Class request for finishing

[Benjamin Folts]

I'd like to humbly request an in depth class on speed manipulation of video within Resolve.  Specifically when an editor turns over a timeline with variable speed ramps with keyframes and one needs to copy it within Resolve for finishing.  The speed tools in Resolve remain a mystery to many and this would be a great thing for finishers to learn.

 

Thank you,

 

 

[Tom Evans]

Do you want to learn how to do speedwarps in Resolve or how to conform a timeline with speedwarps delivered from an editor? That's two very different things.

[Benjamin Folts]

Since I am primarily a finisher, I'd firstly like to know how to take a bat sh*t crazy variable time ramp from an avid effect and recreate it to match in resolve quickly and accurately.

But in addition to this, it would be great to really crack into the time adjustment controls in Resolve to get a better handle on building custom speed effects from scratch.  Maybe some real world examples.  

But yes mostly taking another NLE variable speed ramp and copying it.

 

 

[Bruno Mansi]

You should take a look at the 'Conforming in Davinci Resolve' course by Kevin MCauliffe  (in the Courses section of Lowepost).

If I remember correctly, it covered some of the aspects of bringing in Avid speed-ramps into Resolve. 

If you want to extend your knowledge to creating these effects, I guess you first need to decide if you want to learn how to do this in Resolve or within the Fusion module.  If you've already had experience with motion effects in other applications, it's not that different in Resolve, but going to Fusion requires more investment in time to get your head around the nodal structure.

[Tom Evans]

Conform timelines from Avid using AAF and you will be fine, they will transfer over. When you hear people shouting about timewarps not transferring correctly it's because they think EDL's can transfer timewarp information or because they are conforming timelines from Premiere (with AAF or XML). 

 

[Bruno Mansi]

4 minutes ago, Tom Evans said:

Conform timelines from Avid using AAF and you will be fine, they will transfer over

I do find that if you overlay a reference file of the cut from Avid, there's some very slight differences in timewarp effects when translated in Resolve. Nothing that cannot be fixed by adjusting the curves, but it seems to be there when the motion becomes more complicated in nature.

[Tom Evans]

2 minutes ago, Bruno Mansi said:

I do find that if you overlay a reference file of the cut from Avid, there's some very slight differences in timewarp effects when translated in Resolve. Nothing that cannot be fixed by adjusting the curves, but it seems to be there when the motion becomes more complicated in nature.

It depends on the choice of frame interpolation of the re-timing process as the algorithms are different.

[Bruno Mansi]

2 minutes ago, Tom Evans said:

It depends on the choice of frame interpolation of the re-timing process as the algorithms are different.

Is this at the Avid end or Resolve end?

[Tom Evans]

When you switch between the interpolation alternatives in Avid, you will see a slight difference as it generates some offset values in how the motion appears on the screen. You can also choose between a couple of interpolation alternatives in Resolve so my bet is that the slight differences you describe is cased by this.

[Bruno Mansi]

That all makes sense. So I'm guessing if there's an interpolation mode in Avid that isn't available/exactly the same in Resolve, there will be some discrepancies. 

There must be many instances in finishing work where the original interpolation used in the offline is neither known or able to be influenced.

[Benjamin Folts]

In most of my cases, the client wants an exact match that has nothing to do with interpolation modes.  These are always brought over with an AAF from a media composer.  An example is, if I had a variable speed effect (in media composer) ramping from 50% slow motion up to 200% back down to 110% to 80% over the course of the shot.  I'd like to see if there is a process to make a matching effect in Resolve from the Avid.  When I say matching I mean the Resolve equivalent of an avid Fluid timewarp to a resolve optical flow effect.   Also, should the AAF not create the match I want in the resolve, how about a good instruction on how to map the frames or tweak speeds manually based on percentages and timecodes to match in the Resolve in the most efficient way.

I know many finishing editors that would tell me to make an "optical" in the avid and send that to Resolve.  I don't want to do that.  It takes too long and there should be a way to do the effect in Resolve with a perfect match.

 

 

[Thomas Singh]

This is really not much of an issue anymore. The motion graphs in both apps will match if the conform is done properly. The AAF generator in Avid is rock solid and handles complex motion retiming very well. 

Remember, each software has its own motion algorithms so an 100% exact match is not possible but controlling the frame interpolation as mentioned above certainly helps.