TLDR - quickest/best way to resize multiple resolution/format plates.
Flame newbie here with some (I think) basic Qs on conforms and publishes. I’ve been working in Nuke Studio for quite a few years so trying to adjust my though process to Flame…
When conforming, what is the best practice method of re-sizing plates before publish?
My NS workflow would be
1 - Conform EDL with camera native resolution transcodes
2 - Match to offline ref
3 - Export plates at lower resolution (save on working pixels don’t want/need to work on 4k plates)
I cant quite figure out the best method for step 3. My current project has anamorphic and spherical 4k, + some other alt resolutions. What is the best/simplest way for me to -
1 - Bake the anamorphic plates to square pixel, and then reduce resolution by 25%
2 - Reduce the spherical plates by 25%
What I like with the NS workflow is that I am able to keep camera native resolution until I publish my shots out for the rest of the team. Doing this process in NS I would tag each shot to know what each res/format it was, export in batches to my desired resolutions while keeping the native res in my ‘conform’ EDL, and then re-conform my exports as the master edit. I then have everything baked down to smaller res plates for my working master edit, and keep the ‘conform’ edl to the side for ref/plate pulls etc
From what I’ve figured out by trail and error, the methods in Flame are to set the resolution at import (which I don’t like having to make that decision so early in the process, and im not sure how that works when there are multiple formats), use the tools>resize option which needs to be done on each clip separately, or the right click>reformat which doesn’t give you filter options. I assume there are other methods which I am not privy to just yet. Thanks for any help!
What I tend to do is soft import (no cache) the clips to my desktop with a resize option in the media hub.
I can do this by grouping mixed resolutions and resizing them as I need.
Then I can conform from the desktop reel and get what I want/need in my timeline.
I suppose you could do your method as well, just instead of tagging…
open your timeline as record sequence
switch to Conform tab
sort the Resolution column
select a group of the same resolution
match those out to a desktop reel
publish that resolution group with resize settings in the Media Export > Sequence Publish > Video Options
Me personally, I would prob have to test my settings for that anamorphic to square and 25% down using Desktop Resize to make sure i have it right first, then go publish.
To each their own, I would prob leave anamorphic as anamorphic myself, at least just to save space. (sorry i just couldnt bite my tongue)
The only other thing i would watch out for is doing blanket 25%. You miiight end up with odd numbers, or at least hanging decimals if that matters to you. I have this sheet below that finds clean downrez. (its set to view only, just make a copy for yourself if you like)
Also, when you say “reconform my exports as the master edit”, do you know about Copy Exported Clip in Project button in Sequence Publish > Clip Options? It immediately imports what you publish, could be really handy. Instead of matching out in step #5 above, instead just Shift + Alt + Drag to copy those segments out of the edit while keeping the cuts & location in the timeline. Doing this, it would be easy to place the published clips from Copy Exported Clip in Project back into the timeline where they belong, but on a new track or something.
The publish aspect of what you’re trying to do is a big pain point. The lack of a “fit-width” or “scale-by” mode really makes what should be a simple process of workflow inefficiencies that are unrivaled.
There was just a long discussion a while back and @space_monkey has an outstanding request that he made, going on 7 years ago now, that would cover percentage based export modalities and is worth up-voting. It’s FI-00192.
Solutions-wise,the other replies have your options covered. It’s a bob and weave of resizing on import or during conform or on the desk prior all prior to publish.
I opt to do it at the import or match stage by updating the import sizing, then conform everything at the new res before export. Different strokes for different folks though.
Welcome @ocaiden! When you’re leading a project, think of it as resize ON publish not before. That should be familiar given the NS workflow you described.
When you’re publshing, you have control over the dimensions of the results. If I wanted to both bake and then reduce, I would use the FILL option and specify the exact width and height of the result you want.
Hey @Josh_Laurence, that strategy works well for formats with the same source aspect but at different resolutions but will fall apart when there are varying aspects as well as resolutions.
It’s pretty common in commercial work… A super simple update to the resizing modes to include “fit-width/height” and “scale by percent” (which would both obey frame aspect and pixel aspect) would literally shave years off my/others lives. The current work-arounds are cumbersome to put it lightly… and straight up bananas if I’m being perfectly honest.
Pretty please @fredwarren and @Slabrie … while you’re trying to make important small changes with massive impact…
Yes! Chris, you’re absolutely right. The way I do it requires separate publishes for each source res. When you’ve got something with mixed res, FI-00192 would be much more elegant and save time.
