Interoperability with Smoke & Flame 2012 extension 1

Source Grading Workflow

Many workflows require working in parallel between Smoke/Flame and Lustre. For better flexibility, grading the source footage prior to conforming is ideal, but may not be an option for fast-paced projects. Grading source footage post conform requires removing all soft effects and unsupported transitions, but this manual process can be cumbersome.

To accommodate parallel workflows, we introduce the source grading workflow.

With the source grading workflow, you can:

• Import a timeline into Lustre, without having to render soft effects or transitions,
• Grade the timeline based on the editorial decisions to date, and then
• Send the timeline back to Smoke/Flame for further refinement, preserving soft effects and transitions.

Source Grading Import Option

Located in the media browser of Lustre, the Source Grading option defines how a timeline from Smoke/Flame is imported in Lustre.

Source Grading option

When the Source Grading option is:

• Disabled: Unrendered soft effects and unsupported transitions appear as black frames when they are imported into Lustre. If you have rendered all your soft effects and transitions, you can import your timeline with this option disabled and you will see the final, rendered media from Smoke/Flame.
• Enabled: Lustre imports all soft effects and transitions, but shows the source media instead of the media generated by the soft effects and transitions. While using this source material, Lustre preserves all the information (parameters, animation, etc) about the soft effects and transitions. The colorist can then grade in the timeline context (time and position on video tracks and layers) and render back to a Smoke/Flame library. The newly created timeline uses the graded media from Lustre, but also contains the original soft effects and transitions.

Note: The state of the Source Grading option is saved in the Context file.

About long-form timelines and compressed media

To avoid long timeline loading time, it is recommended to consolidate the timeline that you want to use for grading prior to importing it into Lustre. Projects shot with digital cameras such as Red, AVC-HD camcorders, etc., tend to have very long source clips. Because Lustre has access to all these frames, loading timelines and rendering to Smoke/Flame clip libraries will take more time and generate unnecessary media files. It is a good practice to preserve at least 10 frames of handles if minor editorial tweaks are planned post colour grading.

Supported Soft Effects and Transitions

All soft effects are preserved and recreated after Lustre renders to Smoke/Flame Library.

In the case of a soft timewarp that is not long enough to cover the duration of the segment (for example, a slow-motion effect), Lustre preserves the duration of the segment but displays a red "X" on missing frames. This is normal because you are grading the sources, which are not being affected by the timewarp animation curve.

The following transitions created in Smoke/Flame timeline are preserved and recreated after Lustre renders to Smoke & Flame Library:

• Dissolve (with keyframe animation, as Lustre 2012 release)
• Axis
• Wipe
• Custom Transition. In this case, the clip used for the transition will be available for Lustre as a shot. Rendering back to Smoke/Flame will also show a shot and not a transition. Ideally, Custom Transitions should be created after source media is graded and replaced in Smoke/Flame by a dissolve.

Note: Wipe and Axis transitions are replaced with a dissolve in Lustre while grading, but the resulting timeline in Smoke will show the original transitions. For these transitions, you will see a special icon in Lustre. You will not be able to edit the dissolve (from the Dissolve menu or from the Editing menu).

Un-supported transition icon

Original timeline created in Smoke

Timeline loaded in Lustre with the Source Grading option

Lustre timeline rendered to Smoke Library

Do Not Edit the Timeline Structure

It is not recommended to modify the timeline structure imported in Source Grading mode because every shot may contain data invisible to the Lustre colorist. If you edit the timeline (for example, trim, slip, and slide) or copy shots with soft effects or unsupported transitions, these changes will be replicated when rendering back to Smoke/Flame Library. Timeline modifications may produce unexpected results.

Containers and Matte Containers in Source Grading mode

Containers, Matte Containers and their content are available when working in source grading mode. Source media of shots that are used with soft effects and unsupported transitions is available just like any segment. If you plan to use a matte container to store the matte that will be used for grading, use a soft axis in Smoke to marry the matte(s) with the shot and set the matte status to "Off" (located in the Soft Axis / Matte menu of the mini editor) to avoid getting a composite.

Support for GapFX

A GapFX is a timeline segment that has soft effects that affect the timeline segments located on the layers below it.

It is now possible to import timelines from Smoke/Flame that contain GapFX.

GapFX segments are displayed in Lustre as a Gap with a "SoftFX" icon and cannot be graded since they are virtual segments. When the timeline is rendered to a Smoke/Flame clip library (in Source Grade render mode), the original soft effects are preserved.

GapFX in Lustre

Original Smoke timeline with GapFX

Lustre timeline grading (Source Grade mode)

Lustre rendered timeline in Smoke (Source Grade render mode) with Soft Effects and Transitions

Rendering to Smoke/Flame

To be able to preserve soft effects and un-supported transitions when rendering to the Smoke/Flame Library, make sure to use the Source Grade render mode. If you need handles, make sure to enable the Heads & Tails option.

Use cases

Here are some example of workflows that are enabled with the source grading workflow:

• FCP XML/Avid AAF conform to Lustre: conforming a Final Cut Pro XML or an AAF file from Avid editors allows you to build a timeline that may contain soft effects and various type of transitions. Lustre can use the conformed timeline without the Smoke/Flame artists having to first remove the effects.
• Mixed resolution conform: Smoke and Flame applies a soft resize to media that does not match the resolution of the timeline. With the Source Grading workflow, the Lustre colorist can work with the media files at its native resolution. If the source media is from a REDONE, RED EPIC or ARRI camera and is imported from Wiretap Gateway, Lustre has access to all transcode settings. This allows the colorist to modify the format-based settings (like debayering, color space, etc) and provide Smoke/Flame with a timeline that uses the higher quality while preserving all the soft effects and unsupported transitions.
• Unmanaged source media replacement: when Lustre renders timelines to Smoke/Flame using the Wiretap Render option*, media files are seen by Smoke/Flame as soft imported media. That means that the source clips have a direct link to the media files. If Lustre renders over the files, all clips using this media will be updated.

*This option requires that you define the Lustre project render location as a shared location (local or network storage) outside of a standard filesystem or stone filesystem, and a destination clip library in the Wiretap render library field.

Note: Rendering over shared media files, even if powerful, can lead to confusion! Be aware of what you are doing!

Limitations

• When browsing a Smoke/Flame Library from Lustre, the thumbnail of the source clip is black if there is an un-rendered soft effects or an un-supported transitions applied on the active frame of the timeline.
• BFX segments, BFX on gaps, and clips from modules are shown as source media in Lustre. That is, the source media of these shots is not available and grading is done "post" effect. Make sure to render any BFX segments prior importing the Smoke/Flame timeline in Lustre.
• When working with a mixed resolution timeline, make sure the first shot of the timeline has the same resolution as the timeline. If not, Lustre creates a timeline that has the resolution of the first shot and all other shots that have a different resolution will get a soft resize effect in Smoke/Flame. As a workaround, you can insert a colour source clip in Smoke/Flame at the start of the timeline.