COLOR PREP GUIDE

Before we begin we need to know technical details and distribution plans for your film. Typically we would talk through these details over the phone or email. It’s important to establish these BEFORE we start color grading.

What deadlines are we up against?
Where will the film be shown? Web, broadcast, theatrical, other?
Total Length and number of deliverables?
Framerate?
Raster size of the film (frame dimensions)?
- HD, UHD, 4K, scope, vertical for socials, custom
Is there need for HDR?
Do we need to create multiple versions of the deliverables to meet different specs?
What was the primary camera used in the film and the color gamut/gamma of the files?
Will Koyote Pictures also do the finishing and mastering?
1. If yes, make sure that we receive the deliverable specs and additional assets like mixes, graphics & captions.
2. If no, will we do a round trip workflow or send a single render?

Footage Transfer

USB-C hard drives are preferred. Thunderbolt acceptable.
*MacOS Extended HFS+ or ExFAT format. APFS format acceptable for SSD only.
For smaller scale jobs, uploading the footage to a cloud service is a viable option. This option is dependent on your internet speed.
All original camera footage in the camera directory structure (i.e., not transcoded or changed in any way from how they came off the camera). Trimmed camera originals are acceptable but please consult with us about your workflow first.

*Koyote Pictures should at no point be the only place where the original camera dailies are stored.*
If transcoded files were used in edit, include a separate directory containing transcoded dailies for use in the offline edit. All transcoded dailies must maintain the frame rate and time code of the original footage. Transcoded dailies do not need to follow the same directory structure as the raw camera files.
Other visual media used (graphics, VFX, stock footage, captions, etc,). Sending these is especially important if Koyote Pictures is also providing final mastering for the project.
Include show LUTs
Do not use ASCII forbidden characters in directory or file names \ / : * ? " < > |

Prepping the Timeline

Below are steps for prepping the timeline to send to color grade.

Duplicate timeline. Label “colorprep”
Condense video tracks to as few as possible
Place graphics on a higher separate track
Unused clips removed
Multicam clips flattened
Remove any temp color effects
Leave sizing and positioning changes in place
Remove all audio
Speed Ramps i.e. dynamic speed changes - Premiere poorly handles speed ramps when round tripping. If speed ramps are used, please export to a high quality format (ProRes 4444) as a standalone clip and re-import into your timeline placing that media on a track above the original.

Static speed changes can be left in place, i.e. changing the whole clip speed to 75% or 50%.

Export the Timeline

Export an XML (Premiere, FCPX), AAF (AVID), DRT (Resolve).
Premiere labels XML “Final Cut Pro XML” in the Export menu.
It’s also useful to send an EDL for each video track. Label them accordingly.
Send the editorial project file, especially if edited in Premiere - This is optional but can be helpful in problem solving.

Export a Reference Movie

A reference is simply an export of the film so we can match all the shots and shot sizing in DaVinci Resolve. It is our visual guide to what the film should look like.

The reference movie needs to match your editorial timeline exactly. If any changes were made since the last export was created, please create a new reference.

On the reference movie please include window burn that displays source timecode and clip names. We do not need to see the overall timeline timecode. You can easily do this in Adobe Premiere using an adjustment layer with the “timecode” and “clip name” effects.

*** Please consult with us if any of the above is unclear ***

Pre-Conformed Workflow

A pre-conformed workflow is an alternate workflow to the above. With this, the film is exported as a single QT file and is best used for tight turnaround situations.

Graphics and Titles

Disable all clips except graphics and titles, and export the timeline as a Quicktime movie with an alpha channel (i.e. as ProRes 4444). Then disable the graphics and titles and re-enable all other clips.

Temp Color Effects

Remove any temporary color correction effects.

Transitions

Leave dissolves in place. Remove fades to black or other colors. Wipes should be left in place and will need to be rebuilt and matched in color.

Export

Export the timeline as a ProRes 444 or ProRes4444 XQ. ProRes422HQ is sufficient when working with material already in Rec709 color space.

EDL

Collapse the timeline as much as you can, removing any unused/disabled clips and collapsing/removing nested sequences, and export as an EDL file. This step will save time for the colorist and help keep the project organized.

Supervising the Session

We have two ways of interacting with our filmmaker clients so they can review, give feedback and direct the color session.

Realtime Color Stream

We use SetStream.io to provide real-time, high quality color feeds. This solution encodes the SDI feed from our workstations, providing a high quality viewing experience.

Convenience

No setup required. Browser-based viewer works on all devices, mobile and desktop. iOS app available.

Ultra-Low Latency

Experience changes in real time with streaming latencies averaging below 500ms so you see what happens when it happens.

Security

DTLS encrypted communication for WebRTC connections and user authentication. Only the people you approve can watch.

Quality

Adaptive streaming optimized for each device ensures the highest quality video possible, regardless of the network connection.

Review Links

We use industry standard Frame.io to send review links for collaboration with you and your team. This method allows you to leave timestamped comments throughout the film. And allows you to review around your busy schedule.