INTRODUCTION... 1 APPENDIX A: ALE METADATA MAPPING... 8 APPENDIX B: THE DETAIL PANE... 9 APPENDIX C: TRANSCODE CONFIGURATION... 13

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2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 1 WORKFLOW STEPS... 2 Scanning and R3D File Management... 2 ALE Export... 6 Burn-In Tool... 6 Batch Transcode... 6 Batch Transcodes via XML... 7 Transcode Function... 7 ALE Relink in Media Composer... 7 APPENDIX A: ALE METADATA MAPPING... 8 APPENDIX B: THE DETAIL PANE... 9 APPENDIX C: TRANSCODE CONFIGURATION APPENDIX D: RESOLUTION MAPPING... 14

3 INTRODUCTION Avid MetaFuze automates the conversion of formats such as DPX, R3D, TIFF to Avid DNxHD media for HD offline and HD finishing workflows. Avid MetaFuze is a standalone application so transcoding can be easily handled on location using portable systems. Avid MetaFuze enhances high-resolution file-based offline to online workflows by creating native uncompressed or native Avid DNxHD media files wrapped in MXF along with an ALE file for easier import and re-linking in Avid Media Composer or Avid Symphony. This eliminates QuickTime as an interim step in the workflow. These files will then be instantly accessible and readable in real time by Avid Media Composer, Avid Symphony, and Avid DS. This workflow document details the use of Avid MetaFuze with the RED ONE camera and the R3D files. The latest version of Avid MetaFuze brings several enhancements to the Avid/RED workflow, streamlining the process and optimizing existing ones. What s New in MetaFuze 2.0: R3D audio support Batch processing 10-bit Avid DNxHD codec support Uncompressed 8- and 10-bit HD Transcode optimization File type filtering Additional metadata in ALE file Avid MetaFuze 2.0 is supported on: Windows XP 32 Windows XP 64 Vista 32 Vista 64 Apple OS X via VMware with one of the supported Windows operating systems Linux using WINE with one of the supported Windows operating systems 1

4 WORKFLOW Scanning and R3D File Management 1. Scan the source directories that contain the original R3D files. Only the top directory or folder needs to be scanned as Avid MetaFuze will look into all subfolders. Click the scan icon at the bottom of the MetaFuze UI, selecting Scan Folders from the Action menu, or perform a CTRL-F on the keyboard. 2. This will bring up the Scan Folders window. 2

5 3. Click on the folder containing the R3D files so it ends up to the right of the UI window. Repeat to add additional folders. 4. Since many productions using the RED ONE camera also record a QuickTime proxy (reference to the original R3D), the file type filtering feature allows more control over the file types to be included or removed from the transcode process. Click on the Options button, if not already opened, to reveal the File Types button. Click the File Types button. 3

6 5. To choose R3D file extensions only, click on Clear Selection and choose R3D from the file extensions list. Click OK and then click the Scan button in the next window. 4

7 The resulting scan will now look like this: 6. To start a batch transcode process for all the R3D sources, highlight all groups by typing CTRL-A. This can also be done via the Action menu. 7. To create a transcode for all highlighted groups use CTRL-T. A transcode will be created for each of the groups (source elements). This can also be done via the Actions menu. 5

8 8. To select just the transcodes for a batch process, highlight one of the transcode groups and CTRL-SHIFT-A to select all groups of that type. ALE Export Once the settings are complete, you can create an ALE file for all transcodes in a batch. Click the Export ALE button or select Export ALE from the Actions menu. For most workflows within a single project it will be common that the transcodes will be the same, resulting in a single ALE with all the information necessary to generate a masterclip in the bin. You will need to generate separate ALEs for transcode groups which you wish to target to separate formats or projects. For more details on the metadata currently being tracked in the ALE file, see Appendix A. Burn-In Tool MetaFuze allows for flexible control of metadata as an overlay via the burn-in tool. Click on the Burn-In button or select Burn-In from the Actions menu. All source metadata can be added as one or two lines, with luminance and position controls. Settings can be saved as a preset and then applied as part of the Detail pane when in a batch transcode mode. Details can be found in the MetaFuze product documentation (Program Files/Avid/MetaFuze). Batch Transcode When two or more transcodes are selected, the Detail pane can be used to set the parameters that will be applied to all selected transcodes. Global settings will be applied to all sources such as: Project name Output directory Debayer quality (defaults to Half Good) Project type and frame rate RLX file Audio to be transcoded or not Burn-in (from saved settings) For more information on the Detail pane, see Appendix B 6

9 Batch Transcodes via XML Avid MetaFuze can be run via a line command and XML scripts to allow batch processing outside of the GUI. This is ideal when inserting Avid MetaFuze into a digital imaging pipeline. While Avid MetaFuze can be run on render farms, it requires the use of the line command scripts. Information on this process can be found in the Avid MetaFuze product documentation. Transcode Function Click the Transcode button to set off the process. User can also set off a transcode via the Action menu or via the keyboard shortcut CRL-SHIFT-T. All transcodes will be processed in succession as indicated by the status bar. ALE Relink in Media Composer Once the MXF media files are in the appropriate Avid MediaFiles folder (e.g., Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1) the imported ALE will contain all the metadata and a quick way to point to the media directly in the desired bin. Import ALE into the bin (See Avid Media Composer User Guide for more details). Select all the master clips created by the ALE and do a relink from the Clip menu. Settings should look like: The master clips now have picture and sound online, ready for editing. 7

10 APPENDIX A: ALE METADATA MAPPING The source information MetaFuze extracts (via the SDK) from the R3D file metadata will not match the unique ID at the end of the actual file name. (e.g., original file name = A001_C001_0203QX; SDK shows A001_C001_020390). Avid DS takes into account this discrepancy in the R3D file metadata but other R3D finishing system may not. MetaFuze 2.0 adds the original file name as source in the Camroll column. This can be exported out via EDL Manager as source or via Avid FilmScribe XML. These steps are outlined in the Avid Workflow Guide at R3D Metadata ALE Heading R3D File Name Camroll Time of Day Start RLX file Name LUT R3D Source Tape VA1A2A3A4 Tracks (depending on content of R3D file) 8

11 APPENDIX B: THE DETAIL PANE The parameters available in the Detail pane when working with RED R3D files are as follows: 9

12 Detail Use/Comment Name Name of the transcode being viewed or the one that is being used as the basis for the batch process. Folder Destination of the transcoded files. Clicking in field will allow you to select directory path. Clip Name Name of original R3D file. Becomes Name for the clip. This field can be edited. Project Name of project for which these files belong. Set Film Info N/A Transcode Audio This checkbox is automatically checked if R3D file contains audio. User can turn these off if they do not want to transcode the audio which may occur when shooting double system. Number of recorded audio tracks appears in ALE under Tracks. Wav file Allows for saving the interim WAV file created during the transcode process. WAV files will be contained within a subdirectory of the destination folder automatically. Film Type N/A KN Start N/A Set Tape Info This is defaulted to ON and should be left on for all transcodes when creating Avid MXF media. Tape Name Uses file name references within the SDK. Note that it is not the same as the file name at the directory level. The actual filename is added to the Camroll column for EDL generation. The metadata in this field works for native conform with Avid DS for a complete workflow. Camroll can be used for third party workflows. TC Start Time of day timecode of first frame of original R3D file TC End Time of day timecode of last frame of original R3D file 10

13 Detail Use/Comment Burn-in Ability to burn-in source information and apply saved settings to the transcode to batch transcode process. See MetaFuze documentation for more details. Format This is the project type that will be used for Avid. It defaults to the frame rate of the R3D file. Users can override this and apply a different frame if needed (camera was set up wrong). The frame rate is a frame for frame conversion. This is intended for video files only at this time. Audio will not be affected by the frame rate change and thus will be out of sync. Compression Selecting for Avid data rate. MetaFuze supports the creation of HD MXF Avid DNxHD media or uncompressed HD in both 8-bit and 10-bit. Allows for both 720p and 1080p projects. Note that 1080p/29.97 (30) is not supported at this time. Conversion Mode Aspect ratio control for non 16:9 aspect ratios. Status Indicates whether a transcode has started or has been completed. Eye For use in Stereo 3D media creation. See documentation for more information. Scene User defined field for Scene. Comment User defined field to add comments Chroma R3D Chroma control. Please check with RED documentation for use of these controls. Debayer R3D debayer control. Please check with RED documentation for use of these controls. OLPF R3D OLPF control. Please check with RED documentation for use of these controls. ISO Change the ISO setting of the R3D file. 11

14 Detail Use/Comment Resolution Change the resolution extracted from the source R3D file from full, ½, ¼, and 1/8. Defaults to Half good which is commonly used for offline HD editorial. HD finishing formats might want to consider Half Premium. Rarely is a full decode needed for HD finishing since the difference is very difficult or impossible to see. Full decode is usually reserved for theatrical mastering in full 2K/4K resolution. Import settings Allows an RLX file as exported from RED Alert to be applied to all clips in the transcode. If no RLX is selected, MetaFuze uses the camera metadata. RSX is not supported at this time and is planned for a future version. Also note that all output is done to REC 709 gamma. 12

15 APPENDIX C: TRANSCODE CONFIGURATION Under the Options menu in Avid MetaFuze, you will find Transcode Configuration. MetaFuze uses the computer s CPU cores to the fullest capacity when transcoding R3D files even though the local number of threads is set to less than what is available. It is advised that when transcoding R3D files, that MetaFuze be the only running application. Users should be aware that many factors can affect the transcode times of R3D into Avid native MediaFiles. Hard drive read and writes can especially affect transcode times. Providing the fastest I/O possible to the CPU will decrease render times. Reading from one disk and writing to another disk on a different bus can also increase overall performance. This is in addition to the debayer and quality settings within the transcoded itself. For example, a ½ quality debayer from a 4K file will be faster than the full quality. Please refer to the Avid MetaFuze documentation for additional details on transcode configuration. 13

16 APPENDIX D: RESOLUTION MAPPING Because the R3D workflow offers many resolution possibilities from a single file, the user will need to determine the debayer and resolution quality needed for the particular workflow being used as well as the primary delivery format of the final program. It is widely agreed that a full debayer from the original 4K R3D file is only considered when a theatrical release is in the plan as it is near impossible to see any differences when creating HD media. For productions delivering HD as their final master or using HD as a proxy for offline, users are far better served by one of the ½ debayer quality settings. The following chart is an overview of suggested settings depending on target use from a 4K R3D file: R3D Debayer Resolution Avid Format Full Uncompressed or Avid DNxHD 175x/180x (HD mastering). This results in lengthy transcode times with no noticeable quality difference compared to ½ premium. ½ premium Uncompressed or Avid DNxHD 175x/180x (HD mastering) ½ good Avid DNxHD 36/40 (offline HD editing) ¼ Avid DNxHD 36/40 (may be a bit soft for most HD uses; better for SD workflows). MetaFuze does not support SD media creation at this time. ⅛ Mainly used for SD offline workflows. MetaFuze does not support SD media creation at this time. 14

17 July 28, Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, and system requirements are subject to change without notice. Avid, Avid DNxHD, FilmScribe, Media Composer, Metafuze, and Symphony are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.