Topics

https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-pro-video-apps-now-support-prores-export-on-windows

There are not many substitutes for having a proper white balance reference when shooting (white balance card, Colorchecker etc)  but here is one that will help you get accurate white balance and it's very cheap.

Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE - Teflon.

PTFE and is usually found in a plumbers toolkit. It is a white, stretchy, non-stick tape used for sealing pipes but it does have another very useful property. PTFE is an almost perfect (~99%) Lambertian reflector i.e. it's ideal for providing an accurate white balance reference.

You can pick up a roll of PTFE tape at most hardware stores for a couple of dollars/euros and make your own white balance reference card by wrapping the tape around some cardboard. You need to wrap several layers as the tape is a little opaque but a small roll should give you a portable 6"x4" card that you can keep in your camera bag. It's not as robust as a commercial reference card but it's cheap and is far more accurate than a lot of the cheaper white balance cards that you can find on eBay.

Lambertian Reflectance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambertian_reflectance

This is a long post (yawn) but most of it is summed up in the first couple of paragraphs. In the first reply to this post is a simple exercise for any willing participants to provide normalized matrices using DNG metadata and Microsoft Excel.

In an effort to achieve a basic, uniform rendering of color from Magic Lantern Raw Video across many different applications there is first a need to standardize color related metadata in the DNG and CinemaDNG files output by Magic Lantern raw2dng apps.

Presently, there are multiple raw2dng apps that provide users with DNG or CinemaDNG files from original Magic Lantern Raw (.raw) and 2nd gen Magic Lantern Raw Video (.mlv) container formats with each app embedding color related metadata (matrices) according to whatever level of meta support the app developer chooses to include. The variations in default color rendering between post production apps proves the need to begin standardizing this important part of Magic Lantern Raw Video.

Enhanced color and look management using embedded DNG camera profiles and/or .ICC camera profiles would be an obvious next step and the (remote) possibility of any future ACES support for MLV will hinge on this small but important change to metadata.


Why?

It is important to understand the differences between DNG and CinemaDNG standards in relation to color in raw video workflows. CinemaDNG is a subset of the DNG Standard (both developed by Adobe Labs). CinemaDNG has several addition video related meta tags (timecode, shooting information, reel numbers etc) however some recommended DNG specification tags are omitted in CinemaDNG. While both standards 'can' be used/mixed it leads to actual color appearance being rendered differently depending on the particular standard that the raw reader (i.e. your NLE or color grading app) is based upon.


To simplify things we should look at the most basic purpose of .raw and .mlv and that is to produce moving images.

DNG standard is intended for stills photography with raw photography apps  like Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop, Lightroom, RawTherapee etc making use of any/all DNG standard meta content.

CinemaDNG standard is for raw video. Color grading, compositing, DI and NLE apps (Resolve, Premier Pro, Scratch, Nuke etc) are not required to parse certain DNG tags (i.e. they can and will ignore some tags even if they are included in metadata) and therefore, as .raw and .mlv is primarily intended for video production and editing with video-centric post production software, magic Lantern Raw Video should ideally be conforming to CinemaDNG standard. Some raw2dng conversion apps already do this to a lesser or greater extent.


What this means in relation to color:

The key color related difference between these 2 standards is the inclusion or omission of Forward Matrices. A forward matrix (part of DNG standard but not part of CinemaDNG standard) acts as an additional raw level color calibration function. A forward matrix maps normalized sensor RGB values (after white balancing) to a connecting colorspace or PCS. In this case the PCS is CIE XYZ with its D50 white point - PCS is used when transforming from one RGB colorspace to another i.e. to translate your DSLR sensor's wide gamut primaries to fit a much smaller display colorspace like sRGB or Rec709.

The color matrix tags which are included in both standards map a sensors non-white balanced RGB values and white point to PCS using a simple 3x3 least squares matrix. In CinemaDNG, the color matrices perform both the white balance and initial color calibration however, color is only a secondary, fallback function and will usually require additional color calibration after debayering to a colorspace.

Presently there are 2 ML supported raw2dng apps that embed 2 sets of color matrices and 2 sets of forward matrices per camera. These apps are raw2cdng (for Windows) and MLVFS (for OSX but can be configured for use under Windows).

The CinemaDNG files produced by these apps will tend to produce a 'nicer look' by default (similar to Adobe Standard color) but only when the files are debayered in an application that is built to honor the DNG standard and/or forward matrix tags. However, most video-centric color grading applications (Resolve, Premier Pro's native DNG support, Nuke etc) do not support forward matrices i.e. the forward matrices are ignored -  only the color matrices will be used. Resolve may have supported forward matrices in the past but v12 does not.

CinemaDNG standard does not support embedded 'look management' - stating that this part should be deferred to post production to enable a very basic, low level default rendering of the color across multiple apps and workstations.

So what needs to change?

The first change is very simple and is dictated by both DNG and CinemaDNG standards - We need DNG files with normalized primary matrices.

As CinemaDNG is the more relevant standard for MLV to follow, and because CinemaDNG does not support forward matrices, the color matrices used should be normalized (hard-coded normalized). The idea behind this is where a pixel value is recorded as white it should remain white (or neutral) throughout the transformation process to a display space. The normalization of color matrices in photographic related apps like Adobe Camera Raw is typically an automated function i.e. the color matrix will always be scaled at input regardless of the hard-coded scale of the matrices in metadata. The forward matrices are always normalized and so the final output will always be normalized and scaled correctly ready for the PCS to transform to a display referred or scene referred colorspace.

In applications that are coded to support the CinemaDNG standard and using only the current color matrix sets in MLV (which are not normalized), this auto-scaling does not typically happen. The debayered primaries are therefore not correctly scaled/optimized for PCS mapping or translation to a colorspace and this may lead to minor inaccuracies in white balancing and/or color rendering.

The most likely issue is with default saturation levels being slightly higher than expected but there may also be other, more significant issues where the same white balance multipliers (color temp and tint offsets) may behave differently across different apps. This part is somewhat theoretical but obvious differences can be seen when comparing 2 copies of the same DNG (one containing normalized matrices and the other containing non-normalized color matrices) and then analyzing the resulting trace on the Vectorscope in DaVinci Resolve.

Possible issues with normalized color matrices:

Although I am not posting the full normalized matrix set here (see the first reply of this post for the reason why) I have checked most normalized matrices using DNG_Validate.exe (v1.4 found in the Adobe DNG SDK) and they should be ok for use as-is (without forward matrices) but it is understandable that developers may wish to continue with the inclusion of forward matrices for raw processing apps that can make use of the extra metadata. I have also tested the normalized color matrices with forward matrices (using Exiftool) and these too validate using this method but I strongly recommend app developers test privately with their own apps before release as there may be validation issues when compiling (if using the Adobe SDK) that I have not personally experienced when changing meta with Exiftool.



My personal view is that MLV should follow CinemaDNG standard and omit forward matrices completely. This approach 'should' then produce the same default color rendering of Magic Lantern Raw Video across raw post production apps with any remaining difference then being purely down to an individual application's color processing i.e. debayer algorithms, noise reduction, chromatic adaptation model etc.

This change will not perform any color matching between different Canon DSLR models. The differences due to color sensitivity and color reproduction between say a 5D mark III vs an EOS-M will remain. Color matching cameras is a whole other subject and in CinemaDNG is deferred to post production. Conversely we are not creating additional problems or imposing a look ahead of any such color matching or look application i.e. this proposal gives the user the most flexibility in post without anything degrading the image color at its most basic raw level.

If raw2dng developers agree with this proposal and want to continue with the inclusion of forward matrices (i.e. mix DNG/CinemaDNG standards) I would suggest making it an option, not a default and perhaps link the option to this post or inform users of the difference in color they may experience. I will add further content to this thread including some simple color comparisons for users who are less technically oriented or who may not speak English.




Disclaimer: I (Andy600) and my company (CinelogDCP) produce commercial color management products that can be used with DNG footage however the changes I propose here are not related to CinelogDCP and are intended to benefit the wider ML community regardless of whether or not CinelogDCP or other third party products are used.

The latest and greatest DaVinci Resolve (v12) has been released in beta. I think this now rivals Premier Pro and FCP in it's NLE capabilities and with Resolve's color grading toolset, it's probably all you'll need for editing/color work - if you have the power to run it!

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

[Support for DNxHR in Quicktime wrapper]

FYI - Blackmagic Designs has just released Resolve 11.3.1 (full and free lite versions).

This is good news for Windows users who now get DNxHR codec support in Quicktime wrapper (previously it was limited to .MXF).



What's new in DaVinci Resolve 11.3.1

    Support for DNxHR in Quicktime wrapper
    Updated color science for Alexa 65 RAW processing
    ALEXA Open Gate and Canon RMF clip resolution improvements
    Support for CUDA 7 and NVIDIA Maxwell GPUs
    Anti-aliasing improvements for title rendering with shadows
    General performance and stability improvements

Minimum system requirements for Mac

    Mac OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion
    12 GB of system memory is recommended and 8 GB is the minimum supported
    Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 10.1.1 or later
    CUDA Driver version 6.5.45
    NVIDIA Driver version – As required by your GPU
    RED Rocket-X Driver 2.1.19.0 and Firmware 1.3.19.7 or later
    RED Rocket Driver 1.4.36.0 and Firmware 1.1.17.3 or later

Minimum system requirements for Windows

    Windows 7 Pro 64 bit with SP1
    12 GB of system memory is recommended and 8 GB is the minimum supported
    Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 10.1.1 or later

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

So BM have done it again!

Not content with taking on the big camera manufacturers, they are now gunning for the likes of Atmos with https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicvideoassist

The Micro Studio Camera 4K and new micro Cinema Camera are impressive and will likely impact the GH4, A7s etc. Paired with the Video Assist and you have a relatively cheap (ok, dirt cheap) 4K setup.

Even for me, a Canon fan, I'm starting to think the big C are just gonna leave the prosumer level kit to the likes of BM. It's a big shame as far as Canon goes but exciting times are ahead for low budget shooters.

No digital camera has ever made me drool - until now http://www.arri.com/alexamini/

One thing's for sure - this will not be cheap so I'm going to stop dreaming right away  .

[What's new in DaVinci Resolve 11.2]

Blackmagic Design have just released DaVinci Resolve 11.2 with support for Avid's DNxHR codecs. This is great for Windows users as we now have something closer to ProRes (including 4444 XQ) with up to 4K output.

The Cinema DNG Softclip option may be useful for clipped footage but I haven't tried it much. I'm not sure about the 'improved CinemaDNG tone curve' - I think they may have increased precision but need to experiment more.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 11.2


    CinemaDNG tone curve improvements
    CinemaDNG soft clip option
    DNxHR encode and decode support
    Media Composer 8.3 round-trip support
    AAF import now sets the timeline resolution
    Invalidate clip cache option in Edit and Color page
    Option to select RGB pixel order for DPX version 2.0
    Flags and markers now supported in ColorTrace
    Support for Red SDK 5.3
    General performance and stability improvements

[Updated 29/11/14 (please discard previous sheet as it contained incorrect forward matrices)]

Hi guys,

Accurate color reproduction and white balance can be a little tricky for some users when it comes to DNG processing in apps like Resolve and this is nearly always down to incorrect or minimal meta data in the DNG files. Adobe Camera Raw at least offers a fall-back to Adobe Standard and common picture styles IF the UniqueCameraModel tag is filled but nearly all other apps (Resolve etc) rely entirely on the embedded matrices.

I know some ML Raw apps do include 2 color matrices which give better default color but it would be much better to include all useable matrices. I believe most MLV apps use DCRaw data for the current matrix info but it is a little outdated and most color matrices have since been refined by Adobe Labs.

I have put together a sheet containing the current Adobe standard color matrix coefficients (as found in the latest Adobe DNG Converter) for all MLV capable cams. You may want to try embedding the tags into DNG with your apps. We have tried these on several shots from different cams and it certainly improves things in Resolve. At the very least it will ensure the correct green/magenta tint at default settings and allow use of the default color temp presets.

The sheet includes the correct Exif tag names, color matrices (row scan order) and illuminant tags that should be embedded when your apps extract the DNG files. Alternatively, someone may want to create a simple Exiftool batch script (or app) that can re-write/add these tags to DNG files - this will be useful for older DNGs.

You can find the list here: http://pastebin.com/ZGpUm6Nx - Updated 29/11/14 (please discard previous sheet as it contained incorrect forward matrices)

This slipped under my radar but Apertus announced their Beta/crowd funding intentions and it looks like a great deal for early adopters to help develop the system. https://www.apertus.org/2014-NAB-Axiom-Beta

Ok, it's not Magic Lantern related (yet  ) but they have referenced Magic Lantern when describing the Axiom's open source credentials. Definitely worth a look and worthy of ML input.

Plus there's an indirect dig at (I presume) Blackmagic in the write up 

@a1ex - how easy would it be for raw2dng or raw_rec/mlv_rec to generate a virtual white balance frame?

Disclaimer: This may be nonsense because I'm half asleep and haven't properly thought this through 

This simple idea might help with adjusting WB in post (especially in apps like DaVinci Resolve) when something was shot without balancing to an 18% grey card.

If raw2dng can generate a simple neutral frame, but apply the white balance that was used in the image sequence currently being converted, it would give a perfect WB reference frame to balance to. I suspect it might be tougher to do in-camera with the raw/mlv module?

i.e. read DNG WB exif > generate virtual 18% grey card or even a virtual Macbeth chart > apply Exif WB and save along with the DNG sequence that is being converted. The generated image could be a simple white box or have WB and other meta data printed. Not sure about gamma but I guess 2.2 would be best if it was something simple like an 8bit Jpeg and linear 1.0 if it could be saved as a DNG file.

I have a virtual, Macbeth DNG image if it helps.

[http://www.peachpit.com/deals/?WT.mc_id=2014_03_02_PP_eDOW_Color_Correction_Handbook]

Peachpit are offering Alexis Van Hurkman's brilliant Color Correction Handbook (Second Edition) in eBook format for $19.99. This is a 'must have' for anyone interested in color correction/grading and is a real bargain for $19 (it's usually $60). I think the offer is valid for this week only. I'm not associated with this in any way and I'm recommending the book purely on merit. This is great for newbies but many professional colorists also praise it as a reference guide.

http://www.peachpit.com/deals/?WT.mc_id=2014_03_02_PP_eDOW_Color_Correction_Handbook

As the DNG files produced by Magic Lantern Raw Video are predominantly used for moving images I would like to propose that Magic Lantern adopt ACES (Academy Color Encoding System).

ACES is an rapidly becoming the standard color science for motion picture and VFX pipelines and is aimed to standardizing color reproduction across cameras, regardless of manufacturer. It also offers the benefits of full Dynamic Range reproduction in the widest possible color gamut and accurate conversion to any colorspace (with an ODT) without needing to re-grade.

Incorporating ACES into Magic Lantern Raw Video will mean some minor changes to color matrix calculations in .raw, .mlv and probably raw2dng but beyond that, users should not notice an difference in their current workflows. The big benefits will come when using ML Video in an ACES pipeline as color reproduction will become both predictable and standardized. To fully utilize ACES we will likely need Input Device Transforms (IDT) for the cameras but these are relatively simple and (I suspect) we can base them temporarily on current knowledge deemed from DNG files, Canon IDTs and maybe Canon .ICC profiles.

OpenEXR will not directly be needed but may be the best option for DNG app devs who want to incorporate the highest quality OpenEXR output.

ACES and OpenEXR are both open source.

For more information on ACES:-

Presentation: http://www.oscars.org/science-technology/council/projects/pdf/ACESOverview.pdf
ACES: http://www.oscars.org/science-technology/council/projects/aces.html

Ampas/ACES sourcecode: https://github.com/ampas/aces-dev/tree/v0.1.1

ACES discussion group: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/academyaces

OpenEXR: http://www.openexr.com/
OpenEXR sourcecode: http://www.openexr.com/downloads.html


Thoughts?

Hi guys,

Please excuse the shameless plug (I hope the mods are ok with me doing this  )

We just launched a new product called Cinelog which works with Adobe Camera Raw and most raw video shooting Canon cameras, plus the Digital Bolex and Blackmagic Cameras.

Full info is on our website www.cinelogdcp.com

Unfortunately this release isn't a freebie (and yes we know there is something similar available for free) but Cinelog is true log space conversion for Magic Lantern Raw and other DNG based video and comes with a comprehensive LUT pack and guide.

If you have any questions or want sample frame conversions to test gradability let me know using the contact form.

I could be wrong about the date (maybe a day or 2) but I think today marks the second anniversary of Magic Lantern HDR Video. Thanks a1ex!

[UPDATE]

Hi guys,

I've been grading a project shot in Magic Lantern Raw Video and thought I would share a LUT I developed with you.

This is my Film Punch LUT (It's a kinda 'Blockbuster, blueish shadows, punchy but with more natural skin tones' look) and can be downloaded here: Film Punch LUT

I have included a basic guide on how to use the LUT correctly. It will work with any LOG footage but the guide details an Adobe Camera Raw/AE/PPro workflow.

Also included a sample DNG and JPEGs

Before (CDNG LOG):




After (with Film Punch LUT, a touch of extra contrast and a vignette):




Regards

Andy600



UPDATE: I have uploaded 2 more LUTs for those not using ACR (Raw-to-LOG for use before applying Film Punch and Raw-to-LOG-Film-Punch for an all-in-one look for raw or REC709 footage). Details in the zip: https://bitbucket.org/andy600/tl50d/downloads/Film_Punch_LUT_Update.zip note: the original method with ACR will give the best results but this is for those who can't do that!

Been having an issue with how ACR handles over exposure (or possibly over saturation?) on some shots. MLV files shot on a 50D, dumped to DNG.

Here's an example where red taillights can go pink with ACR (v8):



ACR (Visionlog - only WB and exposure adjusted) Color with Colorista in AE CS6





Resolve (V10.0.1)




I could obviously just use Resolve or use a secondary to recolor the pinks in AE but want to know what the cause is? It's only happening in the red channel (I think).

Shot on 50D.

Davinci Resolve 10.0.01 has been released for anyone that's interested. Apparently it fixes the roundtrip xml problems with Premier Pro.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

[http://i.cubeupload.com/BIuArx.jpg]

Although my main focus is video I'm starting to love my 50D for photography.

I've been experimenting with photo matrixing, taking multiple shots of interesting architecture around Riga, Latvia.

Here's one of my first efforts (click link below for scaled to HD image):



This shot is made up of 15 x 15mp images (3rows/5 columns). Original composite is around 19000px wide. Shot on an old, manual Auto Revuenon 50mm F1.4 but using ML Auto ETTR. Processed with ACR and Microsoft ICE (for stitching the images)

I hadn't heard of ICE until I went looking and it's fantastic. Beats Canon's photo stitch and Photoshop photomerge. Well worth the FREE download if you're on PC http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ICE/


View a scaled to HD size here: http://i.cubeupload.com/BIuArx.jpg


UPDATE: Here is a small gallery with a few more. Shot with ML Dual ISO (up to 70x shots per composite/up to 58k pixels wide) Images scaled to about 3-5% of their original size for web viewing

http://imgbox.com/g/NMOHCoarPn

Interesting case study of the pipeline used for Ender's Game. Some useful info too regarding colorspace and intermediates for CGI.

I usually shoot crop raw video on my 50D because aliasing can be pretty bad in non-crop mode and this got me thinking.

If the camera is line skipping (I presume it keeps line 1 and skips lines 2 & 3 etc) could it be possible to post-process a dng by splitting each vertical and horizontal line and space the resulting pixels apart as if they were not skipped i.e. pixel 1 - space -space - pixel 2 -space -space - pixel 3 etc then interpolate the missing data. I know 2/3rds of the data is missing and would need reconstructing which (I guess) would be very processor intensive and not accurate enough for full image reconstruction but it might be usable for compositing small areas where aliasing ruined a shot.

Some 50D dual ISO shots at Central Market in Riga, Latvia.

Processed with a1ex's cr2hdr-amaze-edge2 (Thanks a1ex, love it!) and ACR.

Not bad for a 5 year old camera

More shots and larger size gallery here: http://imgbox.com/g/oDlbuS2Gcx

WTF?

This guy claims up to 18 stops of realtime HDR / 32bpc

http://www.newsshooter.com/2013/09/15/ibc-2013-gohdr-hdr-video-from-off-the-shelf-dslrs/

How is he pulling 720MB/s (43GB a min) from 2x 5D MkIII's (at least, I think they are 5D3's??)

I've noticed a couple of blog articles from professional shooters recently that seem to contain mis-information about ML raw video.

In Nino Leitner's article http://www.ninofilm.net/blog/2013/09/16/kineraw-mini-vs-5d-mark-iii-raw-dynamic-range-test/?utm_source=feedly (posted today) he suggests "It seems like you can "bake in" a picture profile look into the 5D3 raw files."

and in videos that accompany an article by Paul Kell (also retweeted by @autoexec.bin on the front page of Magic Lantern) http://www.eattheblinds.com/2013/09/once-you-go-raw.html he clearly states that QScale VBR -16 has an effect on raw video aliasing.

Although I think these quotes are totally incorrect, what would make a professional come to these conclusions? Are they simply mistaken or is there any substance to what they are suggesting?

Just throwing another idea out there for the devs.

We have some fantastic exposure aids in Magic Lantern and IF you know ire values and can read vectorscopes etc you can achieve great results but I have an idea for a more simplified metering system (maybe a new module) based on the Ansel Adams zone system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_System.

The basic idea is for something akin to zebras and false color metering but where a chosen zone (i.e. skin in zones 5 - 7) would pass through while everything outside is blacked out. Each zone (or a selected range of zones) could be selected for different exposure purposes. This would be a very fast way of setting exposure, especially for skin tones because skin would not be seen until it comes within correct exposure.

Ok, this is nothing new and of course, shooting raw lets you do most of the work in post but as the cameras are pretty much in the 10-stop range that the AA zone system uses it kind of makes sense to use it. It is, after all, a very widely used and respected system.

Just a heads-up. GoPro Cineform Studio has just been updated to V2.0.0.285

http://gopro.com/software-app/gopro-studio

Key Features

    New: GoPro Edit Templates make it easy to create GoPro-style videos
    New: Trim, edit and mix video clips
    New: Add titles, music, audio tracks and more
    New: Fisheye adjustment control
    New: Adjust video playback speed for fast or slow motion
    New: Export video still frames at full resolution
    Create videos from time-lapse photo sequences
    Edit immersive 3D videos (requires 3D HERO System, sold separately)
    Supports GoPro, Canon®, Nikon® and other constant frame rate H.264 mp4 and .mov formats
    GoPro CineForm codec provides up to 1080p with deep color in 3rd party software

Not sure if there are any improvements for raw video as I've only just downloaded it.

Just messing with timelapse using Magic Lantern raw video and FPS Override (0.5fps conformed to 24p) on the 50D.

Used my latest build of @1%'s Tragic Lantern (Sept 8th) bitbucket.org/andy600/tl50d/downloads

Shot on an EOS 50D with an Auto Revuenon 50mm F1.4 at F2.8/ ISO 400. Frame size 1584x892 (16:9)

Post - DNGs CC'd, upscaled and converted to Jpeg in Raw Therapee. Added some noise reduction, tone mapping, camera moves and the 2.35:1 letterbox in After Effects. Rendered at 1080p.

Notes: This was a very quick set-up and shoot situation and I only had one charged battery

I was trying to work out what I was seeing from the balcony and had to think fast, guessing the best settings for Magic Lantern to capture this as raw video. It looked a little like the Aurora Borealis or possibly Nocto Luminescent clouds (as I've previously photographed imgbox.com/g/4sDa81fACu) but was way too low for either. It turned out to be simple fog dancing across the rooftops but the bright light in a nearby car park gave it a cool blue glow. If it happens again I'll set-up a proper 4k photo timelapse and try for some better angles.

Just a thought...

As realtime in-camera compression of raw video is a non-starter, is it possible to somehow compress the already recorded raw files to 10 or 12bit via a script to free-up some space or is there no 'accessible' method of compression available in the camera? or is too slow etc?

Some raw video tests shot on my 50D with an Auto Revuenon 50mm F1.4

I've uploaded the 1080p H.264 version (that Vimeo re-encoded to 720p) if anyone wants to see the full resolution video (500MB) we.tl/wKhNyBjCD7

Some 1080p frame grabs so you can see the difference in quality: imgbox.com/g/IKS6mQOvec

The first half of the video is the raw footage that I colour corrected in Rawtherapee (as it has better control over debayering) and output as 8-bit Jpegs. Only +8 - +11 sharpness was added in Premier Pro. (Used BATCHelor to convert raw to DNG). I would have output higher bitrate files but I felt it wasn't needed for this test.

The second half is graded using tone mapping and then I added some Film Convert Pro (Velvia +35% Super 35mm Film noise 30 - 50%) - Yes I know I wrote Flim instead of Film LOL!

Notes: I wanted to test my new (but old) lens, an Auto Revuenon 50mm F1.4. I shot between F2.0 and F11 in the late evening. The sun was going down and already behind the buildings but I got some nice gold reflections for the early portrait shots that show in the graded part of the video. I could have used a reflector to balance the light a bit but this was a quick test. The lens performed great and easily beats my Nikon 50's.

I shot everything in 2.35:1 ratio in both crop and non-crop raw video modes. If you can see aliasing in some shots that'll be the non-crop mode video.

Non-crop resolution was 1584 x 674
Crop resolution used was 2000 x 852

Up/downscaled in post to 1080p

For the grade I wanted to try out tone mapping to bring out some detail without excessive sharpening and I'm also trialing Film Convert Pro. I like it so far but it's easy to overdo it.

Oh, for those interested I shot using my own build of 1%'s Tragic Lantern 2.0 (Aug 19th) - although the video says 17th - doh!

Just saw this on Planet5D.com http://blog.planet5d.com/2013/08/how-powerful-is-magic-lantern-lensrentals-now-renting-5d3-with-ml-installed/

Will Canon react? 

Lens Rentals : https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/video/cameras/canon/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-magic-lantern-raw-hack-kit

I'm trying to get my head around how debayering works and specifically how line skipping in non-crop video might affect the bayer readout of the sensor? Is it different to crop mode 1:1 video?

I'm thinking about this because a cameras bayer pattern affects how certain debayering algorithms perform which is why something like Davinci Resolve debayers BMCC, ARRI and Red cameras well but sometimes struggles with ML video.

If the pattern is different for crop and non-crop how does the debayer know? Is it written into the DNG file?

I also noticed in Raw Therapee that AMaZE seems to perform best with non-crop video and DCB with crop.

Ok, this might look like spam but it's the kind of spam you will find useful

This is better than Dropbox and will be great for sharing or storing those big raw files and videos.

You can sign up by visiting www.copy.com or if you're feeling generous you could click my referral link https://copy.com/?r=22QN4s. We both get another 5gb of storage space if you do Then spread the word and get ton of free space before the introductory offer finishes. 

Just scanning the web to get a better understanding of debayering and came across this:

http://www.fastcompression.com/products/debayer/debayer.htm

http://www.fastcompression.com/products/jpeg/cuda-jpeg.htm

Might be of use for someone.

Lots of questions keep popping up from new users who don't bother to include any details of their camera. Maybe there should (at least) be a mandatory camera model field in the forum registration form rather than relying on users to add profile information. There are nearly 25k registered users here now. Lots of us try to help new members but it's a pain to always have to ask "what camera are you talking about". Also, the more information members provide in their sig, the better.

I'm sure this idea has been in the thoughts of many users but wouldn't it be great to convert raw files with the controls of ACR/RawTherapee, the file output and proxy options of the current convertor apps and real-time debayering (for a live preview to enable selective conversion before hitting the convert button), all bundled together into one, universal, cross-platform application specific to Magic Lantern raw video.

All of these things are possible through open source code. It just needs developers to take a collaborative interest to make it happen.


Every NLE or color grading app has it's benefits and drawbacks. The use of plugins like GingerHDR in After Effects and Premier Pro produce amazing results so plug-in integration would be amazing too.

One of the issue's I've had is finding work-around's for problems which usually results in command line or script editing (not my strong point) and/or using completely different editing apps than I am used to.

For instance, Davinci Resolve is wonderful to work with but can produce some nasty mosaic patterns in highlights thanks to it's solitary demosaicing algorithm. Thanks to A1ex I discovered Rawtherapee which has options to use the much better DBL or AMaZE algorithms, producing significantly better results, however, Rawtherapee is an app (a very good app) designed for stills processing and has a lot of bloat that we don't need, especially as we tend to color in dedicated video apps/NLE's. Processed footage can also suffer from flicker in the same way as ACR. Not ideal!

Realtime raw file previewing is not possible in any of the conversion apps (though I believe it is possible with GingerHDR in AE and PPro?) but The issue of real-time debayering, decoding and colorspace conversion for (at least) previews has been shown to work using open source code: http://vimeo.com/67542994 and Soyoyo Fujita has released his source now for Linux and OSX (still needs PC): https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8AXAVUQ9BiKVXN1cDh3dmw1VGM&usp=sharing

Conversion of raw files is currently possible with a1ex's raw2dng app and the extended functionality provided in BATCHelor, raw2cdng (for Cinema DNG conversion), RawMagic (on the mac), EyeFrame etc etc. All of these apps too have advantages and disadvantages but are all developed by individuals with a common purpose.

Putting all of these developments together into one package would, I'm sure, benefit every Magic Lantern user. Think of something similar to Cineform's GoPro Studio app. Uncomplicated and efficient.

With the proposal of a dedicated Magic Lantern video format now in discussion http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=7122.msg59525#msg59525 It's the perfect time to do this. The ML raw video format might not get everything that is needed (because of firmware/hardware limitations) but imagine being able to add-back metadata (reel no's, WB settings etc etc) for your own needs or apply a perfect LOG lut before taking your footage into your NLE and then choose the codec you prefer to work with and all savable in your own presets list. The possibilities are vast.

Managed in the same way as Magic Lantern development (using Mercurial/Bitbucket/Github etc) would allow for other 'outside' devs to contribute and I'll hazard a guess that there are more of them working in the field of image processing and app development than there are in the more specialized ARM field that ML devs are in.


So, why don't you app devs put your heads together and create a real Magic Lantern sister app? 

BTW, call it ZOEtrope

(there you go, that's my contribution  ).


p.s. sorry Mods, I should probably have put this in the Post Processing section 

@a1ex - will the latest changes to raw2dng.c have any detrimental/beneficial effect on converted DNG/CDNG files if conversion apps (like raw2cdng etc) haven't been updated for a while or is it all only relevant to the new Dual ISO feature?

I've been fortunate to enjoy this nocturnal wonder for the past few weeks so tonight I decided to try and get some shots of it on the 50D. These are not processed in any way other than to resize to 33% for the gallery. There are a few hot pixels and it was pretty windy.






See more here: http://imgbox.com/g/4sDa81fACu

EOS 50D
Chinon 28mm F2.8 (at F4)
Canon Video-X picture style (impressed by the colors of this PS)
Exposure 8 seconds at ISO 200
Daytime WB

Magic Lantern used of course 

The shots are pretty much how it looks to the naked eye. I'm no expert but I love how these turned out.

@A1ex - A lot of users don't seem to know about the File Manager/Pic View modules and how they interact. The File Manager module shows as File Browser in the Debug menu which probably causes the confusion. I suggest changing the menu entry to match the module name or vice versa and move it out of the Debug menu.


For those who are not aware of File Manager and Pic Viewer. It will let you manage your files (strange eh? ) but more importantly it will also let you preview/delete raw files (singularly or multiples) and not just the last one recorded. The preview looks the same as you'll see in the raw module (grayscale, low fps) but it's very useful.

I've uploaded a new LUT for Davinci Resolve based on a retro, crushed grade I've been working on. Basic instructions are in the zip:

https://bitbucket.org/andy600/tl50d/downloads#download-208546

Here are a few 1080p before and after frame grabs. No other CC was applied.

http://imgbox.com/g/w2RlyTpd2w


It might also work with Lutbuddy in AE/PPro etc but I haven't tested it

https://twitter.com/autoexec_bin/status/356146808835158016

He also goes on to say "noise reduction was set to zero in both cases"

I can't quite work this one out a1ex but I bet it's something very  ?

hang on, isn't that Luke Neumann in the photo? 

I saw a comment in the Cinema DNG topic that warrants an announcement.

Davinci Resolve 9.1.5 has been released and features improved DNG support

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/5802892/DaVinci_Resolve_Lite_9.1.5_Windows_ReadMe.pdf

I've just tried it and it works with raw files converted to 14bit DNG with Rawanizer (although I'm happy to stick with Chmee's raw2cdng app)

Now you can convert for Resolve with any of the raw2dng apps.

I did my first paid photo shoot yesterday for a couple who are expecting their first child. Most of the shots were outdoor portraits but some were quite active so I decided to try out the 50d because of it's fast burst rate. I'm used to shooting on my 600d and had some great results with it but the 50d has forced me to think more, especially when setting white balance. I'm not sure why but the 600d and 50d can both be set to the same temperature but look totally different with the 50d appearing colder.

I only use manual lenses so I relied heavily on raw focus peaking for the Live View shots. I also used Auto ETTR on every shot and it worked perfectly. The client is very happy and so am I. Thanks again to Magic Lantern!

A bit of a strange one from Technicolor. They have abruptly discontinued Color Assist.

https://www.technicolorcinestyle.com/cinestyle-color-assist/

I haven't tried the software personally but it did look to be quite useful and was enthused about by Vincent Laforet. It's a bit strange for them to kill it so early. Maybe sales were very poor!? Has ML raw been a contributing factor?

Technicolor have had a rough time lately seeing them refactoring huge debts. Maybe this is part of a streamlining process but it's a strange thing to do when there are a huge number of enthusiastic DSLR shooters out there. The market is there and they have a hugely respected name but their advertising and promotion is a bit crap.

Is that it for Technicolor's involvement in DSLR/Low end shooting?

I've just been checking out the free Arri raw converter app http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_cameras/tools/arriraw_converter.html

Can ML raw video be converted in some way to utilize this. It has some nice features including realtime debayering but obviously there is specific header information in Arri raw footage that is needed to use it.

Might be worth looking at by the raw app devs

There are also a lot of downloads including datasheets to browse: http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_cameras/downloads.html and I believe there is an SDK for Arri raw

[Download the original]

Some FULL HD (1920 x 1080p) raw video footage I shot this evening on the 50D. (no audio)

The original is NOT scaled. It's shot at 1920 x 1080 24p - uses A1ex's buffer-sorting raw module.

Download the original. Vimeo has scaled this to 720p because I'm cheap and haven't got a Vimeo Plus account 

https://vimeo.com/68807509/download?t=1371767517&v=172469260&s=c3b55aa4afede69ce86a0f5f3b155de7

This is using A1ex's buffer sorting method and I get about 6-10 seconds per clip (1080p) on a Transcend 600x CF card. Not bad

If you don't want to download the original you can check out some frame grabs in this gallery: http://imgbox.com/g/LefsA41Eo9

Congratulations to Roger Deakins ASC, BSC who has just been awarded a CBE by the Queen Of England for services to Film http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22626487

He shot The Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men - The list is endless and he's a legend!

I wonder if he's ever been here?

[This is NOT about raw video]

This is NOT about raw video - Please use this thread for raw video related things: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5586.0

Although raw video has the spotlight atm I though it might be a good idea to go through ML on the 50d to see what is missing and what is broken to help the developers. I have a 600d running Tragic Lantern to compare functions and I'll add more discoveries as I find them. Please add any bugs you find or things you would like to see

So here are the first couple of things I spotted:

1) H.264 Movie logging doesn't appear to be working!

2) FPS override in movie mode - The 50d had to be hacked to unhide it's video potential and so far it is restricted to 1080p/30p and 480p/30p. To get frame rates other than 30p you need to use FPS override but QT will still playback the file at 30p and you need conform the files in your NLE to correct the shot values (movie logging is important here if you shoot different FPS). Hoping for native 24p &25p

3) There is no H.264 preview in-camera - would be useful of course

and one for the wishlist (which I'm sure 1% will want to port) ALL-I and GOP control like Tragic Lantern

I have a 600d and an LCDVF v.3 and rather than buy a new one for my 50d I've found a simple solution (possibly) to fit it to both cameras.



The LCDVF has a frame that mounts on the tripod mount under the camera. This is not a problem for the 600d but the 50d has buttons under the LCD and would be covered by the frame. The 50d's LCD is also in a different place on the body so the frame is not useable anyway but using one of these (with a little physical hacking and probably some Velcro) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LCD-Screen-Hood-Protection-Shield-Sun-Shade-Canon-EOS-50D-Camera-/120901751840 you can mount the LCDVF on either camera without damaging the viewfinder or frame mount.

[group buy]

I think it would be useful to have a marketplace board on the forum for ML users to buy and sell their used camera gear and post any bargains they spot locally or online.

It would be useful to (at least) have it broken down geographically by continent as, for instance, buying and selling in Europe incurs no import charges. Most people tend to buy on eBay if they buy internationally but eBay ads could also be encompassed. Actual selling can be through eBay, Craigslist, Escrow etc to protect buyers and sellers but with the ML board now over 21k strong it would be a great place to find buyers for your old, used or unwanted gear.

A lot of other forums incorporate such a feature and it proves successful as long as it is not abused by outsiders. It can also be useful for generating interest in certain products in order to get 'group buy' rates. A good example is the Komputerbay CF cards that everyone is scrambling to buy. If enough interest were registered I'm sure we could negotiate even better deals for ML users.

What do you guys think?

In all the excitement of recent ML developments did anyone notice the infamous Canon Picture Style Editor has had an update?

It now sports an RGB curve in addition to the luma curve and a 6-axis color wheel to adjust complimentary colours. The RGB curve is about as flexible as the luma curve i.e. it's very fiddly to adjust and frustrating to use.

It's actually a lot more versatile than the old PSE but still a long way from what it could be.