I would like to ask everyone here how you see the idea of doing the conform of a large project like a TV series or movie in Flame, let’s say dealing with 300 shots and do all the VFX editorial in Flame.
Any experience with this?
Thanks in advance.
yes.
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It is no problem with flame, but you def. need to close some possible bottlenecks in advance for the large amount of media.
Like:
Framestore/Storage <–> Flame
Autosafe and its intervalls
Amount of Libaries (possibility to have some closed and opened without change every few hours)
Workflow for shared content within the team/other software
There are at least two different workflows. Timeline Batch FX and Batch groups. Many here would stay clear of timeline BFX but that would be my preference.
Still, it would probably make sense to chop the timeline depending on the content sequences, if your comps are really heavy.
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I am thinking that in this case the heavy lifting of compositing for film will be done on a shot by shot basis in Nuke and all the, VFX Editing, Reviews, etc… will be handled on Flame rather than Hiero.
Of course, finishing is the strong point in Flame so that adds another dimension but my thinking is to get into that step by step.
In terms of BFX vs Timeline BFX, I think we need to keep it in Timeline in this case, much more visible perhaps?
Very much share that idea. I’ve just done this for a medium sized project (130? shots in timeline). Came in from Avid as AAF. Did all the color Flame. Took some composites over to Nuke. Then brought in final sound mix from Nuendo and did all the final finishing in Flame. It’s seems to be well suited, and much better than Hiero for that. Grading a longer timeline is only mildly less convenient than Resolve or other color apps. So it makes for a more streamlined process. That said, I just came over to Flame, so I’ve only done this once so far. But was happy with the results.
We’re grading, comping, and finishing an indie feature in it right now. It’s going really well!
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Thanks for the info, this is very reassuring, will keep testing things… let’s see.
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I would recommend setting up your timeline using .clips to make the roundtrip through Nuke easier to manage.
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I would agree with Ryland - stay away from BFX.
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yes I primarily do this and like all things flame you have different ways of doing things, the people that say stay away from bfx I would argue that it has its time and place, I often use that for simple comps and if I don’t have the luxury of time, say a simple split screen etc I would do in BFX and only break out batches for the more intensive shots. I tend to either version up my timeline or just copy the entire clip and version up that way keeping a history of work , but again like all things flame it depends, so you can absolutely do it and its really good at it just be sure and choose the right tools for either speed or flexibility.
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You can 100% work this way.
I’ve been working for years finishing episodic tv in Flame. You want to be across your workflow, especially in regards to how you plan on handing over the grade and back again, or if you are just using Flame to manage the VFX side of things.
To be honest, all the projects we’ve done for the past few years have been conformed in Resolve and VFX pulls done from that, but it is easy to get a fcpxml file out of Resolve that tends to just work in Flame if you wanted to use Flame for VFX management.
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I’ve finished many 90 min docos on Flame that have had well over 900 shots on my own doing the conform, grade, vfx, graphics and credits all in the timeline with BFX.
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We have a Resolve Studio and have done quite a few proper tests and as much as I love Resolve, the lack of a serious API, ability to store custom data on the scene, the lack of templating for names, etc… makes it totally irrelevant when looking at building a pipeline so it is really a shame because I love it but without those abilities, it is a no go for us.
In terms of flame, kudos to Autodesk (and I never thought I would say this) because the Flame team have reinvented themselves and put Flame back on top, to the point we have moved our pipeline from Hiero to Flame for all things VFX Editorial and are looking very seriously about hybrid compositing.
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Totally right. Pipeline integration with Resolve is not nice. Can be done but it is a pain.
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for sharing!
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Yep, it’s the backbone of of our predominantly longform workflow since 2001. We use Flame Assist for Conform & ShotGrid publishes, Flame & Flare for VFX & finishing. We run 3 Flames, 1 Flame Assist & a Flare in house and have a cadre of local Flame freelancers we use remotely when we have overflow.
We use Shotgrid in vary rudimentary way to create the shot publishes and track shots, but the published timelines are a boon for checking shots and reviews in the suite.
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Thank you for the insights, that seems like a very nice and pragmatic setup… thanks again