finishing artist's viewpoint...

1) If the camera ONLY records YUV, then all well and good, but no one is going to throw away RGB if it's on offer, so maintaing a metadata link back to the camera orignal is key

2) Neo4K  software is the only choice to extract RGB on offer from the Neo folks, unfortunatly it seems to be a big bag of bugs... the camera i am working with shoots RAW (SI2K) and i have given up on Neo4K, and am using Iridas's Metarender to de-bayer... I would suggest you test, test, test... we are, and we are learning..

We did have a short discussion on the Google DS list, and no-one is using Neo4K for finishing, everyone who replied is using Iridas... for a good reason...

test, test, test... and then test again....

And i should repete.. if using YUV is suited to finishing your show to meet it's target deliverables then the workflow is well and good... If YUV is not enough, then you might want to consider lockng down the finishing system and test it...

DId i mention testing the workflow?

Good luck!

d/