So you wanted a grade?
The hand-off process can be a simple transaction, or a mind-bending dilemma consuming vital hours. In this post we’ll look at the 2 most common methods of getting your footage onto your colourist’s screen, and the pros and cons of each.
Stop me if this sounds familiar: “how do we deliver the files to you?”. It’s a question that every commercial colourist gets frequently and unfortunately it’s a question without a simple answer.
It often leads to more questions:
Does the colourist want the original camera footage?
Do we want to grade the Raw files?
Is the edit fully locked?
What format should we export in?
Does the colourist need an XML/EDL/AAF/ETC/ETC?
How big is the file and how should we transfer it?
Etc. etc…
To address these, 2 predominant methods of handoff have emerged. These aren’t the only ways to get your project in front of your colourist’s eyes, but they are the most common.
They are:
The Hard Drive Method
Giving the full project to your colourist with camera originals, either by physical hard drive or web transfer
The Bake and Blade Method
Exporting a Locked Edit in a high quality format to send to your colourist
Let’s take a look at how they work, why you should use them, and which one is right for you.
The Full Hard Drive Method
Simple and complicated all at the same time, this workflow is best if you need maximum flexibility and have a bit more time & technological patience on your hands.
What is it?
Essentially you’re delivering the original camera files to your colourist along with a project file (such as an XML) so that they can open up your edit in Resolve. Or your colourist can take charge of the conform from your editing software to Resolve, as long as they have all the project files.
There are 2 ways of delivering this to your colourist: either you hand them a hard drive in person, or you use a web-based file transfer service to send them the files. As full project drives can be very heavy with data, often the former option is used when working locally.
How it works?
Step 1: Deliver the project & camera files to your colourist or post-house
Step 2: The post-house will bring the edit into Resolve and conform it
Step 3: The colourist grades it
Step 4: The colourist exports it in your format of choosing and you bring it back into your edit system for delivery
Why use this method?
There are several advantages to this method:
Flexibility:
How many times have you been 110% certain that your edit is locked, only to get that email at 4.30pm on a Friday to ask for just a couple more changes. We’ve all been there and we’ll be there again. Because your colourist has all the files, if you switch out a shot, or have to extend something, this is not such a big deal as you can often just send over a new timeline file. Or better still if your colourist has delivered the grade to you with frame handles you don’t need to bother them if your endboard needs to be extended by 5 frames because you have them there.
Original Files:
There’s something to be said for your colourist having the original files straight from the camera. Whether it’s to give them access to the Raw settings if you shot Raw, or just to be able to view more detailed metadata.
Why wouldn’t you use this method?
Slow Off The Marks
Undoubtedly this is not the quickest way to get started. Rather than just sending over 1 export, you have to get a hard drive full of media over to your colourist. Whether you’re going there physically or transferring online, this will take time (unless they’re down the hall in which case good for you). Depending on your local traffic or internet speed this could add up to a 1/2 Day+ before you’re up and running and grading in anger.
FX & Conform Issues
When bringing an edit in Resolve, it’s not uncommon to run into conform issues, particularly with effects-heavy edits. For example, say you have speed ramps in your edit. Resolve will recreate these from the XML, but in my experience they are never quite right. The ramping can just be slightly different leading to frames not matching up exactly. Ditto for transitions and image scaling. What follows is some pain-staking problem solving to get it all to match up exactly. This has all improved greatly over the years and sometimes it works perfectly but it never inspires confidence.
Summary
This method can work great and offers a lot of flexibility. However it needs a few things in its favour to prevent it getting really messy. Namely a good workflow from edit to delivery, and the time to conform properly. If you’re looking for simplicity and speed, let me introduce you to option 2…
2. The Bake & BlaDe Method
What is it?
Essentially, instead of sending over a full hard drive of camera files, you simply export your finished edit in a high-quality format and send that to your colourist who looks after it from there.
How it works?
Step 1: Make sure your edit is fully locked
Step 2: The editor cleans up the timeline, making sure there’s nothing on top of the image e.g. titles & graphics.
Step 3: Editor exports in a high-quality format and sends to the colourist
Step 4: The post-house will recreate the edit points in Resolve and prep for the grade
Step 5: Your colourist grades it and sends back in 1 clean file
Why use this method?
Speed
Did I mention you’re only sending 1 file? Yes 1 file,. Not 794 files like the last method, but just the one. That’s not only simpler but quicker. File transfer services are so fast these days that you can have the assets in the colourist’s hands in very little time at all. This means less time waiting, and more time grading.
Certainty
Remember those conform issues I mentioned before? They’re no longer a worry. Every effect is baked in so you no longer have to worry & wonder if anything has moved around in the process. You can feel certain that this is the correct edit and you can move forward with confidence.
Why wouldn’t you use this method?
Rigid
You need certainty that your edit is locked and will not change. In the world of commercial video production this can often be easier said than done with clients often tweaking right until the very end. If this is your kind of client then maybe this isn’t for you. Having said that, if things do change it doesn’t take too long to get the grade transferred over.
No Camera Originals
Shot on Raw? That’s nice but it’s not much use here, it’s all baked in now as if you shot it in ProRes. On the other side, you’re a colourist and you spot a shot that doesn’t quite match up with everything else. Maybe they used a different camera? Will the file give you any clues? Afraid not, it’s all just 1 file now with no extra information to go off.
In reality, I would class both of these as “nice to have” and not essential, but it’s worth bearing in mind. And don’t get me started about the obsession with Raw because that’s a topic for another post …(Spoiler: you don’t need it).
Summary:
It’s quick, it’s decisive and it’s robust. The bake & blade method could be the one for you if you like simplicity and speed and don’t want to mess around with conforms and hard drives. What it makes up for in speed, it lacks in flexibility on the back-end. But in my opinion: speed kills.
CONCLUSION
So you now you’ve seen the pitfalls and you know the workflows. Hopefully this gives you a much better understanding of what goes into getting your edit from the bay into the suite. In essence these workflows are solutions for what’s essentially a clumsy process. The more prep & communication you come to the project with, the simpler this process will be. And if all else fails, just bake’n’blade and get colouring.
