Shoot HD is pleased to recommend Evolutions to provide comprehensive Red data management, organise workflow and to complete your entire Red production process. We have a great working relationship with them and they have completed all our Red productions to the total satisfaction of each company. Evolutions is now the largest independent full service post production company in Soho. Their scale, however, is not what has driven their success - although that does mean they can offer more flexibility than their competitors. What has made Evolutions the best post house in London is the quality of their service. That starts with creativity - the best editors, colourists, dubbing mixers and designers bringing a wealth of experience together with fresh ideas. Their editing talent crosses all genres, and all disciplines across the offline and online spectrum. Ideally, we recommend that you involve post early in your Red production process and you can call on Evolutions' wealth of experience when you are setting up your production - or at the development stage - to help you define your entire Red production process, both creatively and technically.

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AVID Workflow

Evolutions have devised a bespoke Red post-production workflow, developed whilst working alongside Shoot HD and Filmlight on the return of sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. Evolutions now has its own conform and grade process which allows for fast-turnaround even when last-minute editorial changes need to be made. The series was shot on Shoot HD's Red One cameras and Red Dwarf were keen to cut on Avid, not FCP. Evolutions' workflow utilises Avid Symphony Nitris and Baselight 4.1 and allowed Nick Adams to grade with complete access to the original Red media at full 4K resolution. Utilising Baselight's latest software, the Red rushes were taken straight into the grading system along with the offline AAF cut from Red Dwarf's Avid. The AAF was then conformed to the original Red 4K rushes for the grade. This vastly improves the grading process on two fronts. No colour or lighting choices need to be made prior to the grade, as the full Red feature set is available within Baselight's software. No lengthy conversion to DPX files needs to happen as the 4K Red files can just be loaded on, conformed and played back in near realtime. The workflow also allows for the finished grade to be rendered out as graded Avid source media with handles straight onto Avid storage, making it easier for last minute editorial changes.

FCP Workflow

Evolutions have also devised workflow for FCP which works similarly to the Avid workflow. Again, utilising the latest version of Baselight, Red rushes can be taken straight into the grade along with XML's generated from the FCP offline, allowing the colourist to grade the Red rushes natively whilst having access to the full Red feature set within the grade itself. Again this means no colour or lighting choices need to be made prior to the grade and there's also no lengthy render times creating dpx files to move between systems. Once the grade is complete, graded Quicktime clips can be rendered out and relinked to the FCP offline sequence allowing for any final changes to be made in the post grade online as a result of having access to the graded source media with handles.

Data Handling

Needing a very quick turnaround for some Red footage shot by Shoot HD that was to be inserted into Three Network's ongoing commercial series, Evolutions organized sending gigabytes of Red data to Australia. This meant that the production based over there waited less than 24 hours from the end of the UK shoot, before receiving the Red R3D files, cutting them and getting the Ads to air only two days day later. For International work, this system is a great facility in speeding up the remote production process.

James Hunter, chief engineer at Evolutions commented:

What are the main issues in posting Red material?

The main one currently is time. A number of factors make the processing of Red Footage very slow, it can take around 10x real time to get the footage into an Avid and similar times for FCP import.

How is the workflow evolving?

Historically, many workflows used by facilities have involved converting RAW files into DPX, leading to much less flexibility in the grade. What we're doing here is working with the RAW files natively in Baselight. We then render back Avid source media, meaning that the online editor gets back-graded rushes with handles and has more flexibility in the post grade edit.

What are the benefits of shooting on Red?

With Red you can shoot 4K material on a camera much more cheaply than its direct competitors. 4K means you can really zoom into the frame if you're delivering at HD resolutions - we zoomed in 200% on some shots on Red Dwarf: Back to Earth. It also comprehensively futureproofs the material. Red's wavelet compression also means the files don't take up massive amounts of storage, and, of course, the pictures from it look great, especially when used at HD resolutions.

What are the main tips from a post perspective for shooting on Red?

The main one has to be discipline in your data management. Productions need to keep detailed records and keep an eye on file structures and naming conventions - that can save a lot of headaches in post. And involve your post house as early in the production as you can.