Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
There is another workfl ow where the negative is conformed and spliced just as with standard
negative cutting. Transitions are also handled by printing them optically just as with non-A-B
roll negative conforming. This cuts the cost of DI because there is no conforming of the DI
fi les. However, now there is the cost of negative conforming and opticals. Also, there is a problem
when splices are scanned: they “bump.” The thickness of the splice holds the emulsion on the
top half of the frame, away from the scanner, causing it to go out of focus. Because this is
digital, it can be repaired in color correction. There is a function of DI known as “restoration,” where
damage to the negative can be repaired by copying parts of one frame onto another. This process
makes removing the “bump” fairly easy, but it takes time, and as noted, in DI, time is defi nitely
money. The real advantage of this workfl ow is that the negative can be scanned to DI or printed to
fi lm. The fi lm can be fi nished to a print and then if the decision is made to go to DI, it can still be
done.
This system has been used since 1989 when it was used in The Abyss to composite digital effects. It
is still used this way in fi lms where the negative will be cut. In these cases, DI is only used to composite
the effects shots. The footage shot to fi lm to be used as the foreground action or background
plates is scanned. The fi lm elements are combined in software, computer-generated images (CGI)
such as 3D animation; particle effects and painted mats are also composted into the shots.
It wasn’t until the Coen brother’s fi lm O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000 that the entire fi lm was
scanned to DI. In this case, it was done not to composite effects or add CGI effects, but for color
correction and stylistic reasons.
Titles in Digital Intermediate
Titles can be made digitally and added to the DI in conforming. This is especially handy on
fi lms with “intertitles” over picture throughout the fi lm. The titles can be color, 3D, hidden
“watermarks,” and lots of other options. Yet many projects still shoot end title crawls on fi lm
and scan the fi lm. Digital title crawls are often more expensive than fi lm titles, and they have a
“digital look,” which some fi lmmakers don’t like. Digital crawls tend to do odd things as the words
step over the pixel lines. Either rendering them at higher resolution and down sampling and/or special
rendering processes to blend the edges can deal with this. However digital title crawls are expensive
because of the tremendous computer rendering needed to create smooth movement on 2 K or 4 K
titles.
Scanning to Digital Intermediate
16 mm and 35 mm, as well as some exotic formats of fi lm, can be scanned to DI. The cost has been
extremely high. The cost to scan a 90-minute fi lm, historically, has topped $100,000, and recording
back to fi lm once costs twice that. But, competition and new technologies are causing these prices
to plunge. Unfortunately, some of this cost reduction has been accomplished by compromising
quality. Some argue that the compromises can’t be seen, that the fi nished quality of the digital intermediate
release print is still better than a traditional release print pulled from a photochemical internegative.
However many “analog purists” disagree.
The most obvious compromise is in resolution. Resolution is quantifi ed by the number of horizontal
pixels; the average negative scan for digital intermediate is 2 K; that is to say, approximately 2,000
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