Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/100015
ON-SET OUTLOOK Digital DAILIES Whether it���s the securing of camera files BY M AR C LOFTUS or the creation of media for editorial, the dailies process is considered by many where ���post��� begins. While the terms ���on-set��� and ���digital dailies��� are often mentioned during the production and post processes, what they mean will depend on whom you ask. Some pros consider on-set dailies as the securing or backing up of files from digital cameras, such as Arri���s Alexa or one of Red���s releases. Others say it���s the transcoding process, which takes these files and makes them more lightweight for forwarding to editorial. This often includes implementing a ���look��� that will stay with the footage through editorial, up until the online, where it will be further tweaked. Much of the time, this process takes place ���near-set,��� in a less chaotic environment than the set itself. And yet others see dailies as a chemical process, which by its nature, takes place in a lab, with no connection to the set where the footage was acquired. Below is a glimpse at some different perspectives of the on-set business and the trends professionals are witnessing. boot up? And time ��� there is a 3x realtime process for transcoding to ProRes uncolored. ���I���ve found that everybody wants to shoot, then give editorial their files at the end of day, and circumvent the post house a bit. They want to be self sufficient. The one pitfall is the machines still take time to make a file that we can work with for editorial. If the DIT is doing that, the DIT is working an extreme amount of hours.You get into a double DIT scenario, and that���s not going to work for on-set.��� BRYAN RABER Co-Producer Banyan Tree Productions banyantreeproductions.com Los Angeles Bryan Raber is a co-producer on TNT���s Dallas and A&E���s Longmire. Both shows are in their second season and undergo post at MTI Film, though their workflows differ. Dallas is shot in Texas on Arri Alexa while Longmire is shot in New Mexico on Red Scarlets and Epics. Both are edited in Final Cut Pro 7. STRENGTHS: ���The ultimate strength is, we can film on-location, states away from editorial. It���s the speed at which I can get the footage back from set. I can have my footage ready to cut early the next morning, as if they we shooting right next to the post facility. There is no slow down at all.��� WEAKNESSES: ���There���s a few of them and we���ve hit every one. What happens when power goes out? Cameras can keep shooting, they have battery back-ups, but they only last for so long because they are power intensive. If you don���t have power, you are dead in the water. The other pitfall is the Internet, depending on how you get it, it can sometimes slow you down. What happens when a system doesn���t 30 Post���������December���2012��� www.postmagazine.com Dallas is shot on Arri���s Alexa and posted at MTI. OPPORTUNITIES: ���At this moment, we have maxed ourselves out, but that doesn���t mean in six months we won���t be trying something new. For television, the most important thing is to be editing footage because the air dates are coming at you. The more time you have in editorial, the better. That means I need to get it from the stages to here faster. We���ve maxed out the speed. Now, let���s find a way to minimize the cost. MTI created a software called Cortex, which allows for automatic syncing of our offline files, so we can edit with them. This will save a human from finding timecode and the clap, and locking it in. It speeds up that process, and because it���s automated, there are no costs involved. The software automates it so well that you can do it on-set. There is no time wasted at all. That will get our footage to LA a little faster. It takes out a cost, which is what the studios are always looking to save.