Online and Offline

This is probably a dumb question, but this whole concept of an Offline and Online edit are kind of new to me. I'd been making movies with a home camera since i was little, and for a while i honestly thought all films were edited on stuff like home editing packages.

Anyhow, my question is, if you can do your offline edit on a home computer, what do you use to do the online edit? like what hardware and software physically does this?

And if you shot on film, is your film ever physically cut up and put together, or is it all transferred onto something, edited, and then put onto a new roll of film?

And at what point is the colour grading done in all of this?

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 31, 2005 10:45 AM: Message edited by: Matty2phatty ]</font>

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Originally posted by Nigel:
As for film...Many many many films are still graded using the traditional process of cutting the Neg and then going through answer prints to get the final Release print.

So what's a Neg and what's an answer print?

Only if you use a Digital Intermediate does your film get scanned and then a whole new Neg is generated in the end. When you use a DI the color correction comes after the 2K scan. When using HD it comes on bothe ends--A bit during Transfer and a bit in Online.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">So if you don't plan to add any CGI or anything, you just keep the original print? How do you colour correct if the original print is the final print?

Online is a full bandwidth/uncompressed edit where you take in all your master footage and they assemble it to get it ready to output onto your conformed master tape.

For home movies you don't need to worry about it. When you shoot a highly compressed video format like MiniDV you can do an Online at home.

As for film...Many many many films are still graded using the traditional process of cutting the Neg and then going through answer prints to get the final Release print. Only if you use a Digital Intermediate does your film get scanned and then a whole new Neg is generated in the end. When you use a DI the color correction comes after the 2K scan. When using HD it comes on bothe ends--A bit during Transfer and a bit in Online.

Does that help??

Good Luck

It all depends on which post path you follow...If you DI then all correction and CGI is done in a computer and output directly to film.

If you are doing a traditional work flow then your cut the camera neg and do you final correction in the Answer Print.

Good Luck

I still don't know what a negative and answer print is... or ANY print, for that matter...
I suspect i'm being ignorant here.

Check out a book on basic film-making. At this point you need to learn a bit more before we can go on.

Good Luck

Great help Nigel,

Thanks so much for such a detailed answer, I too have been wondering this for some time....

Quote:

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Originally posted by Matty2phatty:
I still don't know what a negative and answer print is... or ANY print, for that matter...
I suspect i'm being ignorant here.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the days of the mechanical edit, i.e., before computers and video, there were two negatives and two prints on the journey from camera screen.

</font><ul type="square">[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The camera negative</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The answer print</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The internegative</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The distribution print</font>[/list]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In addition there was the work print, a print made from camera negative and used for editing. The work print was not intended to be shown to a paying audience. In all likelyhood it was not color corrected. It was expected to get scratched and dirty as the editor came up with his cut list, what video editors call an edit decision list.

After editing the work print and the editor's cut list would be sent to the negative cutter. This person would very carefully assemble (or conform) the camera negatives, cutting and splicing them into the final picture.

The answer print was the first print made from the conformed negative. It would be color corrected. The color correction process usually got into a loop, with the director or other persons up the line sending the answer print back to be re-corrected (i.e., done over at great expense) until they were satisfied.

Robert Rodriguez was very critical of this. He was more than satisfied with the color correction of his video of El Mariachi but felt that the repeated color corrections to get the answer print right was wasteful. He may be right. I read an interview with a lab tech who said his lab never corrected the first answer print since they knew it would be rejected anyway. They simply made an uncorrected answer print for use as a base line for later corrections.

In Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices Rick Schmidt suggests that you get in touch with your timer and let him know you can't afford more than one answer print and to please get it right in one try. He says they ususlly can.

The reason I didn't want to explain is because it can be somewhat drawn out and text book...

Here is how it goes:
Camera Neg.--&gt;Interpositive--&gt;Internegative(This is what is used to strike prints from)--&gt;Answer Print(This is where the color is checked and corrected for any changes)--&gt;Release Print(This is what is shown in the theater).

All these steps are to insure that the camera Neg sees little use. Striking prints off the original is the best quality but the worst choice due to liability.

Very very very basic overview. Get a book and read about the traditional system of printing. Who knows how much longer it will be around.

Good Luck

Hey i do appreciate the replies guys... i realise now it takes a bit to explain it. Thanks a whole bunch.

I guess i didn't realise there was a level of knowledge required on this forum [img]confused.gif[/img]