PP/AE editing workflow for music video

[cameronchapman]

I've got a bunch of the footage for the music video I've been working on done, and I need to start editing. I've got basically three different kinds of footage:

- h.264 files from my hacked GH1, 1080p, 24fps
- 2.7K Cine files from my GoPro, 24fps
- 4k files from my GoPro, 15fps (I realize now that it would have probably simplified things if I'd done the 4k cine files at 12fps).

Final output will be 1080p, 24fps.

I've got a MacBook with a 2.8GHz dual core i7 (8GB of RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB, etc.), running Premiere Pro CC for the editing and After Effects CC for the compositing I need to do (I need to add static and grain to a lot of shots, as well as do some transitions between shots to look like a pirate TV signal cutting in). I know I need to work with some kind of intermediate editing codec, but I'm really not sure which one to use and which one will play nicely with all three kinds of footage (I usually am just working with the h.264 footage, so it's not as much of a concern).

Also, for the 4k footage especially, I'm not just going to downsize it to 1080p, I need to crop and stabilize it quite a bit, and may want to keyframe the cropping and framing to get the shots exactly how I want (these are shots done from a zipline, so I had very little camera control and there was quite a lot of movement in the shots, but this is going to emulate drone footage in the final cut, so I have a bit more leeway than I might otherwise, which is also why I opted to go ahead and use the lower frame rate with the larger resolution).

I'm somewhat familiar with how to do all of these things (at least in one way or another), but would just like some input before I dive in. So basically, opinions on codec and how best to approach the cropping of the 4k footage, as well as any other tips/tutorials you think might be useful to me would be really appreciated! This is definitely the biggest editing project I've taken on, and while I'm comfortable with the creative aspects of the editing (and have used these programs on more basic projects and am quite comfortable with them), I'm just a little overwhelmed with some of the technical options.

 

[Will Vincent]

Since you're on a mac, ProRes is probably your best bet for an intermediary codec

 

[jmoschner]

Use Pro Res for your codec, choose the setting that works best for your system. I don't know your level of expertise so it is hard to judge how much detail to give (plus I know I'll forget a step that I would just do if in the midst of a project) so I apologize in advance.

I would tackle the 4k stuff first. I would see how well the system handles the native files before I created proxy files.

I would then create either 1080p prores or an even smaller proxy for use in the rough edit. For the 4k proxy files, I would go ahead and make the proxy file 24fps as it is only going to be used for the rough edit.

For the 2.7k files unless you are going to do any cropping, I would go ahead and trancode to 1080p prores files. Otherwise, crop and render. If your system can handle it, you may not need to transcode the video, but simply resize it in Premiere.

The rest of the footage should be the usual import and edit.

I would then start on the stabilization. Use the original 4k footage. Tracking and stabilizing proxy files can create some issues as pixels will not always match. Once I had the high res stabilized, I would crop and export as 1080p for editing and effects.

For cropping and stabilizing the video i would use after effects. I would first try using warp stabilization.
-For Result choose Smooth motion (default).
-For Method choose either Position, Scale And Rotation or just Position. For this kind of footage you might want to play with Subspace or Perspective if you are looking for a kind of warped looked to the video. Note that Subspace Warp can introduce unwanted warping, and Perspective can introduce unwanted keystoning. I find the warping is usually worse with very heavy motion.
-For Framing I would choose Stabilize, Crop. This way the footage isn't re-scaled, and you don't have to worry about missing an edge that for a frame moves in heavily.

I would then precomp the stabilized footage, and put it into a new comp that is the correct size and matches the original video's frame rate. Then I would go about key framing position and scale as needed.

When exporting the video from AE I would choose 1080p 24fps prores or uncomporessed and let AE handle the frame rate conversion.

I would then use the new video file for editing and adding any other effects.



Tips and tricks you can use:
Edit as much as you can in Premiere before jumping into AE. Get the overall edit roughed before doing effects and creating files you don't need to create.

Copy and paste from premiere timeline to AE is very useful. There is a script you can get from Video copilot that will precompose each segment of video and add handle frames. http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/trim_compose_script/

There is also a nice tutorial on using and creating proxies in AE http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/proxies_and_workflow_tips/

Dynamic Link in CC is better than it was in the past, but you are usually better off avoiding using Dynamic Linking and rendering out files from AE for import into Premiere.

 

[cameronchapman]

This is great stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have the ProRes codec on my MacBook (and I'm not crazy about spending $50 on Compressor or Motion just so I can get it).

I may just work with proxies in AE. My computer is not liking the 4k files very much, but it's not terrible either. I'm working to get the 4k footage stabilized, cropped, and rotated (we had to shoot it upside down because of the way the GoPro was mounted), which it seems to be doing pretty well. Better than my old MacBook handled plain old 1080p footage, so I can't complain.

 

[jmoschner]

This is great stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have the ProRes codec on my MacBook (and I'm not crazy about spending $50 on Compressor or Motion just so I can get it).

apple has them as free download:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1396

If it won't let you can’t just install the .pkg without an installed version of FCP. get this app: http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
Download it, and install it.
Open the QuickTime ProApps .DMG you downloaded, and drag that install .pkg file it includes onto the unPKG app icon. It’ll create a folder and some subfolders on your desktop that contain all the Pro QT codecs you want.
Copy all those .component codec files into the Library>Quicktime folder of your boot drive, fire up your favorite NLE, MPEG Streamclip, or other transcoding app, and all those codecs–including all the ProRes flavors–are yours!

 

[cameronchapman]

apple has them as free download:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1396

If it won't let you can’t just install the .pkg without an installed version of FCP. get this app: http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
Download it, and install it.
Open the QuickTime ProApps .DMG you downloaded, and drag that install .pkg file it includes onto the unPKG app icon. It’ll create a folder and some subfolders on your desktop that contain all the Pro QT codecs you want.
Copy all those .component codec files into the Library>Quicktime folder of your boot drive, fire up your favorite NLE, MPEG Streamclip, or other transcoding app, and all those codecs–including all the ProRes flavors–are yours!

AWESOME! Thanks!