Let’s start by a lie: as we just received the 5D mkIV some months ago, I’ve to admit that a very little amount of projects are entirely in 4K. As the customer wants a social network final display and is not interested by a 4K deliver, we take the pros of our 4K devices without limiting our settings or our devices to finally edit Full HD.

Gear

There’s several schools in filmakers which are focusing on standards, on sensor size, on quality, on weight… I’m in the one which try to take the best of all ideas: I try to increase the quality/originality/weight/budget ratio as high as I can and… it’s not easy. Cinema productions can use Red cameras on helmets, on cars, on 20kgs drones, underwater and so on, but when budget starts to take its toll, the Dji Phantom and the GoPro become a very good  compromise, mostly when all has to fit in 2 backpacks, even if it’s not RedCode.

Log

Some years ago, the main issue was the synchronization of all those brands, all those formats, all all those color sciences in the same project. Canon DSLRs were a little saturated, when GoPros looks almost overexposed, my first drone had poor colors, and all of this baked in MOV. The solution: thanks all to add C-Log, D-Log, Protune, S-Log and allows to ease the flexibility and the bond with raw RedCode shots.

Colorimetry

Nevertheless, I’m using a separate main Lumetri color layer for each device in a sequence, which is more or less equivalent, but avoids to display unsightly differences and to correct it by break all the sequence. Flat colors are a good point, but different sensor sizes suffice to get differences in contrast and in color depth, so I don’t take risk until I’ll shot all in RedCode !

A to Z

So ! Here we are, the shooting part has ended and I’m in front of SD, CF, micro SD and MiniMag. First of all: backup, if it’s not already done ! All sequences (and photos) are stored using a simple hierarchy: Images folder / year / month / 5 december – purpose [Device]. And it’s the same design since 2010. For some big shootings on several days and with several devices, I put in the month folder an uppercase sub folder, it’s easier to find. Then, the sorting phase: for each folder, I play every sequence twice: the first time I remove all failed shots: bad focus, missed action, really bad exposure. On the second, I start to take the “best of a plan”: if I have 3 or 4 sequences for the same action, I can keep the best two. And in the same time, I rename the ones to take: I always keep the original file name and add my description: it permits to know where does this sequence comes from, and order it naturally. The description doesn’t have to be detailed, it just have to give you an idea about the purpose of the shot, you’ll remind it during the editing phase which take comes with which title. And then, all of this goes to Premiere Pro.

Premiere Folders

What’s the first step to create a vidéo in Premiere Pro ? Create a project. Take a name. And then, this is an habit started in 2014, add folders in the Project: MUSIC, SOUNDS, TITLES and also sorted by devices: 5D3, RAVEN, MAVIC, and in some cases by purpose: ACTION, B-ROLL, INTRO, SLOWMO… Every filter is good to take and to avoid having an huge mess of videos. It’s now time to create the Sequence: if you know exactly which will be the final format and resolution, let’s start with it. If you don’t, take the wider as you images can fit.

Rough-hew

I’ve got all my interesting shots, my sequence is ready, let’s bring this together ! And here’s the surprise: I need to deliver a 3-minutes export and I’ve got 54 minutes of sequences… That’s normal, but damn ! I can do 3 or 4 passes through all shots to be sure to take the best part, reduce or remove, before any music-related editing.

Music

When I have a sequence reduced around 10-15 minutes, the real editing part comes. In my opinion, the music choice is maybe the most important phase before starting the real edit, and I need to have the final music length cut before starting to fit images into. When it’s done, I can set the interesting part for introduction, end titles and structure my edit.

Validation

Well, I’ve got my first draft which fits in the music length, I can show it to the customer in order to validate the music, the images and the length. All of this before any color correction, any logo insert, or any transition (don’t forget to tell this to the client !) but if any part of the edit is categorically refused, the time lost is less important. So I publish this draft version in Full HD only, there’s no reason to have maximum quality for a draft.

Increment until final

And then, it can be the longest part, lest add value to this edit: layers for color correction, insert titles, logos, thankings, maybe some transitions in order to move towards the final version. Don’t hesitate to send intermediate versions if necessary to ensure that the final is really the final ! Most customers change one’s mind between two versions 😉 Also, there’s a trend to create a reduced version for social medias like instagram, in length or in resolution (in order to fit the vertical display), the process is the same but the validation is not needed.

Breathe

This is the long awaited moment: the final export ! Here you can select all maximum resolution and quality settings, the only limit is the WeTransfer maximum upload (but if it’s blocking, other file transfer services are available, of the FTP for sure). It’s finished, until the next project !