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Hi,

No, you don't need Adobe Premiere.

I regularly shoot using Magic Lantern on my 5D Mark III.

You can find software to convert MLV to CinemaDNG sequences on the forums; I obtained one for OS X years ago, however recently learned that it is in breach of ML's ToS. To align myself with their position regarding their license, I've discontinued using the software and am currently in the process of updating my workflow to integrate open-source conversion software; I'm currently using the basic mlv_dump script.

I encourage you give ML a chance, and to find software that gives you a speedy workflow. You'll find more information over on the Post-Processing section of the forums.

Once you've got cDNG sequences, you'll be able to edit directly in Resolve. Premiere is simply a more intuitive NLE.

If you want more information, feel free to email [email protected]

All the best,
Thomas

Hello community,

I recently shot a short film using Magic Lantern on my 5D Mark III, and I thought I'd do a full tutorial of my workflow – since I'm usually lurking on here, I typically see the same questions come up and wanted to share my input.

One question I have been ignoring, however, is the conversion of MLV to DNG sequences. I've ignored it for the simple fact that the software I run works flawlessly, so I've never been curious to check out anything else... until last night. Whilst typing up the workflow and trying to find relating links here on the forum, I found out that the software I used is in violation of ML's GPL license.

Of course, I no longer feel comfortable using it, and certainly do not want to talk about it in my workflow write-up.

I've been trying to find different software that works just as well, however I keep running into the same issues; the footage comes out a lot darker than how the license-violation software processed it.

The only tool I've found that gives me the same results as the unmentionable software is the original mlv_dump script, however I'm struggling to figure out how I can make this script output to /SUBFOLDER/SEQUENCE.DNG - it simply adds the subfolder name to the sequence filename.

Can anybody advise a way to use mlv_dump recursively, whilst simultaneously placing the sequence into a subfolder? Ideally, it could be incorporated into Automator.

Alternatively, if anyone can recommend an up-to-date tool for batch MLV to DNG conversion, it would be much appreciated. I can operate on both macOS and Windows.

Thank you in advanced.

Best Wishes,
Thomas

[The Story:]

Hi all,

I'm very new to the Magic Lantern software, and while sceptical to install the build on my camera at first, I must admit I was blown away by the results. I'll go on a bit of a personal story here, feel free to skip it.

The Story:
I was asked by the British National Taekwondo Champion, Henry Cookey, to produce a short video for his Kickstarter Campaign -- there's not a lot of money funded by taekwondo associations, so if you want to go to the Olympics you need a lot of support.
I know there's much debate over using ML on professional shoots, however after working with Henry previously, the shoot had a very relaxed feel; I knew if I had a problem with the software then we could rearrange.

Initially, I had some issues with the settings, such as the image ratio, but I quickly figured it out and we began shooting. I was capturing the footage to a Komputerbay 64GB 1000X CF, I think the only feature I didn't like not having – or couldn't find – was audio playback on the MLV files. Had I known in advanced I perhaps would have captured onto a recorder rather than plugging into the camera – a method I should really start executing anyway – however upon returning home, I found no issues.

I converted the footage .MLV files using MLVMystic, creating the standard .DNG output, then used DaVinci Resolve in order to create two separate exports: original media for when editing was complete, and proxies to edit with.

Whilst editing in Premiere Pro I found the footage -- both original and proxy -- to be oversaturated in places, with an almost posterised effect; generally just a lack of tones. After some searching on Google and many threads on Creative COW, I put this down to the infamous "QuickTime Gamma Bug", though my answer is unconfirmed.

After exporting a high quality version of the video, I found some of the posterisation had been resolved, while some remained. With that being said, both myself and Henry are please with the result.

The Video
Of course, here is the video. I'm aware there are many problems with it, but hopefully it will serve as judgement to people who aren't sure if they want to try Magic Lantern or not. I know when I was looking for 5D Mark III RAW footage I couldn't find too much of it.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback, and if somebody could explain this saturation/posterised/gamma situation for me.

All the Best,
Thomas.