Posts: 38
Threads: 6
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 38
Threads: 6
Joined: Jul 2011
Thank you Aaron, I've added my thoughts in blue... (Gunther)
You probably should watch the LRTimelapse 4 basic tutorial first if you've never used it before. But regarding the Ramper Pro specifically, here is what works best for me:
- Put the RAW files and .xmp files in the same folder with nothing else (I make sure I have a full backup of these .xmp files because we will be heavily editing them and if you ever want to start over, you'll want a clean backup of the original Ramper Pro .xmp files, don't ever use your originals here!)
- With LRT4, when you point it to the folder you just created, it will start initializing automatically, copying the RP exposure edits (Ext Exp. column) to a new hidden gradient in Lightroom (the HG Lum Leveling column in LRT). If you ever initialize again (Ctrl.-I), everything will be set back, but the original values from the Ramper Pro will again be transferred and used. I work in the Visual Workflow tab or mode as it offers the most features.
- When the initialization process is done, right click the Exposure 2012 column and hit initialize. (Normally this should not be necessary, LRT should do this automatically. But if you still see values in the Exposure 2012 column, do like Aaron said) This will zero out the Ramper Pro edits, allowing us to keyframe our own exposure preference, but the XMP leveling data from the ramper Pro is now preserved in the Lum-Leveling column above. At this point I usually create my first snapshot in the menu so I can get back to here easily. I create several snapshots as I work because otherwise there is no undo!
- Set a few keyframes manually or use the Keyframes wizard. If you use the keyframes wizard, just ignore the orange keyframes - just drag the slider until you have the desired amount of blue keyframes. You need at least the first and last frame keyframed to ramp anything. I don't go overboard here, only just a few to start my initial ramping like white balance (or no middle keyframes at all for shorter clips), then I'll add a few more as needed as I start looking at the previews later.
Skip the Holy Grail Wizard, since it would do the same, that the Ramper Pro already did: level adjustments in exposure. In fact it would overwrite the Ramper Pro leveling and let LRTimelapse do the job. If you want to use the Ramper Pro leveling, skip the Holy Grail Wizard.
- Click Save in the first row of buttons. Go to Lightroom and import your folder or read the metadata from the images if it's already imported. Select the LRT4 Keyframes filter and edit your keyframed images to taste. If you want to copy settings from one keyframe to another, DON'T copy/paste metadata anymore. Instead use the new sync keyframes script in the menu of Lightroom (a new menu item next to help). This keeps Lightroom from destroying the gradients, that used to happen all the time previously. You can now edit your exposure as you'd like, when we couldn't do this before.
- Save the metadata of the keyframes in Lightroom, go back to LRT, click reload in the second row of buttons, then auto transition to ramp your edits between keyframes and click save.
- Now, you can use the new visual previews if you'd like to preview your footage in LRT. You can even use visual deflicker with care if you need (particularly if you really ramped exposure a great deal between many keyframes), but typically you won't need this with the Ramper Pro. If you do use visual deflicker you need to hit apply and then save to take effect.
- If you are happy with the visual preview (or you can skip it all together if you don't want to wait for a preview), go back to Lightroom, change your filter to the whole LRT 4 full sequence, reload the metadata to all the files (remember to do this in Grid View, for all Files (G, Ctrl-A, Read Metadata from files), and then export. You can render with either LRT4 or After Effects or Premiere Pro or whatever app you want.