Preparing for colour grade from any NLE

I have made this quick guide to make things easier for both myself as a colourist, and you as an editor. It will also prove more cost-effective following this guide, as it will avoid me charging for my time to return any project files, as well as you receiving your files more quickly for a faster turnaround.

The examples I will give are via Adobe Premiere Pro 2023, but the same principles apply to any NLE (Non-Linear Editor)

1. ENSURE YOU HAVE PICTURE LOCK

Unfortunately all too often, I've received a piece to edit, only for the client to say that they've made some "small" changes as soon as I've finished, nullifying the work I've done. Please don't do this and ensure that when you send me the files, that the video will not have any more edits made.

2. DUPLICATE YOUR PROJECT

Always back up your project file before conforming the piece itself, this is always good practice in case something goes wrong, and you don't want to completely lose your project when it's easily avoidable (I hope you're creating backups even before conform(!))

This is easily done by going to your project folder and copying your .prproj, .drp or .avp file to another folder, ideally on a different hard drive as well as, or even the cloud, as the files are very small. Rename the file you keep to send to me differently so you can distinguish easily between the 2 (I usually just add FOR_COLOUR at the end)

3. FLATTEN YOUR TIMELINE

Strip your timeline down into basic cuts, I want as little unused footage as possible - this saves you time in terms of uploading, and me downloading, as well as ensuring that only the clips you use are displayed.

To do this in PP, right click your sequence in your project window and select "simplify timeline", or go to Sequence>Simplify timeline

NB - When flattening your track, make sure you do not remove any handles needed for transitions, e.g. if you are doing a 50 frame crossfade, don't drag your top clip down as when I send the files back, there will be no data to crossfade to.

CHECK:

"Empty Tracks"

"Graphics"

"Transitions"

4. FURTHER SIMPLIFICATIONS

- Remove all mattes and letterboxing

- Reset custom sizing/cropping

- Remove anything further in the video that you don't want colour effects applied to that hasn't been removed by the "transitions" part of simplify timeline

- This includes, photos, graphics, text etc. as they will be severely affected by the grading process (and not in a good way)

Unless you want your graphics changing drastically, please remove them! This especially applies to text, as a lot of grading severely reduces the readability.

- Un-nest nested sequences

- Remove all audio

- Remove all time remapping effects (can really affect sync)

Your timeline should now look something like this!

5. CONSOLIDATION

In order to deliver to me, you will need to consolidate your project files. This means that you are removing any unwanted media from the timeline, and only sending me what I need in one neat file. It also means that all the footage used will be sent to one folder, which is handy when you have a large folder tree or your footage is on differing drives etc.

FOR PREMIERE PRO

a) Open the project manager (File > Project Manager)

b) Check the sequence you want to send for grading

c) Check "Exclude unused clips"

d) Uncheck "Include audio conform files"

e) Uncheck "Include preview files"

f) Uncheck "Rename Media Files to Match Clip Names"

g) Check "Collect Files and Copy to New Location"

h) Choose a destination folder

Consolidate to a "clean" folder with nothing else in it, so that when it comes to delivery you can just select that folder and you're good to go! This process may take a while, as we're copying clips to a new folder, so be patient :)

i) Go back to the timeline and select all your clips (cmd/ctrl+A) and file>export>"Final Cut Pro XML" And place in the same folder as the footage

You can click on "calculate" to see how much space this export will take up

FOR AVID MEDIA COMPOSER

Please see this guide from AVID to consolidate

And this guide to export an .AAF

FOR DAVINCI RESOLVE

a) In your project, go to the "deliver" page

b) select "indivudual clips"

c) Use "SourceName" as the file name

d) choose a clean folder to export to

e) Choose these settings on the video tab

Format "MXF OP-Atom"

Codec "DNXHR"

Type "DNXHR 444 10-bit" (Unless your footage is 12-bit, in which case choose 12 instead of 10)

Check "Use at source resolution"

DNXHR will take 43.46 MB/s at 1080p 25 fps, and 173.73MB/s at UHD (SOURCE)

So a 3840x2160 25fps 20 minute clip will take up 208.5 GB (Plus some extra if you have handles on your clips)

Then go to your edit page, and file>export>timeline (or cmd/ctrl+shift+o)

In the drop down, choose "FCP 7 XML V5 Files (*.xml)

Add the xml to the same folder

6. DELIVERY

Now that you have a folder ready to deliver to me, there are two options.

a) upload to a cloud or file hosting service such as wetransfer, Google Drive, OneDrive etc.

OR

b) export all your footage + xml to an external drive (ideally SSD) and deliver in person or via mail. If you choose the latter option, please ensure that the parcel is secure and safe from damage, as well as having a backup in case it gets lost/damaged etc.

This may be the only option in some cases as your folder may be too large to upload, seen where a 20 minute 4K drama can come up to 200GB. Luckily external media is getting very cheap at the moment, with SSD's sitting at around 50p per GB.

7. WHAT YOU RECEIVE

You will then receive a folder with each clip graded in a format that works for you (we can discuss), as well as another xml from DaVinci Resolve. Import the clips into a new bin (to make it all easier to manage), and then import the xml via file>import and select the xml.

The timeline will appear in your bin. Double click it and you will see the structure, highlight all of the video tracks, and then copy/paste into your main timeline, where you can now reapply all of your effects, as well as link it to the finished audio from post-sound.

Thank you for reading, and if you have any more questions, or at all stuck on the process, please don't hesitate to message me on Instagram @marktolboommedia, or email contact@marktolboom.co.uk