MLV to RAW conversion on OSX

Started by johnha, December 15, 2013, 08:18:01 AM

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johnha

I've had some difficulty converting files from MLV into something that I can post-process (like DNG or cDNG files) on my Mac.

After working on it a month or so ago, I gave up and eventually installed windows via VMWare Fusion so that I could get mlv_dump working. I was successful in windows and was able to mass convert a bunch of footage into RAW files which was compatible with my workflow (currently using RAWMagic on OSX, etc.).

Well, somewhere a few weeks ago I deleted my VMWare Fusion partition and lost the notes I had on the windows box detailing how to do the conversion. I didn't want to go through the trouble of installing windows again so I gave another stab at converting MLV files on OSX... and I got it to work!

So I want to share my findings in case anyone else out there is having trouble processing MLVs in OSX.

I detailed the steps on a blog post here: http://thejohnha.blogspot.com/2013/12/converting-magic-lantern-mlv-files-to.html

If someone savvier than me with OSX can figure out a method to easily batch convert a bunch of MLV files, please share! Thanks!

Midphase

Thank you!!!


Yes, the current process is simply ridiculous and makes me never want to use .mlv.

I would pay good money for a decent, reliable and friendly GUI Mac app which can deal well with these files (and ideally playback).


Danne

Try this as well. Straight to dng.

g3gg0 writes
1. don't use spaces
2. first cd into a directory ("cd  <directory>" and note the SPACE after cd)
3. then execute "./mlv_dump --dng <filename>" (ENTER THE FILENAME MANUALLY WITHOUT ANY PATH)
4. if this works, try using drag'n'drop or whatever, but first try to get it executing the most simple way as described in 1. to 3.

johnha

Quote from: Danne on December 15, 2013, 07:34:56 PM
Try this as well. Straight to dng.

g3gg0 writes
1. don't use spaces
2. first cd into a directory ("cd  <directory>" and note the SPACE after cd)
3. then execute "./mlv_dump --dng <filename>" (ENTER THE FILENAME MANUALLY WITHOUT ANY PATH)
4. if this works, try using drag'n'drop or whatever, but first try to get it executing the most simple way as described in 1. to 3.

Eff me, thank you so much! Holy cow. Thank you! Jeez, I could never figure out the correct syntax to get this to work in the past.


Now... do you have any idea if I can batch this?

I'd love to be able to do ./mlv_dump --dng *.MLV and have it create the DNGs for all of the MLVs in a folder.

Thank you again!

Danne

Sorry, can, t help you here, havn, t found anything for mac yet.
Thanks
//D

johnha

Yeah... I was trying to create something in Automator to do this, but I'm not proficient enough to be successful. Cheers.

nick.p

I haven't got a computer in front of me but something like this should work:
find {drag folder containing .mlv files} -name ".mlv" -exec {drag in mlv_dump} --mlv {} \;

johnha

Quote from: nick.p on December 16, 2013, 07:51:39 AM
I haven't got a computer in front of me but something like this should work:
find {drag folder containing .mlv files} -name ".mlv" -exec {drag in mlv_dump} --mlv {} \;

OH, awesome. Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. I got this syntax to work:

find FolderLocationOfMLVFiles "*.MLV" -exec DragInMLV_Dump --dng {} \;


Then I used Big Mean Folder Machine to sort out the DNGs into separate folders according to shot. There wouldn't be a Terminal command way to do this sorting, right? I'm looking at the syntax for find and mlv_dump but I can't seem to figure it out.

Thanks again!

g3gg0

Quote from: johnha on December 16, 2013, 06:08:45 AM
I'd love to be able to do ./mlv_dump --dng *.MLV and have it create the DNGs for all of the MLVs in a folder.

in linux (bash) i would do:

for FILE in *.mlv; do ./mlv_dump --dng $FILE; done
which will dump all frames into the current directory with the mlv name as prefix (default)

or

for FILE in *.mlv; do mkdir ${FILE}_dng; ./mlv_dump --dng $FILE -o ${FILE}_dng/frame_; done
which will create a directory named like the MLV plus suffix _dng and all frames with the name frame_xxx.dng
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KurtAugust

As much as I would jump on board the MLV train, any file format doesn't mean anything to me until there is a usable post production path. I am on a Mac (for how long to come, who knows, but quite some time already now).

I'm not a hacker, so for me, having tools like gingerhdr to quickly create proxies for offline editing straight from the raw file, is a big plus.
www.kurtaugustyns.com @HetRovendOog

johnha

Quote from: KurtAugust on December 16, 2013, 08:34:29 PM
As much as I would jump on board the MLV train, any file format doesn't mean anything to me until there is a usable post production path.

Is MLV -> DNG not sufficient for your needs in terms of post-production?

djfremen


Quote from: johnha on December 17, 2013, 07:51:42 PM
Is MLV -> DNG not sufficient for your needs in terms of post-production?

I think what Kurt and others on this forum are meaning, the Mac MLV workflow is half-baked.

Most editors are still on Lion (10.7.5) and mlv_dump isn't compatible with previous version before Mountain Lion (10.8). Also the MLVtoDNG app isn't functional in previous versions.

My workflow has been to convert MLV to DNG on a Mavericks Laptop (very slow), then transfer the DNG folder to my main 10.7.5 system for AE implementation and ProRes 4444 creation.

Midphase

Yup, so far the best app for dealing with ML files has been RAWMagic. It's easy, intuitive, and just works. Unfortunately it hasn't been updated in several months and it's not compatible with .mlv

Until another app comes out with as easy and intuitive GUI to convert .mlv to useable formats on the Mac, there is really no reason to switch to it.

johansugarev

On Mavericks 10.9.1:

Johans-Mac-Pro:~ mac$ /Users/mac/Downloads/mlv2dng
usage:

Last login: Sat Dec 28 05:46:10 on ttys000
Johans-Mac-Pro:~ mac$ /Users/mac/Downloads/mlv2dng
usage:

mlv2dng.exe file.mlv [prefix]

=> will create prefix000000.dng, prefix000001.dng and so on.
Johans-Mac-Pro:~ mac$ cd /Users/mac/Movies/
Johans-Mac-Pro:Movies mac$ ./mlv_dump --dng <M28-0536.MLV>
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
Johans-Mac-Pro:Movies mac$


This is my terminal. I also have Mountain Lion 10.8.5, it says the same.

dubzeebass

Search for recursive.sh and you'll find the script I wrote

BenBradleyG

All of the tutorial videos on how to process Magic Lantern RAW files into DNGs show people with cameras that automatically produce .RAW files while my camera (Canon EOS 60D) produces .MLV files that when I put into converters either produce empty folders with now .wav files or .dng files OR an error message comes up saying that something is wrong. I have used RAWmagic, mlv2dng, MLVConverter, RAW2GPCF, etc, and some of these involve coding in Terminal which is way above what I can do. All I want is an application that can process my MLV. files into DNG. or other editable files so I can use them in Premier Pro CS6 and Da Vinci Resolve 9. Help would be greatly appreciated!

vickersdc

Quote from: BenBradleyG on January 12, 2014, 01:52:30 AM
All of the tutorial videos on how to process Magic Lantern RAW files into DNGs show people with cameras that automatically produce .RAW files while my camera (Canon EOS 60D) produces .MLV files that when I put into converters either produce empty folders with now .wav files or .dng files OR an error message comes up saying that something is wrong. I have used RAWmagic, mlv2dng, MLVConverter, RAW2GPCF, etc, and some of these involve coding in Terminal which is way above what I can do. All I want is an application that can process my MLV. files into DNG. or other editable files so I can use them in Premier Pro CS6 and Da Vinci Resolve 9. Help would be greatly appreciated!

In that case, are you using the mlv_rec module rather than the raw_rec module?
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vickersdc

Quote from: johansugarev on December 28, 2013, 05:05:15 AM
mlv2dng.exe file.mlv [prefix]

=> will create prefix000000.dng, prefix000001.dng and so on.
Johans-Mac-Pro:~ mac$ cd /Users/mac/Movies/
Johans-Mac-Pro:Movies mac$ ./mlv_dump --dng <M28-0536.MLV>
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
Johans-Mac-Pro:Movies mac$


This is my terminal. I also have Mountain Lion 10.8.5, it says the same.

Don't put your filename within the < and > symbols...
Farnham360: my personal video project for 2014... http://www.farnham360.co.uk
Learn the basics of Davinci Resolve 10 Lite by following the tutorials at http://www.davidvickers.co.uk
Twitter: @DVMediaPro

xXZOKXx

Hi,

I'm trying to get the mlv_dump to convert my files, followed all the steps but I'm constantly getting the same "Illegal instruction" error. I've then tried to put a "sudo" before the command but I get a "Segmentation fault" error.
How Can I fix this? I'm on OSX 10.6.8.

Plz I need help.
Thank you guys.

mannyaroyo

Quote from: xXZOKXx on January 16, 2014, 03:52:39 AM
Hi,

I'm trying to get the mlv_dump to convert my files, followed all the steps but I'm constantly getting the same "Illegal instruction" error. I've then tried to put a "sudo" before the command but I get a "Segmentation fault" error.
How Can I fix this? I'm on OSX 10.6.8.

Plz I need help.
Thank you guys.

Check this out: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=9917.0 hopefully it helps out.

xXZOKXx

Wow! I've been paying for support services and never got a responsiveness like so! thank you mannyaroyo, I was downloading a wrong version of mlv_dump.

Now my problem is that I end up with greenish image after the conversion to DNG when I open it in Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw. I can partially fix the problem by swishing the white balance preset to Auto in Camera Raw but I'm still keeping greenish values in the darkest areas. I need to desaturate the green and yellow values in Camera Raw to get something barely correct and this is really not clean.

Any ideas about this?

Thank you.

mannyaroyo

Quote from: xXZOKXx on January 17, 2014, 04:04:51 AM
Wow! I've been paying for support services and never got a responsiveness like so! thank you mannyaroyo, I was downloading a wrong version of mlv_dump.

Now my problem is that I end up with greenish image after the conversion to DNG when I open it in Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw. I can partially fix the problem by swishing the white balance preset to Auto in Camera Raw but I'm still keeping greenish values in the darkest areas. I need to desaturate the green and yellow values in Camera Raw to get something barely correct and this is really not clean.

Any ideas about this?

Thank you.

What kind of Picture Porfile are you using? In camera raw there is a way to change how it is reading it. I had the same issue. I downloaded a LOG file from http://vision-color.com/visionlog/ and it worked great! In camera raw you can go to the camera calibration icon looks like a camera lens and go to picture profile and the drop down will have a selection for different type. That site above has alot of free stuff and actually was used in the end of the video i posted for the tutorial. Hope this works out! Cant wait to see what comes from it. Let me know if you need help.