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Having fun getting your video editor's files to behave in your Pro Tools session? Here's some advice, starting with a basic contextual model for file based workflow.
Think of 3 layers: a decision list (eg AAF or OMF), a wrapper (eg MXF or QuickTime), and then data compression. When it comes to video compression the upshot is i-frame codecs rock in ProTools and longop codecs suck....-so video editors please note that longop codecs like H264 or Mpeg4 are cool for streaming but they work like dogs in ProTools.
If your using a big budget Avid / PT / video satellite set up (a la Hollywood) then DNxHD36 is the way to go. (Usually just referred to as dnx36.) If however you live in Adelaide, then you'll most likely get a QuickTime format file from the video editor, who's probably using Final Cut Pro. Here then DVPAL remains the norm for Aussie needs...(DV25 gets a thumbs up as can older codecs like motion JPEG or even Sorenson if you know which one to chose.)
Hey Simon, you might be interested to know that this workflow has absolutely no correllation with ours! We're on PC, using Premiere CS4, and work with raw WAV audio data. IMO you only need to play by the rules if you've learned them... or bought your way into unnecessarily complex/expensive toolkits and hardware combos. Since we tend to do our own audio in house, I don't need picture when I'm doing post sound... so I just take the .WAV files and mix away.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan...just goes to show there's no silver bullet and whatever gets you through the night is alright! We've got different tools and i'm talking about situations where you need to mix to picture, so not surprising we have different approaches.
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