The following is the text of a post I made on a forum as a general response after someone was asking about how best to set up budget/low-end 2K monitoring and finishing for the FCP system..
I reckon Jim Jannard and RED have a lot to answer for when it comes to messing up expectations.
I love the RED One camera, I have now worked on set and in post on a number of RED shoots (all destined for no greater than 1080 in the end). It’s a camera for $18,000 (we’ll ignore lenses and accessories) that can shoot 4K!
Every indie filmmaker in the country is now convinced they can cut their opus in 4K in FCP and have it projected at the local Multiplex for less than it costs to sponsor a kid in Africa.
They are very mistaken. Yes, they can shoot RED, in 2K, 3K or even 4K. Yes they can cut it in FCP (or Avid, or Premiere, or whatever if they are game to play around). But the 2K or 4K finish, there’s the rub. FCP can, in theory, work with 2K resolutions. But it’s far from simple at that point, it’s not like video. You can’t just spit it out. There are huge issues to consider about LUTs, delivery, compression, audio mastering.
My advice to anyone thinking they ought to get into 2K on the cheap is, don’t. Wait. Stop. Think about it. FCP and Color and all the rest are good tools, but this isn’t really their strongest area, and chances are it’s not yours either. There are product and people who really know what they are doing and do it well. Those people and products are what you need. Shoot 4K, edit the proxies in FCP or Avid or whatever, but when it comes to the finishing, if you want any bigger than 1080 then it’s time to find a friendly expert. Hire/beg some time on a Scratch or Pablo or Smoke with someone who really knows their stuff. The future nightmares will be reduced and the quality of the end product will be increased.
2K will come to your desktop in time, but wait a while.