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Topics - ChadMuffin

#1
Raw Video Postprocessing / "Screen Tear" issue
February 01, 2015, 08:21:09 PM
I was working on a small commercial for a marketing company local to me and I had this issue come up with one of the frames. This happens to be the take I intend to use in the final product and I was able to take some parts of the frame before and after to fix this very simple shot but, it does worry me if I were to be shooting something more complicated and wouldn't be able to do fix it and how much time I may spend trying to fix these kinds of issues in the future if it does continue.

Here is the frame in question.


I was shooting on a 5D3 1.2.3 build Aug 7, 2014. I edit on a Windows 8.1 in Adobe products. For this MLV I used raw2cdng 1.6.1, MLRawViewer 1.3.3 and MLV to DNG Batch Converter v1.9.2 all with the same issue. This leads me to believe that it is not with any of the software on the computer but ML on the camera. I did not see in the forums if anyone else had this issue and do not know if it was just a one in a million issue. I do not know what would be relevant but here are some information. I was using KB 64GB 1000x cards, the card was warmed up and I shot a few minutes before hand, fix black level was on, Use SRM job memory was on, Extra Hacks was on, Reserve card space was on. There was no warning in camera during or after recording this take. It was not split up into multiple files.

If you look closely at the image, it appears that the tear, or what ever the proper name is, is shifted over to the right and over exposed with a pink tint and green in the whites. Has anyone experienced this? Is it a know issue? Is there a fix? If anyone needs any additional information from me to diagnose it, I am sure I can get it to you.
#2
General Help Q&A / What is ML's font?
January 16, 2015, 07:34:42 PM
I was working on updating some crop marks here: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=13638.msg131749#msg131749 and I wanted to create crops marks that match EF-S lenses mounted on EF and the digital zoom crop marks and wanted to label them on the .bmp image. I want to keep the text uniform in the crop mark with the rest of the displays and I do not know what font ML is using. I located the font folder in the ML files but they are .rbf and have tried and failed to open them. I was not able to locate through search here or on Google. Does anyone know what font they are or based off of?
#3
Here is a project that I recently worked on using Magic Lantern MLV and VisionLOG and their LUTs, specifically their M31 LUT. This is not a review, critique or anything like that of the tools used, ML or VisionLOG. This is me explaining my experience with them. The reason I am doing this is to show new users of Magic Lantern my method, which not be the best for you, and for the more seasoned users to see other workflows. As a disclaimer, I would not classify myself as an expert. I am completely self-taught in the sense of never attending professional classes. I have just used online sources and my own experimentation to develop myself as a filmmaker. Here is a list of the gear I used in this project: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8, Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8, Komputerbay 64GB x1000 x2, Tripod (for interviews only), Monopod (ever other shot), LED lights x2, Zoom H4N and Sony UWP-V1 wireless lav.

Now that's out of the way, here is my experience.

The producer requested to have a unique look to the film and I showed him clips from the M31 LUT which has been popular nowadays and he wanted that look. He wanted to show the event to promote local music in St. Cloud, MN and wanted to film the live show, with the audio tracks from the bank and to cut in some interviews of the bands and this was the result.

I recorded the first and last two songs of each of the two sets because those are typically the most energetic and in between I filmed the interviews. I knew there wasn't going to be too much footage so shooting MLVs would be reasonable. Sometimes the cards I have don't record continuous at 1080p so I filmed in 2:35:1 to save space and to ensure I did not have any dropped frames. When my cards filled up I offloaded them on an external hard drive that has USB3.0, formatted and put it back in my pocket ready for the next time I needed. This was a fast paced, informal shoot. When shooting the band and the other non-interview shots, I only used my monopod and did my best to keep it stable and used warp stabilizer in post to fix any little shakes I could have had. Most of the band shots were at 6400 which was handled very well by MLVs compared to my previous attempts with Canon's H.264.

When I got home for the event, I converted all of the MLVs to DNGs with Chmee's raw2cdng. I let that go over night and when I woke up I used After Effects (in 16 bit) to convert them to DNxHD 10bit 175 with VisionLOG. This is a slow process but, I did not have a set timeline for this project to be done so that was okay. If I had a tight schedule, this probably would not be the best option. The only issue I had with this process is I think I had some hot pixels. On some of the 6400+ ISO shots, there were white dots that would come in and out of the individual frames. I think this issue will be fixed when Chroma Smoothing is introduced into the raw2cdng too. But, it is not the end of the world for me and this project. I'm sure Youtube compression will fix this issue.

I created four sets of presets in ACR to make the process faster. The first one I had set the basic settings I wanted to start out with. It would clear any other setting back to 0 and it would include WB changes in increments of Tungsten, Sunny, Shade, ect. The second would then include lens corrections for my lenses, the third would be noise reduction with low, medium, and high. I would then review the image to make sure it looks how I want it and then I would place the last profile with VisionLOG. This process was quite fast for me and I was happy with it and all the control I have. For the interviews I included the .wav file but for the other clips, I did not include audio since I would not be using it, and it would save a lot of clicks for me. I created new compositions for each clip, saved, and exported in Media Encoder and let it do its thing. I then came back later that day and edited it just like normal in Premiere Pro with the VisionLOG LUTs, Magic Bullet Looks and other color grading plugins included with the software.

All in all, changing MLVs to DNGs and then from DNGs and DNxHD had me behind the computer for additional 30 min. The actual converting process added about 16 hrs of the computer thinking when I wasn't around to this relatively short project.

I would like to hear from you of the process that I had. I would love some insight if others have had better results with other options. I did choose to stay in Adobe products because of the dynamic link feature since I also do some audio work in Audition. I also use After Effects and Photoshop often in my video work. It just is easier and more comfortable for me to stay all in Adobe.

#4
Feature Requests / Cropmark feature requests
October 25, 2014, 11:37:34 PM
When working with the cropmarks in ML, you can only see 8 characters of the name of the cropmark, minus the 4 characters of .bmp. Would there be a way to not include the file type in the name or include longer name fully displayed, maybe have it roll across the screen when highlighted? As well as being able to include more than 9 readable cropmarks?
#5
Shoot Preparation / High Quality ML Cropmarks v1.2
October 18, 2014, 09:11:32 PM
I made some cropmarks that worked well from me so I though I would share them. I made them as simple as possible and if potential clients see them they would not be distracted by them.

The pack includes 1.77:1, 2.35:1 and 3:2 ratios of the Rule of Thirds, Golden Triangle, Golden Spiral compositions. It also includes the "Fincher Fifths" and 5x zoom preview. As well as a EF-S cropmark if you are using an EF-S lens on an full frame camera. The actual viewable image of an EF-S lens on a full frame sensor changes from lens to lens so I based it solely off of the image sizes. It also includes crop marks with and without the ML Logo.

The cropmarks will work on all ML supported cameras. They are always scaled to fit the 3:2 LiveView image. If there are any issues, please post here with the details and I will attempt to fix them.The community has my permission to do as they like with these images and could even include them in the nightlies or final product if they wanted.

Keep in mind you can only have 9 cropmarks activatable at this time in ML. You will want to pick the ones that fit you best. "ML Essentials," a folder has the most often used in one location for easy picking.

Instructions / Information included in the download.

Example  **image simulated**


2.35:1 Golden Spiral with Logo


1.77:1 Golden Ratio


DOWNLOAD: CROP MARKS v1.2
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwd3r5HwGFltU3V6SEVFVWVxdnc/view?usp=sharing
#6
A client came to me who is starting a business doing paint parties as well as other promotions and advertising about making him a "mega-mercial." I filmed a couple shows and put this together. He also had 2 other video guys there that had a 5D3 (not hacked) and a GH3 (hacked) who where nice enough to let me use their footage. I was able to tell the difference while editing, not just in color grading but overall quality and I am sure you can too. I was running 2 KB 64GB cards which held up very well as I swapped them out they would fill up on a USB 3.0 HDD. I edited in Adobe products. Used Elemet 3D for the 3D graphics and Optical Flares from Video Copilot. The shows were not huge but I think I managed to make them seem larger. I used the latest Tamron glass, 24-70 and 70-200, which has been working great for me, recommend them for the price. I also used the Canon 15mm fisheye. And, I used a HD-2000 for steadicam like shots and a lot of handheld for time sake. Thoughts, comments, questions, I would enjoy to hear them!

#7
Share Your Photos / Military and Dual ISO
May 24, 2014, 08:31:23 PM
I am in the 194th Tank Regiment in MN and just got back from Annual Training. While photography is not my primary job in the military, I am a network admin, I managed to take some pictures and used ML Dual ISO (some without) and managed to get some great results and wanted to share them. I hardly got more than a few moments to shoot from time to time and only one shot is "staged." But, the documentary style revamped made it better in my opinion. I only changed colors, shadows and highlights in the pictures. Thoughts and comments, I'll be here! I plan on selling these in VFWs, Legions, VAs and others for the Soldier Fund at the Brainerd, MN Armory. And, would like your help to see which one is best to start printing.

Dual ISO:

M1 Abrams
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

Not Dual ISO, staged:

COD inspired.
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

Dual ISO:

An M1 Sunset
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

Dual ISO:

Blackhawk
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

Dual ISO:

Abram in Action
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

Not Dual ISO:

Abram Astir
by Chad J Smith, on Flickr

#8
With Chmee's CDNG tool, you can work with the raw files natively with audio synced in Premiere Pro which is awesome! (Thanks Chmee!) I really enjoy the ACR tool for color grading/correcting, especially how easy it is to change WB. But, jumping back and forth from After Effects and Premiere Pro is not the most streamlined and using Speedgrade is far easier as a workflow. And, Speedgrade is specifically designed for color grading/correcting. I know there is an option to use Resolve but, I would rather keep everything simple with Dynamic Link that Adobe offers. The only thing I have trouble with is correcting or changing the WB in Speedgrade. There is a Temperature slider but it seems to add a filter to adjust colors instead of changing the actual WB like ACR. For example, if you have something blown out and change the temperature slider to be warmer, the blown out part will become warmer in color instead of staying white such as in ACR. Also, colors don't seem to change correctly as they do in ACR. I have searched many sources such as Youtube, Google, Adobe.com, many forums to include this one for a different options similar to ACR these past few weeks and have come up empty handed. Does anyone know of an option to change WB in Speedgrade so it is similar to ACR? Thank you in advance!
#9
Share Your Videos / 5D3 ML RAW - Extreme Low Light Test
February 19, 2014, 10:11:17 AM


I really wanted to push the limits of this camera and got some pretty awesome results.

For the nerds:
Camera: 5D3 Magic Lantern (latest build at time of video)
Lenses - 15mm f2.8 fisheye | 24-70mm f2.8 | 70-200mm f2.8 | 50mm f1.4 | 2x Teleconverter
Stuff: Glidecam HD-2000 | Monopod | Handheld | HDR-300 Ring Light | KomputerBay 64 GB 1000x (x2)
Workflow: .MLV > MLV Converter (lossy) > After Effects (Adobe Camera Raw) > H.264 (16 Mbps)

If my cards got full, I swapped them out on a USB 3.0 Ext HDD on my Windows Surface and got back in the game. At the end of the night, I sorted through the crap in MLV converter and let it export over night, when I got back in the morning, it was time to edit. Love the look, love the flexibility, love the doors it opens to creativity, but it is really difficult to work with in AE, It runs silky smooth in DaVinci Resolve but I love working with ACR... This process is not for the time sensitive. Many amazing leaps have been made with ML, but the post needs to be improved and sped up before it truly becomes practical. Downloading the footage  will look better.

I was able to handle 3200 ISO with great footage. Depending on what you are shooting, you may even get it to 12800 ISO with a good denoiser (I used ACR Noise Reduction). Tonal range was noticeably decreasing when reaching 6400 ISO. I did not use Dual ISO. I did not use ML Sound, I knew I wasn't going to be using sound in the final video (no, this is not the final video).
#10
Modules Development / Text input for MLV
December 03, 2013, 05:46:22 PM
Hey ML team,

I have been trying to get the text input for MLV on the 5D3 to work (text, take) but, I cannot put anything in. I have tried the IME module but, it did not work, I assume it is older. Am I suppose to make a .txt file on the card before hand or something? Thanks!
#11
General Help Q&A / High Temps
October 03, 2013, 04:52:21 AM
I was testing out the latest for 5D3 (Oct 2) with the bars facelift. Like the new design btw! Along with it it also displays your temp which I like. I wanted to test it out the temps out of curiosity and just played some exposure settings and then let it record for about one minute at 1080p and it jumped up to 60C which was red. So, I shut it off. Then, I went back in after a few minutes and it was sitting at 49C. I was just going through the menus and seeing if there were any updates. When I went back to the LiveView it was in the orange. I was wondering if this was typical and others have been experiencing this. Have I been running it too hot far too long? I looked at the Canon site and it said the operating temps were 0-40C. I would assume that would be the environment temps and not the camera itself. Thoughts? Am I just worrying too much? Is the color coding too low?
#12
I remember in the beginning stages of this latest addition of shooting RAW, there was an option to shoot just slightly over 1080p and take in everything the sensor has to offer. When ever I do handheld or steadicam, I use warp stabilizer at 1% just to make the shot movement a bit more fluid and I notice it is always scaled up slightly to about 101-104%. I know you can zoom in 3x and shoot over 1080p but, I would rather not use that method when possible because camera shake is more noticeable. With those few extra pixels to play with, the scaling up wouldn't hurt quality at all. I know there are a ton of other things on your guy's plate and have no idea how hard it would be to include this or not but, it would be a nice addition again. Thanks for everything ML!