Calibrated Software MXF Import v3 - Manual (Page 33)

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‘dnxhd’ options for After Effects CS5.5
Control file used was the XDCAM-MXF file.
Please note that After Effects CS5.0 & CS6.0 were not tested but presumably should act in the same manner as CS5.5 Also the
Working Space color was set to none for the project.
We performed our tests on a Windows 7 64-bit computer with QuickTime Player 7.7.1 installed. Also, no third-party
hardware I/O boards were used in this test.
All visual comparison tests were performed on the computer monitor by
sight.
After Effects CS5.5/5.0 will use Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to natively import DNxHD MXF files
– please see the ‘After
Effects CS5.0.3 & CS 5.5’ section in either the ‘Use with Windows Applications’ chapter or ‘Use with Mac OSX
Applications’ chapter in this User Guide. This section will only cover how the ‘dnxhd’ options apply to DNxHD MXF files
imported into After Effects.
Other things to be aware of when working with DNxHD MXF Files in After Effects/Premiere Pro CS5/5.5:
(a) When video and audio are stored in separate MXF files, AE/PPro will natively import the Audio Only MXF
files, but AE/PPro will use Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to import the Video only DNxHD MXF files. It is
unknown if Audio Only MXF files without a TimeCode Track will import at the correct frame rate in
AE/PPro.
(b) For reasons unknown any DNxHD MXF file with embedded 24- bit Audio will have the audio play as ‘silent’
even though Premiere Pro/After Effects are able to see and correctly report all of the audio properties.
This problem appears fixed in CS6.0
In a normal setup, After Effects will work with DNxHD as either 16-bit RGBA (for 16- and 32-bit projects) or 8-bit RGBA
(for 8-bit projects)
In our After Effects tests the files, DNxHD-RGB-GAMMA-REFMXF & DNxHD-RGB-REFMXF are visually the same
– so
the Gamma Extension does not make a difference in After Effects.
When working in 8-bit and 16-bit AE projects,, the XDCAM-MXF file was visually the same as DNxHD-RGB-REFMXF in
an AE composition, while the file DNxHD-709-REFMXF was brighter than the other two files in the AE composition.
This would mean that AE is working in Full Range RGB Color Levels.
Please note that even though After Effects is working in Full Range RGB Color Levels, some Avid Editors will still use the
SMPTE RGB setting when importing DNxHD MXF files or DNxHD MOV files with an embedded 601/709 Color Level in
order to preserve the Super Black and Super White values of DNxHD in AE. The video will have a slightly
‘washed out’
look in AE. This is a more complex workflow since you have to be careful how effects are applied and working with any file
formats that AE natively supports as RGB will be processed as Full Range RGB in those cases.
When exporting out of After Effects to the Avid QuickTime Codecs, please make sure to select the proper Color Level
setting in the Avid QuickTime Codec settings that match the DNxHD Color Level that you are using in AE. If you are
exporting out files that AE natively supports (like the XDCAM-MXF file)
then you would select the ‘RGB” Color Level
setting in the Avid QuickTime Codecs since native AE file formats will work in Full Range RGB.
RECOMMENDATION
Since After Effects works in Full Range RGB it would be recommended to set the ‘dnxhd’ options to Full RGB (0-255)
when importing DNxHD MXF files into After Effects or when creating QT Ref MOV files from DNxHD MXF files. If you are
working on a Mac with FCP7 installed it appears that the setting Full RGB (0-255) & Gamma Ext. will be visually the
same as the setting Full RGB(0-255) setting and the added Gamma Extension will have no effect in After Effects.
Even though we do recommend working in Full Range RGB with DNxHD in After Effects, you still can work in SMPTE
RGB if that is your desired workflow. It would be a more complicated workflow, but many Avid Editors do work this way in
AE.
As an ADVANCED OPTION: The 8-bit importing of DNxHD MXF and DNxHD MOV files can be set to 8-bit YUV422
instead of 8-bit RGB. Bit depths greater than 8-bit (such as 10-bit YUV422) would still be decoded as 16-bit RGB in