#picture-editing

VFX Delivery to Editorial

Overview

This guide is only necessary if your show has approved VFX shots.

In the industry, after a VFX vendor has finalized a shot and received the director’s approval, the shot is sent back to editorial to be cut back into the film. This handoff is between a VFX Coordinator on the vendor side and a VFX Editor or Assistant Editor on the picture editing side. When the VFX shots are received by editorial they are checked to make sure they meet the delivery specifications and the agreed upon frame count. In the industry, VFX shots are often finalized at different times by different vendors and sent to editorial to be cut into the film throughout the editorial process.

In our workflow, all VFX shots approved by the director during VFX will be turned back over to editorial all at once. Since the original editor of the show may now be working on another project, it is the primary responsibility of the director to do the work described in this guide. (If the editor is available during this time, they are encouraged to be present.)

Receiving VFX Delivery

The VFX shots should already be delivered to your show volume in the VFX In folder. The only files in this folder should be the final version of each shot. They should be labeled show_shot#_comp_version. If the files are labeled in any other way or if you have more than one version of each shot in the VFX In folder, contact the person who completed the VFX shots so that they can fix anything necessary before proceeding.

Cut in VFX

Open the show’s Resolve project. In the Media page, inside the Sequences bin, duplicate the sequence named “show#_VFX_Turnover” and rename the new sequence show#_VFX as shown in the example below.

In the Media page, navigate through your media storage to your VFX shots and drag them into the Media Pool to import them.

To denote that they are VFX shots, these clips should be changed inside of Resolve so that the clip color is yellow. In the Media Pool, you can highlight them all, right-click, and select clip color.

Check that the VFX shots have been delivered to the correct specifications. They should be 1920×1080 AppleProRes4444 QuickTimes at 24fps with no sound channels.

Also check the frame counts of each shot against the the VFX Turnover Sheet to make sure they match.

In the Edit page, cut in each VFX shot to Video Track 3.

You should see the progression of the shot as shown in the example below.

Using the Offline Reference, you should be able to see how the finished VFX shot compares to the locked picture edit.

Repeat for the remaining shots.

Export Reference Video from Resolve

A new reference video will need to be exported for sound design and sound mixing reference.

Before exporting, you will want to replicate the Timecode Burn-In Effect from Media Composer to match all the Burn-Ins on the original Reference Video. In Resolve, this is done using the Data Burn-In effect. It can be found under Workspace > Data Burn-in.

When the effect opens, you will see it is laid out in roughly two sections. On the left, you can choose what metadata you want to select to be burned in. On the right, you can select how and where you want that to be displayed. Select the four boxes shown in the example below and choose the same font and font size. You will need to address the position of each burn-in manually.

In the example below, you can see what the result of the Data Burn-in effect should look like.

In the Deliver page, make sure you are marked In to Out around the entire sequence.

Change the filename to match the export name that you burned in. This name should be one version number up from any previous reference video.

Point the export to the Sound > Reference Video folder on your Show Volume.

Below are the Render Settings for all reference videos exported from Resolve. Double-check the settings carefully before exporting.

When the export is complete, navigate in the Finder to where it was exported and open it in QuickTime Player to make sure everything is okay.

Wrap Up

Save the project by hitting “Command+S”. Then go to the task bar and select Export Project… Make sure the project is named accordingly and place it in the proper folder on your show volume.

After you confirm that the .drp file is in the correct place, you can quit Resolve.

Congratulations, you are done!

Turnover to VFX

Overview

This guide is only necessary for shows with approved VFX shots.

In the industry, VFX are rarely completed in the NLE that the editor is using to cut picture. It is common practice for editors or assistant editors to create rough versions of VFX shots inside the NLE as a proof of concept while editing; these are sometimes called “slap comps” and are useful to evaluate how the VFX shot will work in the context of the edit. For the final shots, though, VFX vendors are contracted to do the work. This is for four primary reasons:

  • The editor is cutting with “offline” quality footage which is of lesser quality
  • The picture editing application is rarely the best tool to accomplish the required visual effect
  • The editor is not normally the person with the expertise to accomplish the required visual effect
  • The editor’s time is more valuably spent on the storytelling aspect of editing

The editorial department coordinates with the VFX vendor to send them all the high quality elements, references, and notes required to create the final shots. It is this process of creating and packaging everything that the VFX vendor needs that is referred to as a “VFX Turnover”. This would normally be done by an assistant editor or VFX editor in the editorial department in coordination with the lab that is storing all the original camera files, and there may be several turnovers during the editorial process for different VFX vendors. In our workflow this responsibility rests on the editor at picture lock. The turnover is completed in DaVinci Resolve after the steps outlined in the Turnover to Color page.

Locked Reference Video

The editor will assemble the “turnover packet” that will be sent to the VFX department in the show volume inside the VFX Out folder. The VFX Out folder should already have the VFX Turnover Sheet that was made at picture lock and outlined in the Picture Lock – VFX Prep guide. The next thing that needs to be added to this folder is a copy of the Locked Reference Video. This is the same reference video that was used in the color and sound turnover.

Copy the Locked Reference Video (don’t move it) from the Color folder to the VFX Out folder.

Resolve Project Setup

Only proceed with these steps after you have completed everything in the Turnover to Color page.

In the Media page inside the Sequences bin, duplicate the sequence named “Conform” and rename the new sequence VFX_Turnover as shown in the example below.

You will notice that the yellow VFX markers that you made in Media Composer to label and track the VFX shots have carried over into your Resolve sequence. In Resolve you can jump between markers quickly by using the keyboard shortcut “Shift + Up-or-Down Arrow”.

If you select one of the markers, you will see that all of the information that was logged into the marker in Media Composer and is in your VFX Turnover Sheet is present in the Resolve markers.

In the Media page comparing the online reference video and the Resolve sequence, you should notice that the VFX info burnt into the reference media matches the Resolve markers’ information.

To make the following steps easier, you will need to change the VFX shots in the timeline to a different color. Right-click on each of the VFX shots and then select Clip Color > Yellow.

After you have changed the clip color to yellow for all of your VFX shots, your sequence should look similar to the example below.

By default, the Clips Thumbnail Timeline in the Color page displays every clip in the sequence. But now that your VFX shots are tagged with a different color, you can sort by that color. Select clips as shown in the arrow bellow.

In the dropdown menu, select sort by Clip Color > Yellow.

As you can see in the example below, only the VFX clips are now shown in the Clips Thumbnail Timeline.

Exporting VFX Elements

After that prep work is done, you are ready to begin exporting out the elements that will be sent to the VFX department. In our workflow these elements are the exact length as the shot that appears in the locked cut. Under certain circumstances the VFX Faculty may request that these elements get exported with “handles” (i.e., a number of extra frames on either side). However, the default turnover is “no handles”.

NOTE! This guide details how to turnover simple VFX shots requiring only one element or “plate”. This is why in the example shown there is only one “VFX element” per “VFX shot”. More complex VFX shots requiring the compositing of multiple live action elements captured during production are done the same way using the same naming logic. However, if your show has more complex VFX shots like this, please check with VFX Faculty and Post Staff before proceeding for more guidance.

In the Delivery page, you can easily navigate to your VFX shots by selecting them in the Clips Thumbnail Timeline. Once selected, you can hit “I” and “O” on the keyboard to mark in and out around the selected clip. It is important in this step that you have marked around the entire clip and no additional frames on either side. You do not want to turn over elements with extra frames.

Under Render Setting on the Delivery page, you will need to label each element that you are going to export. The naming convention follows from the “names” or “shot code” that were assigned when the VFX shots were labeled in Media Composer (see the VFX Prep page). This naming convention MUST be followed.

Each element will be named with the assigned VFX name followed by “_plt”. In the example below the VFX shot is named “09mth_vfx030”. The element that is being turned over to the VFX department is a “plate” and thus should be labeled 09mth_vfx030_plt.

Select Browse to choose where to export. These plates should be exported to your show volume in the VFX > VFX Out > Shots folder. You will need to create the Shots folder and then a separate folder for each VFX shot, based on the VFX shot name.

Below are the Render Settings for all VFX Turnovers. Double-check the settings carefully before exporting.

If you have more than one VFX shot or element to export, you can add each export job to the render queue and then render them all at once.

Once all of your renders are complete, it should look something like the example below. Notice how each VFX shot has its own labeled folder and inside that folder are the labeled VFX elements.

Check VFX Renders

To check that the exports you made of each VFX element are correct, you will need to import them back into the Resolve project. On the Media page, navigate through your media storage to your VFX shots and drag them into the Media Pool to import them.

These clips should also be changed so that that the clip color is yellow inside of Resolve, to denote that they are VFX shots. In the Media Pool, you can highlight them all, right-click, and select clip color.

In the Edit page, carefully cut each turned-over VFX element back into the sequence on Video Track 2. This will ensure that you did not miss any VFX shots and that you exported out everything that needed to be turned over.

While the elements are on Video Track 2, you need to double-check two things. First, make sure that the export has the exact same number of frames as the clip below it. It should match exactly. Second, you can toggle Video Track 2 on and off to make sure that both layers are visually identical. You want to ensure that the elements turned over to the VFX department are identical to the Camera Original Files.

Wrap Up

Once you have checked each of the VFX elements that were exported, you should be left with a folder tree in the VFX Out folder that looks like the example below.

The VFX Turnover package, which consists of a Locked Reference Video, VFX Turnover Sheet, and all the VFX Plates are now ready for the VFX Department. In the industry, this package would typically be sent to the VFX Vendor over a secure, cloud-based application or loaded onto a hard drive and shipped. In our workflow, everything can stay in the VFX Out folder on the show volume. When the VFX cycle begins, the VFX artist will copy this folder to the VFX server and begin working from there.

Save the project by hitting “Command+S”. Then go to the task bar and select Export Project… Make sure the project is named accordingly and place it in the proper folder on your show volume:

After you confirm that the .drp file is in the correct place, you can quit Resolve.

Congratulations, you are done!

Picture Lock – VFX Prep

Overview

This guide is only necessary if your show has approved VFX shots.

In the industry, the process of keeping track of VFX shots in editorial is normally the responsibility of an assistant editor or VFX editor in the editorial department. In our workflow, this responsibility rests on the editor. This guide lays out the steps necessary to properly label VFX shots in Media Composer so that they can be tracked during editorial and then turned over after picture lock. It also shows how to create a VFX Turnover Sheet at picture lock to make the VFX Turnover process easier.

Adding Markers

Every approved VFX shot in your edit needs to be marked and labeled in the order that they appear in the edit. Markers are helpful because you can easily navigate between them by hitting “A” and “S” on your keyboard. They are also very helpful later on when it comes to turning over your VFX elements because they translate over to Resolve.

These markers are how you will assign “names” or “shot codes” to your individual VFX shots. It is important that the naming convention is clear, consistent, and never repeats. This is the naming convention for VFX shots that must be followed:

  • show#_vfxshot# (example: 09mc_vfx010)

If 09MC had five VFX shots they would be labeled as follows:

  • 09mc_vfx010
  • 09mc_vfx020
  • 09mc_vfx030
  • 09mc_vfx040
  • 09mc_vfx050

Notice that everything is in lowercase. There are no spaces, only underscores. The first shot is labeled “010” instead of “001”. VFX shots should be labeled in “tens”. This is in case a VFX shot is approved and added later; if it comes between two shots, the naming convention will still sort properly.

In the example below is a highlighted clip that has been approved to have a sign digitally removed. You will need to add a yellow marker to the first frame of the shot.

Place the playhead at the first frame of the VFX shot. Make sure only the track with the VFX shot is highlighted and hit “T” on the keyboard. This will add IN and OUT markers around the clip. After the IN and OUT markers are added, you can look at the time code readout above the composer window. The center box will always display the time between IN and OUT markers. If it is displaying in timecode, click it once and it will switch to displaying frames. Once that is done you have the information you need to add the yellow marker.

Hit “3” on the keyboard to add the yellow marker to the first frame of the clip. The “Edit Marker” box will appear and you will need to fill it out as shown bellow.

  • Marker Name: show#_shot#
  • Color: Yellow
  • Description: Write a brief description of the effect / the frame count

Click “OK”.

After clicking “OK”, you will see that a small yellow marker has been added to the first frame of the VFX shot. If your playhead is directly on top of that marker, the marker color and description will appear below the record monitor.

Repeat this process for all other VFX shots in your sequence in order.

Adding Timeline Clip Notes

After you have finished adding markers to all the VFX shots, you will want to label them another way as well. Your VFX shots need to have “burn-ins” using the Timecode Overlay Effect as described in the Picture Lock document. Using Timeline Clip Notes is the best way to do this.

Navigate to each of your VFX shots, right-click on it, and from the dropdown menu choose Add Timeline Clip Note…

A box will appear that you will need to fill in with the same information that you added to the marker. If your playhead is directly on the marker, it will be easier to do this because the description and frame count will be visible. Format your clip notes exactly as below.

After you click “okay”, if you have the correct Timecode Overlay effect applied, your Clip Note will appear in the upper left corner in yellow as shown in the example below.

VFX Turnover Sheet

At picture lock, if your show has approved VFX shots you will need to double-check all of your VFX markers and Clip Notes to make sure they are up-to-date in your Locked Sequence. After you have done that, you can export a VFX Turnover Sheet. From the task bar, select Tools > Markers.

With the Markers tab, open you will see all of your markers laid out in a bin view with several columns across the top. These columns can be sorted and hidden like a normal bin. If you have other Markers displayed here you will need to delete them. For the VFX Turnover Sheet to be accurate, you need to make sure the only markers in your Locked sequence are yellow VFX markers.

Arrange the columns as shown below. Hide all of the other columns leaving only Marker Name, Frame, TC, and Description (in that order). Sort by the Marker Name column so that your VFX shots are in numerical order.

Right-click and select “Print Markers”

In the Print menu, ignore all the printing options and select “PDF” in the lower-left corner.

A Finder window will appear so that you can give your PDF a name and location. Label the PDF show#_VFX_Turnover_Sheet and save it in the VFX > VFX Out folder on your show volume.

When you click “Save”, a window will appear asking about Print Scale. The default is 100%. Leave it like that and click “OK”. The PDF that you made should be saved in the folder shown below and when you open it in Preview should appear formatted like the example.

Continue with the instructions for Picture Lock.

Turnover to Resolve

Overview

In the industry, this process is referred to as “Onlining” or “Conforming” because this is where the picture edits made with the lower quality offline media in Media Composer are remade with the highest quality media. An Assistant Editor would normally be responsible for exporting all the necessary elements out of Media Composer. Those elements would then be sent to the facility that handles color grading and finishing. In our workflow, the Editor is responsible for both exporting the necessary files out of Media Composer and conforming to the highest quality media in DaVinci Resolve. This is to ensure that any issues during turnover can be caught immediately and the Resolve project is left ready for color grading.

This step-by-step guide for color turnover covers how to:

Export Reference Video From Media Composer

A reference video of the locked sequence will need to be exported so that it can be used in Resolve as an offline reference video to check the conformed sequence against.

Mount your Show Volume and launch your Media Composer project. Open the Locked Sequences bin. Select your locked sequence and hit “Command+D” to duplicate the sequence.

Rename the new sequence Show#_Locked_Reference_Video and move it to the Color Turnover bin.

Open the new sequence. Mark In and Out for the entire timeline and activate all tracks.

From the task menu select File > Output > Export to File…

Point the export to the Color > Reference Video folder on your Show Volume. Check that the name of the export will be correct. Select the “Reference Video” preset.

Before clicking “Save” to export, double-check the preset by clicking “Options” and make sure the settings are exactly as shown in the example below:

When the export is complete, navigate in the Finder to where it was exported and open it in QuickTime Player to make sure everything is okay.

Export AAF From Media Composer

Duplicate the sequence named “Locked Reference Video” and rename it show#Locked_Color_Turnover as shown in the example below:

Open the new sequence. Mark In and Out for the entire timeline and activate all tracks.

From the task menu, select File > Output > Export to File…

Point the export to the Color > AAF folder on your Show Volume. Check that the name of the export will be correct. Select the “Color_Turnover – AAF to Resolve” preset.

Before clicking “Save” to export, double-check the preset by clicking “Options” and make sure the settings are exactly as shown in the example below:

When the AAF is finished exporting, Media Composer will automatically import it back into the Color Turnover bin as a sequence. If you open the sequence, you will see that the AAF only held information describing the video tracks. That is all Resolve will need.

After you check that, you can close Media Composer.

Open Resolve and Import Media

Navigate on your Show Volume to the DaVinci Resolve folder. Inside should be a project template.

After you open the project template, you will need to rename the project so that it is specific to your show. From the task bar navigate to File > Save Project As…

Label your project as show#_Conform as shown in the example below.

Your project should already have several folders made and labeled inside the Media Pool.

The only folder in the Media Pool that will already have media in it is the Extras folder, which contains the media that is necessary for the online front sequence.

To import the online quality media into Resolve, navigate to your show’s OCF folder in the Finder and then select the OCF folder in the Media pPool.

To import the media, drag the entire folder into the open folder in the Media Pool.

Next, you will need to do the same process for your show’s credits and titles. Navigate to your show’s Credits folder in the Finder and then select the Credits folder in the Media Pool.

To import the credits and titles, drag them into the open folder in the Media Pool.

Finally, you will need to import the reference video you exported out of Media Composer. Navigate to your show’s Reference Video folder in the Finder and then select the Reference Video folder in the Media Pool.

DO NOT drag the reference video into the open folder in the Media Pool. It needs to be imported in a specific way so that Resolve can use it as an offline reference clip. Right-click on the video reference file and then select “Add as Offline Reference Clip”.

Import AAF into Resolve

In the Media Pool, right-click inside the Sequences folder. Then navigate to Timelines > Import > AAF

Navigate in the Finder window to where you saved the AAF that was exported from Media Composer and click “Open”.

Inside the Import AAF window, you will need to make some adjustments before clicking “Ok”:

  • Change the Timeline Name to Show#_Locked_Conform
  • Change the start timecode to 00:59:55:00
  • Check “Automatically set project settings”
  • Check “Link to source camera files”
  • Check “Use sizing information”

Since you did not select “Automatically import source clips into media pool,” it will prompt you to choose which folders in the Media Pool already contain the online media. Select the folders as shown in the example below and then click “Ok”.

Do not be surprised if you get alerts that look like this in the Log after the AAF imports. This is a list of everything that was written into the AAF from Media Composer that cannot be reproduced in Resolve. In most cases this is limited to any use of the Avid Titler+ effect, the timecode burn in effect, or any stabilization that was done.

You should see that your sequence from Media Composer is now imported into the Sequences folder in Resolve.

Prep the Conform Sequence

The locked sequence is now connected to the online media. Before you can check it against the offline reference video, you will need to do some prep work. In Media Composer, Video Track 5 held the aspect ratio matte. Most likely it has come over into Resolve, but often it has become connected to another piece of media. Since Resolve has its own way of handling aspect ratio mattes, you can delete the matte from Video Track 5. The Credits can also be brought down from Video Track 4 to Video Track 2. When you have done this your sequence should look like the example below.

Since you deleted the aspect ratio matte from Video Track 5 you will need to reapply it. Go the task bar and select Timeline > Output Blanking > Your Aspect Ratio Matte. In the example below the 2.39:1 matte is being applied.

Right-click on one of the empty video tracks over on the left and select “Delete Empty Tracks” to clean up the sequence.

Right-click on the 2.0 audio track and select Change Track Type To > 5.1 > 5.1. This will prepare the sequence for eventually accepting the 5.1 audio mix.

Once you have done all of the above, your timeline should look similar to the example below.

Check the Conform Sequence

Now that your sequence is prepped and cleaned up it is time to check it against the offline reference video to ensure it matches your picture lock sequence from Media Composer.

Right-click on your sequence and then navigate to Timeline > Link Offline Reference Clip > Your Reference Video. This will link the reference video and your sequence together.

To take advantage of the link, you will need to switch the source monitor to “offline” mode. When set to “offline” mode, the monitor on the left will no lower behave as a source monitor but instead it will display your reference video. In this mode, the left monitor will play the reference while simultaneously the right monitor will display your Resolve sequence.

Before you check the Resolve sequence against the offline reference video, there is one last bit of prep. In Media Composer, your slate was created using the Avid Titler+ effect. Since that effect does not translate over into Resolve, you will need to apply the Text effect to the slate so that you can recreate the same text in Resolve.

In the example below, you can see the reference video on the left with the text that was created in Media Composer and on the screen on the right the same text that has been recreated in Resolve.

To make the step of checking the Resolve sequence against the reference video easier, you will want to first apply the default node tree to every clip. The default node tree has the LUT inside one of its nodes. By applying this, it will make the Resolve sequence match closer to the Reference Video.

Switch over to the Color page. By default, each clip has an empty node graph and the image will appear in Log like the example below.

Apply the default node template to every shot so that the image will appear in Rec. 709 like the example below.

Switch back to the Edit page. You are ready to begin checking your Resolve sequence against your reference video. If you right-click inside the right screen, you will see different options for Wipes and Overlays. With “No Wipe” applied, both screens should look very similar. However, it would be difficult to tell if they matched perfectly.

To make this easier switch the right screen to “Difference” mode. This will lay the reference video on top of the Resolve sequence on the right. Any pixels where the two line up perfectly will appear black. Play through the entire film this way and make sure that in Difference mode the right screen stays black. If it does then you know that the sequence in Resolve matches the reference video perfectly.

It’s possible that the sequence in Resolve and the reference video won’t match perfectly. This could happen for many reasons: e.g., reframing in Media Composer, speed changes in Media Composer, or other effects. This is not a problem, but it does mean you will need to correct it.

Below is an example of what it may look like if a reframe from Media Composer didn’t translate over perfectly. As you can see from the example, the fix is a simple manual adjustment in Resolve so that they match up.

Another common reason why the Resolve sequence may not match the reference video is if a speed change has been applied. This may need to be tweaked in Resolve to allow it to match.

If you cannot get any shot to match perfectly, mark that shot with a blue marker and name it with a brief description of the problem. After you have made it through the entire film, reach out to the Post Staff and they can help you with any shots marked in blue.

Saving and Exporting Project

Once you have finished checking your Resolve sequence against the reference video and they match perfectly, the project is ready for color grading. Save the project by hitting “Command+S”. Then go to the task bar and select Export Project…

Make sure the project will be named accordingly and place it in the proper folder on your Show Volume:

After you confirm that the .drp file is in the correct place you can quit Resolve.

Congratulations, you are done!

Turnover to ProTools

Overview

This is the process where the editorial department prepares and exports files so that the locked sequence in Media Composer can be turned over to ProTools for the sound department to work with. In the industry, an Assistant Editor would normally be responsible for exporting all the necessary elements to turn over to the sound department. Then the sound department uses those elements to conform the sequence in ProTools. In our workflow, the Editor is responsible for both exporting the necessary files out of Media Composer but importing those files into ProTools. This is to ensure that any issues during turnover can be caught immediately.

This step-by-step guide for sound turnover covers how to:

Export Reference Video from Media Composer

A reference video of the locked sequence will need to be exported so that the sound department has something to watch in ProTools during the sound design phase.

Mount your Show Volume and launch your Media Composer project. Open the Locked Sequences bin. Select your locked sequence and hit “Command+D” to duplicate the sequence.

Rename the new sequence Show#_Locked_Reference_Video and move it to the Sound Turnover bin.

Open the new sequence. Mark In and Out for the entire timeline and activate all tracks.

From the task menu select File > Output > Export to File…

Point the export to the Sound > Reference Video folder on your Show Volume. Check that the name of the export will be correct. Select the “Reference Video” preset.

Before clicking “Save” to export, double-check the preset by clicking “Options” and make sure the settings are exactly as shown in the example below:

When the export is complete, navigate in the Finder to where it was exported and open it in QuickTime Player to make sure everything is okay.

Export AAF from Media Composer

Duplicate the sequence named “Locked Reference Video” and rename it show#Locked_Sound_Turnover as shown in the example below:

Open the new sequence. Mark In and Out for the entire timeline and activate all tracks.

From the task menu, select File > Output > Export to File…

Point the export to the Sound > AAF folder on your Show Volume. Check that the name of the export will be correct. Select the “Sound_Turnover – AAF to Protools” preset.

Before clicking “Save” to export, double-check the preset by clicking “Options” and make sure the settings are exactly as shown in the example below:

When the AAF is finished exporting, Media Composer will automatically import it back into the Sound Turnover bin as a sequence. If you open the sequence, you will see that the AAF only held information describing the audio tracks. That is all ProTools will need.

After you check that, you can close Media Composer.

Import AAF into ProTools

Navigate on your Show Volume to your ProTools project and open it.

When ProTools opens, select the folder labeled “AAF”:

From the task menu, select File > Import > Session Data…

Navigate in the Finder window to where you saved the AAF that was exported from Media Composer and click “Open”.

In the Import Session Data page make sure the select “Link to Source Media” under Audio Media Options. And check the box labeled “Import Rendered Audio Effects”. Then select “OK”.

The AAF folder will populate with all the audio tracks from your locked sequence. This may take a few minutes to finish. When it does, it will look like the example below.

If you get any kind of error while importing your AAF, it is likely because something was not done properly during the picture lock stage. Go back to the Media Composer project and double-check the steps in the handbook. If that doesn’t fix the error, ask the Post Staff for help.

Import Reference Video into ProTools

Next, you will need to import the reference video that was exported out of Media Composer into ProTools. Select the “Video” folder:

From the task menu, select File > Import > Video…

Navigate in the Finder window to where you saved the Reference Video that was exported from Media Composer and click “Open”.

In the Video Import Options page make sure to select “Main Video Track” as the Destination and check the box labeled “Import audio from file”. Then select “OK”.

It will ask you to choose a destination for the audio and will default to the correct “Audio Files” folder. Click “Open”.

The reference video will come in on the correct track, but the audio attached to it will need to be moved.

Move the audio down to the Guide Track.

Lock both the Video and Guide Track by selecting them and hitting “Command + L”.

Delete the empty track to clean up your project.

Congratulations, you are done! The ProTools project can now be saved and closed. It is ready for the sound design phase.

Frame.io Review Links

Overview

You may sometimes need to share content on Frame.io, such as dailies or cuts, with someone who is not a member of the Frame.io project. This may happen if you are needing to share cuts with a Director, a Composer, or a faculty member. Creating a review link in Frame.io is easy to do, following the instructions below.

You do need to be careful when sharing review links. Anyone with the link, regardless of who they are, will have access to the linked content on frame.io and will be able to leave comments.

CREATE A REVIEW LINK

Navigate to the video on Frame.io that you want to share. Then, click the three dots to the right of the video:

This will open a dropdown menu that you can navigate through. Select “Share” and then “Share for Review”:

A window will open prompting you to choose what kind of link you want to create. To be able to send the link to someone who’s not already a member of the Frame.io project, you will need to change it to “Public”:

Then, click the icon to copy the link to your clipboard:

Now you can paste this link anywhere, such as in a Teams message or an email, and send it to whomever needs to see it.

Manage Review Links

If you need to go back and manage the review links you’ve created, navigate to the main page for project and click on the Review Links tab:

This will display all the links that have been created for that project. If you wish to activate or deactivate a review link, toggle the “Active” button:

If you need to re-copy the review link, you can do so here:

If you need to adjust settings, add or remove files, or duplicate or delete a review link, click on the three dots and a dropdown menu will appear:

Stock Footage

Overview

For a range of reasons, filmmakers will sometimes utilize stock footage resources. This page outlines the school’s policies on the use of stock footage in student films. In this context, the term “stock footage” refers to any pre-existing footage that students did not create themselves during assigned production days.

As a school, our primary focus is on the creation of original work. The emphasis is therefore on students creating all the imagery for their films themselves, rather than relying on stock footage libraries. Educationally, this helps students learn the process of creating original imagery, and the labor and resources that are needed to accomplish that. This helps students better understand the value of intellectual property, as their focus is more on creating intellectual property from scratch than on “borrowing” work created by others.

The process of clearing the rights for stock footage also informs the school’s policies. Many stock footage resources have inaccurate or misleading copyright information. For example, sites may claim that footage is in the public domain when it is not. To work through all the potential copyright and licensing issues with stock footage can be a lengthy and laborious process for both students and faculty. On many of our production cycles, there either isn’t sufficient time to do this or the time could be better spent focusing on other aspects of the production.

For these reasons, use of stock footage is limited to F2, FC, and MC projects. Stock footage is not allowed on the F1, F3, M1 or M2 projects.

F2 • FC • MC

  • Stock footage is allowed.
  • All stock footage needs to be cleared by the Head of Production, to ensure that we have the proper rights to use the footage.
  • If stock footage is going to appear on camera during production — e.g., imagery on a television within a scene — the footage needs to be cleared before the start of principal photography. If stock footage is added during post-production, the footage needs to be clear before picture lock.
  • Stock footage can only be purchased with CMPA funds. Students are not permitted to purchase stock footage with personal funds.
  • Stock footage that is already owned by the CMPA, such as media that was originally shot for another FSU film, may be utilized. Please allow two weeks of turnaround on any such requests, in case the media files need to be pulled from the archive.

F1 • F3 • M1 • M2

  • Stock footage is NOT allowed.
  • All footage appearing on screen during the running time of these projects needs to be created by students during the assigned production days. This includes any content that needs to appear on screens within shots — e.g., a news broadcast that appears on a television within the scene. Producers will need to build time into the production schedule to create this embedded content during the assigned production days. 

Picture Lock

Overview

At the end of the picture edit cycle, the Editor and Director will be assigned a time to formally lock picture. This means that the Lock Sequence must be completed by that time and the appropriate fields must be filled out in Motion. Your editing instructor will be the person who deems your show “Locked” after checking the running time and making sure all notes have been addressed.

Once picture locking is complete and all the parameters laid out in this guide are met, the Editor and Director will work with the Post Staff to prep the film for the next phases of the post-production chain, which includes turnover for sound design and color correction.

Create the Locked sequence

In Media Composer, correctly identify your locked sequence and save it in the Picture Lock bin as Show#_Locked:

Double-check the project settings by going to Preferences. In the Format tab, the settings should be as follows:

Check the Front Sequence

All locked sequences must have a “front sequence” at the start of the timeline, which must be formatted to SMPTE standards. This involves setting the sequence timecode to begin at 01:00:00:00 and building a front sequence that includes the SMPTE Countdown Leader with the slate information filled in and the FSU Film leader.

The correct front sequence should have already been set for you in the standard project template. If for some reason it’s no longer there, all the media for the front sequence can be found in the FSU_Film_Extras bin inside the 04_Misc folder.

Your sequence should be set to start at timecode 01:00:00:00. If for some reason your sequence no longer starts at this timecode you can change it now. To do this, click in the Record Monitor and select “Sequence Report”. This will allow you to modify the Starting TC:

The slate should already have a template laid out for all the information you need to provide. Using the Titler+ tool in Media Composer, fill out the slate with all the information shown below. Keep this slate professional.

Double-check the the timing of the front sequence:

  • SMPTE Countdown begins at 01:00:00:00. If everything is put together correctly, the “two-pop” on the countdown leader will fall exactly on 01:00:06:00. (This is very important!)
  • FSU Film Leader begins at 01:00:08:00
  • First frame of picture content begins at 01:00:18:00

Your front sequence should match the example below:

While checking the correct timing of your front sequence, also make sure to check that NO sound from your film starts before 01:00:10:00. There should be exactly 2 seconds of silence after the Countdown has finished.

Add Titles and Credits

The College has strict requirements for how titles and credits need to be formatted. Before building your titles, read the requirements here.

The finished titles and credits must be in at picture lock, cut into the correct video track. The credit sequence should be one continuous image sequence, properly labeled. Do not cut up your credit sequence inside Media Composer. The export from After Effects needs to be correct, so that no further adjustments are required inside Media Composer.

Condense Video Tracks

To prep your timeline for coloring, your video tracks (not your audio tracks) need to be condensed onto as few video tracks as possible. It’s understood that, due to the nature of how some video dissolves are built, more than one video track is sometimes necessary. The idea is to reduce the amount of tracks and media as much as possible.

Your sequence would go from looking like the example below with video on tracks V1 – V3 that needs to be brought down…

…to your sequence looking like the example below with everything consolidated onto one track:

Apply Masking

Video Track 5 should have the proper aspect ratio matte (which was chosen during production and notated on the camera reports) applied over top of the entire film (including the credits).

Check Sound Organization

During picture editing, a great deal of sound work should have been accomplished. It may not be the exact music and effects that will be in the finished mix, but the Editor should have taken a good polish to the locked sequence. To make sure all the Editor’s sound work will translate over to ProTools when the locked sequence is turned over, check all the sound media that may be in your locked sequence.

  • Everything must be transcoded (nothing should be linked)
  • The Audio Sample Rate for all Music, Backgrounds, and SFX should match at 48000

The Production Audio should all be in the Audio Tracks (A1-A6):

The Backgrounds should be in Audio Tracks (A8-A9). This should be stereo media in stereo tracks:

The SFX should be in Audio Tracks (A10-A13):

The music should be in Audio Tracks (A14-A15). This should be stereo media in stereo tracks:

Apply Timecode Overlay

The Timecode Burn-In Effect should be applied to Video Track 6 and cut over top of the entire sequence:

The default Timecode Burn-In Effect in the template may need to be modified slightly.

Display 1 should be set to “Sequence Name”. This should be placed in the top-center so that it displays as shown in the example below. This is so that, when it is exported as a video file, it is easy to identify which show it is and that it is locked.

Display 2 should be set to “Timecode” and “V1”. This should be placed in the bottom-left corner so that it displays as shown in the example below. This timecode matches the locked sequence.

Display 3 should be set to “Source Timecode” and “V1”. This should be placed in the bottom-right corner so that it displays as shown in the example below. This timecode matches the media in the locked sequence.

Display 4 should be set to “Timeline Clip Text” and “V1”. The color of the text should be modified to be yellow and be placed in the top-left corner so that it displays as shown in the example below. These burn-ins are helpful for keeping track of which shots are VFX shots.

Display 5 should have the date of picture lock typed in. This should be placed in the top-right corner so that it displays as shown in the example below. This is helpful for keeping track of when the show locked.

QC the locked sequence

The Director and Editor should watch the film one last time, looking for black frames or any other problems. This is your last chance to make any changes. Once your picture is locked, it is locked!

Save the project

Finally, once you are confident that your locked sequence is formatted correctly, make sure to save your Picture Lock bin.

Front Sequence Set-up

Instructions

Download the Extras folder, which is located on frame.io inside the F2 folder.

In Media Composer, change the sequence starting time to 00:59:00:00.

Control-click on the Program Monitor – Sequence Report.

Import / link to the Bars and Tone video and add it to the timeline. It should run for exactly 30 seconds.

Add a 30-second slate with the title tool that includes: the title of the film; the names of the creative team; and the TRT of the film. Note: the TRT starts at the first frame of FSU leader and ends at the final frame of the copyright.

Import / link to the countdown and add it to timeline. This should run for exactly 8 seconds.

Import / link to the FSU Leader and add it to timeline. This should also run for 8 seconds.

Pick-Up Photography

Overview

Pick-up photography is defined as any photography taken after completion of principal photography in order to enhance the narrative.

On the BTH and MC cycles, students may make a request to the Head of Production for pick-up photography to improve moments in the film that were not captured successfully during principal photography. Pick-up requests may not be made for additional moments that were not part of the original shooting plan.

No show will be approved for more than six hours of pick-up photography. And all pick-up photography will need to be completed and cut into the edit before picture lock. In some cases, this may mean that the turnaround time for pick-up photography is tight, so students will need to be diligent and proactive if they want to put in a request.

Pick-up photography is a privilege to be earned. Since pick-up photography involves time and resources, requests will not be approved automatically. Approvals will be granted only if the time and resources are available and if students make a compelling case for the value of the pick-ups to the film (including proof that the problem cannot be adequately solved with careful editing choices).

Pick-up request procedure

Students will need to complete a Additional Photography Request form, in which they must provide the following details:

  • the exact nature of the subject matter to be shot;
  • the reason why it was not shot with the first unit crew during principal photography;
  • the date, times, and location of the proposed shoot;
  • the crew required for the proposed shoot, including names and signatures (you’ll need to determine how many crew members you need and you’ll need to recruit them);
  • notes on any special equipment requests;
  • notes on any budget plans;
  • any other supporting documentation.

For MC projects, all requests must be submitted to the MFA Head of Production no later than the end of the spring semester. For BFA Thesis, all requests must be submitted to the BFA Head of Production no later than the day of the first cut screening.

The Head of Production’s decision on whether to approve or deny a pick-up photography request is final.