Overview
This guide will go over what you need to move from Avid into Davinci Resolve. Prepping your timeline for color correction and delivering all the necessary assets to your colorist will ensure your workflow into Resolve is as painless as possible.
Assets to deliver to Colorist
- Original Media
- AAF from prepped timeline
- ProRes QT movie for reference
Original Media
The media you give to your colorist should be the original media from the camera. There are exceptions to this, but typically your original media will have more flexibility when color correcting than proxy media edited in Avid. When you prep your timeline, make sure that your sequence doesn’t have any titles or effects burned into the image. Titles and effects should be added after color correction has happened.
Preparing Your Timeline
Please follow the industry standards listed below when preparing your timeline.
- FFOA (first frame of action) starts 01:00:00:00
- Start your timeline at time code 00:59:30:00 (hours:minutes:seconds:frames)
- Sync Reference (2 beep) is at 00:59:58:00 (this is a single frame of video and audio two seconds before the first frame of action)
Adjusting timecode and adding Sync Reference
- Adjusting FFOA
- Set an in point at the beginning of the sequence and an out point at the frame before the FFOA (this include the first frame of any fades)
- Press "x" to splice out any filler. Your FFOA will shift to the first frame of your sequence.
- Setting Start TC
- Right-click on your sequence in your bin and click on “Sequence Report.”
- Change your 'Starting TC' to 01:00:00:00.
- Click “Apply Changes” and click “Cancel.” Your sequence should now start at 01:00:00:00
- Right-click in your source window and select "Load Filler" from the drop down menu.
- Set an In Point, type "+29:23" on your number pad, and set an Out point so your filler is one frame less than thirty seconds long.
- Insert the filler at the beginning of your sequence. Do not overwrite.
At this point, your sequence should start at 00:59:30:00 with thirty seconds of black before your first frame of action beginning at one hour (01:00:00:00).
- Adding Sync Reference (2 beep)
SMPTE Bars:
- In Finder, locate Avid's application folder and go to Avid Media Composer>SupportingFiles>Test_Patterns>SMPTE_Bars.
- Import SMPTE_Bars into Project.
- In the Source Window, Set In and Out points on the same frame.
- Go to 00:59:58:00 in your sequence (you can do this by entering this timecode in your number pad)
- Overwrite the frame into your sequence. Do not insert.
Tone:
- Open the Audio Tool by selecting Tools>Audio Tool or pressing Command+1.
- Open the Peak Hold menu by clicking the "PH" button.
- Select Create Tone Media, select the correct Target Bin, and select OK.
- In the Source Window, Set In and Out points on the same frame.
- Go to 00:59:58:00 in your sequence (you can do this by entering this timecode in your number pad)
- Turn off the Video track and Overwrite the frame into your sequence. Do not insert.
At this point, you should have one frame of SMPTE Bars and Tone at 00:59:58:00 with your FFOA starting 2 seconds after (01:00:00:00).
Exporting AAF
- Place IN and OUT marks on your sequence.
- Right click on your sequence in your project window and select Output>Export to File.
- Select “Options” to open the export settings window.
- Change the “Export As” option to AAF. Check the “Use Marks”, “Use Selected Tracks” and “Include All Video/Data Tracks in Sequence.”
- Export Method should be set to “Link to (Don’t Export) Media.” Then click “Save.”
Attach the extension “_FORCOLOR” to the end of your project name and click “Save.”
Exporting Quicktime
- Right click on your sequence in your project window and select Output>Export to File.
- Select Options to open the export settings window. Change the “Export As” setting to “Quicktime Movie.”
- Select custom (not same as source), click the “Format Options” button to make sure that it’s in Apple ProRes (LT). Make sure “Video and Audio” are selected. Click “Save.”
- Attach the extension “_FORCOLOR” to your movie and click save.