This blog will detail how we navigate challenges, providing a road map for others in the industry. 

Introduction:

Using a combination of cine cameras and drones, we decided to use DJI camera technology throughout. Unless there is a reason, we film in 8K ProRes RAW, I hear you; why would you do that? Let me explain.

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Run and gun is the core of our work. Shooting in 8K ProRes RAW allows us to make considerable changes to the exposure, crop in to capture detail, remove objects, or generally adjust the footage without degrading the quality of the outcome.

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"Run-and-gun shooting, a technique that genuinely tests the agility and quick thinking of camera operators, starkly contrasts the controlled environment of narrative films. In these films, you have a 'film world’ or set where you can meticulously rehearse and shoot multiple takes of each scene. But in the real-world, where events unfold in real-time, you must be quick, agile, and reactive, hence the term 'run-and-gun ".

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While run-and-gun shooting has some inherent challenges, our workflow is designed to overcome these, ensuring a smooth and efficient production process within Davinci Resolve Studio.

Establish a working contract:

When working with clients, the phrase “every marriage starts well.” comes to mind! We create a contract that outlines expectations, stages, timelines, and how long you will keep footage. This is very important for our profit margin. You cannot store footage forever, making this clear in your contract, giving our clients the choice to pay extra for storing files over a realistic period. For us, it’s 60 days after sign-off for the video but not before the final payment.

Editing suite:

We primarily use Davinci Resolve Studio, which means we have to convert our footage from ProRes RAW to CDNG; for this, we use software from Assimilate, a product called Play Pro Studio, giving an accurate conversion of ProRes RAW to CinemaDNG. Assimilate support for all ProRes RAW cameras; although they offer much more, we use it to convert from ProRes RAW to CinemaDNG.

Using NVMe drives, which are directly connected via PCIe cards, the conversion process is relatively quick.

Quick Fact:

If you use CDNG within your Inspire 8K or 8.1K drone, you are limited to 25 FPS in 16 Bits or, with the additional licensing of ProRes RAW, you can film up to 60 frames per second in Full Frame and 75 at 2.39:1.

Once the footage is converted into CDNG, we will be ready to import it into Davinci Resolve. CDNG is a RAW, so the footage retains its RAW properties, and you can change the ISO (in Assimilate) and exposure levels, among other settings.

Davinci Resolve:

When we converted from Premiere Pro to Davinci, we had two definitive reasons for why and what we wanted to achieve.

The first was Nodes, and I will detail Nodes later in this blog.

Secondly, we are not colourists; however, in this industry, you must be or add the cost to our clients or add additional costs onto your clients (in my experience, that never works out well)!

Davinci allowed us to use another piece of vital software, Nobe OmniScope, which empowered us with enhanced scopes, resulting in the footage's visibility from a scientific perspective as well as seeing if you have any blanking(spaces around your footage), which is particularly useful if we crop.

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From here on, I am turning this into an education blog, just in case it's helpful to you.

Starting the project:

As always, the project's foundations will directly impact the output, so it’s vital to set this up and then learn how to automate them.

Having the correct setup:

Video editing requires a device specified for the frequency of its usage, speed, and storage, a REC 709-specified UHD 4K monitor, and a strict complex drive setup. I could write a long blog on this subject alone.

Because we chose to use DJI as our means of recording, the process is more straightforward than for a general video editor, who only knows what format the footage is coming in once it arrives.  

We already have this information, so it’s not a typical concern.

Colour Space Transforms:

Most of what we learnt about colour space transforms came from Darren Mostyn via a series of community videos. Although Darren does not discuss DJI colour spaces, what he teaches you is beyond the basics, allowing you to fill the gaps and feel confident.

Import the LUT (Lookup Tables) file from DJI. Click here. To import the LUT, look at the bottom of the Colour Management page in the Lookup Tables section, and don’t forget to click the ‘Update Lists’ button.

All of this section can be achieved with Nodes, but as we always use the same cameras, we have opted to do this here; it’s global. 

Project settings > Colour Management

Look for the setting cog at the bottom right of any page in DRS (Davinci Resolve Studio) or File, Project Settings. This will display the Project Settings.

All of this section can be achieved with Nodes, but as we always use the same cameras, 1 have opted to do this here; it’s global. 

 We also change the ‘Camera RAW’ settings to CDNG.

To match the settings below, this is a lesser documented area, so if you have any suggestions about why these settings are not optimal,we would like to hear them, although we get good results.

Editing – Cut process.

I will not dwell on this part, as it is a personalised part of the editing process. However, we do not start the transition, effects, speed ramping, or colouring until we have a firm timeline. 

Nodes.

We are process-driven, and our node structure suggests this.We have built our Node structure directly based on Darren Mostyn’s and Kasia Jarco's structures; both offer logical reasons why a structured Node workflow is essential.

So, what’s the story?

Let’s start with a video showing our Node structure.

Can you use one or just five Nodes? Of course. So why do we have so many?

·      It’s easy to skip steps; this structure prompts you to follow a process.

·      Everything is containerised and singular (each change in its node)

·      If I need to make a change, it’s easy to change, and in my case, find!

·      I use layers, so it’s tidy when using the node structure so that I can stay focused.

·      Add any effects as Layers or in Nodes. You can always revert.

·      It’s structured!

·      If you don’t use a node, it will not affect your project. 

Top Tip.

Experiment and try new things when you edit footage.‍

I hope this sheds light on the method used. 

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