Convert RED Raw Footage to Lower Resolution

[emilyd76423358]

Please delete if this is not the right forum to ask these questions...

I've hired a videographer to create brief 2 minute marketing videos for the company I work for. We've had multiple days of shooting and all of the footage shot is RED Raw. We've received one version of a marketing video using only a small portion of the footage that was shot. I've asked whether we could have some of the RED Raw footage converted to a lower resolution (1080) to be able to go through some of it and ask if specific scenes could be included. However, the videographer said it would take way too long to convert the footage. Additionally, the videographer said they've gone beyond the editing hours that were originally budgeted.

Right now, it seems like we are receiving one option of a video with specific shots and we are supposed to provide feedback in order to make edits to get to a final piece that everyone is happy with. But it's hard to provide that feedback without knowing what other visual options exist to be able to suggest an alternative.

• Is it bad form to ask a videographer to show us more of the footage that was captured?
• Is there a way to convert RED Raw footage to a lower resolution in order for a videographer to show their client more visual options? How long would this process take for 3TB footage?
• If you're converting 3TB of RED Raw footage to a lower resolution, how much storage space do you need?

[Jeff Bugbee · Accepted solution]

What you are asking for is what is known as "proxies." This is a very normal request. However, if proxies are needed, this is typically asked up front, not after the fact, as there are quicker ways to do it while shooting if prepared properly.

Transcoding 3TB of RED footage to proxies would take a considerable amount of time. It will also take up a considerable amount of space. But any editor worth his salt can do that. He'd simply leave this machine transcoding overnight. It might take several nights worth of transcoding but it would get done. The lower the resolution/bitrate, the faster you'd get your proxies.

Shot RAW I imagine it's shot slog, which means it will look gray/washed out. You'd need to determine if you wanted a generic rec709 LUT applied to make the raw footage look more "finished."