LAFCPUG and Zodiac Workflow

I went to my first Final Cut Pro User's Group last night. I will definitely go back. The highlight of the night was having the post-production team from David Fincher's new movie Zodiac screen clips and talk about the revolutionary all-digital workflow used. Now, I've heard about this before, and I knew they were using the Grass Valley Viper camera. Fincher had two years of experience on commercial shoots with the Viper, so that was what he felt comfortable with. I figured the Zodiac workflow would be a lot like shooting with the Sony's much-ballyhooed Genesis camera. It is and it isn't. The Genesis records to tape. Never at any time was footage from Zodiac recorded to film or tape. It came out of the camera as raw, digital information and thus it stayed. (Color balance note: The production had nine LUTs that they could throw over the footage and ended up mainly using one that takes away the greenish cast that raw Viper footage has.) Thus could a big Fincher wish came true: no clappers to distract the actors. The slating is done digitally, two frames inserted at the beginning and end of each shot. This saves lots of time, which Fincher took advange of by doing lots of takes. He did 67 takes at a single setup one day. But bad takes could be instantly deleted so that saves some space. (Although the final total of footage, 18 million frames, took 144TB.) Apparently Fincher also experimented with low lighting. One scene, they said, was shot with four 40W light bulbs.

So the digital information goes directly from the camera into a digital field recorder as dpx files and, while still on set, is transferred to 400GB d.mags. Those are then taken by the same lowly assistant who, on a normal production, would deliver the film to the lab. That assistant instead took it directly to the editor. Or rather to the "Data Lab" where the editor, Angus Wall was also located. Said Angus, "We had to think about it like a 21-year-old Swedish film student." (It also reminded me of how Stu Maschwitz thinks about it.) "Post-production, minus the creative element, is just media management." Thus, the effective negative, the dpx files, were duplicated with a verification, down-converted to DVCPro HD for editing using Shake. Script notes and all other information were organized using a mySQL database. Final Cut Pro was the NLE of choice because the robust XML features that could be used to sync it up with the database. Since there is no weave in digital camera images, basic effect shots could be done with Shake, and then assistant editors shipped out just the needed frames from the dpx files to the 13 different effects houses who worked on the film. Cuts and dailies were sent out using a program called PIX, which allowed Fincher and executives to view and make notes over a secure internet connection. Because the offline cut was in DVCProHD, it allowed for screenings to be done directly from the cut (as they did at the meeting -- looked great digitally projected on the Galleria Theater's huge screen although there were sound sync issues).

The conform was done using FCP XML and color correction was done at an outide facility, but the editors look forward to a day when everything can be done under one roof, and when color correction become something that is going on at the same time as the rest of the editing process.

Sound I didn't understand as well. Something about cantor files converted using AJAX to OMFs and QT guide tracks, imported into ProTools for the mixing session.


FINAL CUT PRO TIPS FROM THE MEETING:

Tip: Don't export to Compressor directly from FCP, export a Quicktime then bring that into Compressor.

Tip: Quicktime conversion has an iPod option. No need to create special settings in Compressor.

Tip: Repair permissions w/ Disk Utility once a week for better performance. Only trash preferences when absolutely necessary.

Tip: If you shut down your computer every night, OS X's automatic optimization tools don't run. In that case, get MacJanitor or CacheOutX.

Tip: Use the Slip Tool in FCP to check the handles on your clip before adding a transition. If you click on a clip with it and hold it down, you will see graphically how much you have on either side of the cut.

Tip: Drag a clip or clips from the Timeline to the Canvas window and select Overwrite with Transition to add transitions speedily.

SEE ALSO:
FXGuide on Zodiac's Workflow

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS BLOG:
Finchermania

UPDATE:
Zodiac Review