This article is a must read for Freelance Remote Editors.
I so love being able to work from home, especially with my own equipment and not having to deal with Los Angles Traffic.
The new version of Media Composer Enterprise and Ultimate added SRT or Secure Reliable Transport for streaming remotely for people who work from home or for clients around the world and it is all encrypted and encoded.
It can go from a single device to a single receiver or to multiple people using additional hardware.
This is very cool, especially the encryption as it means the studios will get on board with it, which will enable more remote workflows.
In the Pandemic moving to post pandemic (too fast for me) this is a great article on remote collaboration.
So I have written about Sofi Marhsall’s Ultimate Rea-Time Editing Workflow (That Won’t Break the Bank) and just wanted to give a little Update on how i have updated that workflow because of my setup, and the difference for me is that I run a older Blackmagic UltraStudio 4k as my video out, which I run to a Samsung HDTV.
I followed her instructions and got a BlackMagic Web Presenter, but got the UltraHD version so I can do 4K video, and it does seem to work just fine with either the front or back USB C unlike the older version she used.
And because I am not using USB-C to HDMI cable for my setup, which is also going to eat up a more of your video ram (displaying as a second monitor. Instead I ran a BNC Cable from my UltraStudio 4k into my BlackMagic Web Presenter, while my Samsung is running out of the HDMI out of the UlraStudio 4k. Sofi’s version is setting up the web presenter as a second monitor, but I am already using a second monitor on my computer, and would rather run the direct output from my UltraStudio from Premiere (or DaVinci or AVID) into my Web Presenter, and you don’t need to setup the web presenter as a second monitor.
Whatever you are playing back shows up on both monitors for me, and I can see on my TV, which is the black line at top with the power cable running down the wall, and the usb cable to the computer allows the web presenter to act as a USB web cam.
Premier Video Output Settings
So in Premiere I am playing back through Blackmagic playback via my UltraStudio 4K, and I have disable video output when in background (which I usually have checked, disabled, so the signal keeps going to the webcam constantly.
Now again differing from Sofi Marshall here I have the audio setup differently, as she is using Loopback to send the audio to the Web Presenter, but I am using Premiere Pro directly. I am still using Loopback, but differently as I will show.
So for Premiere Pro I go to Premiere Pro > Preferences > Audio Hardware to setup direct audio to the UltraStudio 4K.
I then follow Sofi Marshall’s directions on creating Loopback Device 2, which combines the iMac Microphone (her external microphone) and the audio from the Web Presenter.
So here is my loopback microphone setup so my cut can be shown with audio and they can here the microphone.
Now since I am running the audio directly to monitor my audio for me it would be coming out of my TV which would then show up in my microphone, so I can’t have that, so I must mute my HDTV, and I want to hear my edit through my headphones. My headphones are running through my Edirol though could be just the headphone jack, so I have made a loopback to send Premiere to my Edirol.
I have also made a setting for DaVinci exactly the same but with DaVinci.
These send my audio from Premiere or DaVinci to my headphones. Now we need to setup zoom.
Now you can do a zoom using my video out from Premiere and Web Presenter. Thanks to Sofi Marshall, as I would have never done this without her.
Randi Altman has an extensive round table with many participants talking about current state of editing, with a whole lot of focus on remote editing. This is talks with editors and people on the technology end of post and it really does show that the future of editing is remote and hybrid, though of course some people will always prefer in person.
Personally, I am for fully remote at this point, but hybrid at some point, but since I have recently set up a real time remote workflow so I can live stream my cuts with ZOOM, and have the real-time viewing and feedback, while still staying remote.
I can honestly say I would not to be in an office all day with a mask on, but even with masks and vaccinations I wouldn’t feel safe, especially with the bathrooms in most office buildings. And the time I have spent with my wife and my dogs during the pandemic just shows me how much I don’t want to have to drive in Los Angles traffic anymore.
Blackmagic design has done it again and have released a 4K streaming version of the web presenter.
The previous $495 version could accept a 4K signal, but it only could output at 1080, but this can output at a full 4k for a better signal for $695.
And like the previous model it has a USB C out so you can connect it to your computer as a web cam to use in Zoom. And with my UltraStudio 4K I could easily run it via the SDI input without bothering the HDMI out (though it also has an HDMI out).
I was talking to a DP with the director on a notes call and I really wished I had this setup so We could do live sessions. I know a lot of producers like to do a session in person and being able to stream live to a producer and talk really is something I need to add to my setup soon so I can continue to work at home. I am really looking forward to trying out Sofi Marshall’s setup and getting this going.
Ben Lovejoy at 9to5Mac has a great article Comment: Apple’s inflexibility on flexible working seems likely to backfire, is really worth a read. I don’t see this as just applying to Apple but to the entertainment industry as well.
As an editor sure some interaction is great at times, but for the most part I am in a dark room by myself and I am so much more comfortable at home, and even better not having to drive. And I can work on my own computer which is set up exactly like I want. Now certainly there should be some discussion about equipment rentals since we won’t be in the office using their gear or bay (or need to have as many editing bays).
And yes there is something to be said for live screenings, but I really do want to setup a remote workflow so like the one Sofi Marshall talked about and I posted about. Often times just screening for someone will make me as an editor see stuff that I need to fix, and I think doing a remote session would solve this in most cases.
Sure sometimes editors will need to screen in person, but with Covid-19 and mask mandates returning to Los Angeles on Saturday I don’t want to be in an office even fully vaccinated. And with me having had open heart surgery, I seem to catch everything I come in contact with.
A must read on remote editing during Covid. I also love that the Queens Gambit was cut on an iMac. I also love that Tesorow would also love to work remotely with in person screening, mixing and color correction.
Trailer editor Chris Salters has posted 2 remote collaboration workflows, one free and one including a second computer. Great to see an almost free solution and a much more robust solution as well as solutions better than Zoom though much more expensive (starting at $399 a month).
I like that he sets up a solution that will work with other programs as well.
The budget solution creates a new video monitor which means you are eating more of your precious video memory, which worries me a little, but for screening should be ok.
And the other solution requires another computer and some hardware, so might be more for where companies can provide hardware.
