[WINDOWS] MLV to DNG Batch Converter v1.9

[Arthur Rambo]

Hi,

Well, I think it's pretty straight forward.
MLV in, DNG out + proxies if you'd like too !

Tony, I'm shooting a documentary for french television in Kuujjuaq (Nunavik) and I'm using a 5Dm3 as a Bcam alongside a C300.
I'm using your converter again and again
Thank you once again from the north.
Sam

[Canon eos m]

Hi,

Well, I think it's pretty straight forward.
MLV in, DNG out + proxies if you'd like too !

Tony, I'm shooting a documentary for french television in Kuujjuaq (Nunavik) and I'm using a 5Dm3 as a Bcam alongside a C300.
I'm using your converter again and again
Thank you once again from the north.
Sam

Hi Arthur, could please publish your workflow. A tut will be great help too.

[Arthur Rambo]

Hi !

Well, I don't know if it's the best workflow available, but it works for me.
Some explanations can be found here, let me know if you want further details.

Right now, imho, the main problem concerning Mlv converter is the time it takes to get the dng sequences.
I get around 200 Go files a day, and it takes ages to process all those files.
Hope Tony will do something about it when he'll get the time...
Sam

[bastogne]

Thanks for your reply.

Some questions I still have - what does proxies do? I click on create proxy but nothing happen. Second, mind making a video of the steps using this programme? my footage right now looks crap, I am sure something went wrong in the workflow.

[tonybeccar]

Hey everybody!

Sorry for leaving the project a bit abandoned... I started coding it because I was on a 3 month holiday, and now I'm back! That and also that I don't quite see the point now con continuing until there's a command line for Cinema DNG's. Which are your workflows? Davinci Resolve? AE feels like too much time really...

To clarify: Proxies are not working properly, some problem with ufraw, will switch to Raw Therapee as someone recommended here. And the speed, that's mlv_dump guys! It is slow by definition, uses very little of the cpu. It does chroma smoothing and vertical stripe fix, that's great. Once I tried with mlv2dng which is amazingly fast, but it doesnt do audio so it was slower... and every now and then it crashed, so ended up dropping it.

I want to continue it, for now I don't have the time really... maybe I can add the update for Dual Iso which is really easy and takes 0 time... but it'll be nice really to have access to Cinema DNG's, because that's the way to go!

Cheers guys!!

[a1ex]

What problem do you have with ufraw? I might be able to help.

[tonybeccar]

What problem do you have with ufraw? I might be able to help.

Thanks a1ex! I'll have to do more research, but I noticed 2 things. One, (on windows) ufraw-batch randomly crashes. The other one, while generating the TIFF sequence, in a random frame it doesnt create the tiff, it creates a strange file, can't remember the extension now... but my guess is that ffmpeg stops at that frame because the tiff sequence is faulty.

Again, I can do more research on the matter, but you think it's not worth getting into Raw Therapee?

[a1ex]

If I understand it well, they are just a quick preview, so a simpler tool like dcraw or ufraw should do the trick. I use batch processing with ufraw-batch, but not under Windows.

RawTherapee is much more powerful, but it's probably a bit larger to install. When it comes to choosing dependences, I prefer to include a small command line tool.

But if you are using these proxies for the final output, then definitely go for RawTherapee.

[kaco]

Guys, I select the cdng folder, drag it into after effects. The ACR will open, but after importing, I get no audio. I have to manually select every wav and then move it into the compostion. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

[jose_ugs]

hey @tonybeccar, this is real basic stuff, but i believe it'll be of help: on close, save the input/output folders to the next time you run the converter they're already there...

[ted ramasola]

hey @tonybeccar, this is real basic stuff, but i believe it'll be of help: on close, save the input/output folders to the next time you run the converter they're already there...

version 1.9.1.  Go to File>Save settings.

[jose_ugs]

Thanks! Never noticed there's a new version, since i'm looking at the thread title and it still says 1.9
Good stuff!!!!!

[arturochu]

I want to continue it, for now I don't have the time really... maybe I can add the update for Dual Iso which is really easy and takes 0 time... but it'll be nice really to have access to Cinema DNG's, because that's the way to go!

Plz plz dual iso update.   

[edge11]

Thanks for your reply.

Some questions I still have - what does proxies do? I click on create proxy but nothing happen. Second, mind making a video of the steps using this programme? my footage right now looks crap, I am sure something went wrong in the workflow.

You basically use them as a way to cut your footage in real time, then you can replace said footage with your ae raw files.

Hey everybody!

Sorry for leaving the project a bit abandoned... I started coding it because I was on a 3 month holiday, and now I'm back! That and also that I don't quite see the point now con continuing until there's a command line for Cinema DNG's. Which are your workflows? Davinci Resolve? AE feels like too much time really...

To clarify: Proxies are not working properly, some problem with ufraw, will switch to Raw Therapee as someone recommended here. And the speed, that's mlv_dump guys! It is slow by definition, uses very little of the cpu. It does chroma smoothing and vertical stripe fix, that's great. Once I tried with mlv2dng which is amazingly fast, but it doesnt do audio so it was slower... and every now and then it crashed, so ended up dropping it.

I want to continue it, for now I don't have the time really... maybe I can add the update for Dual Iso which is really easy and takes 0 time... but it'll be nice really to have access to Cinema DNG's, because that's the way to go!

Cheers guys!!

I think out of all the post processing solution available for windows, yours is the best organized and most convenient. Once the proxie option gets fixed on windows 8 systems (atleast in my case) it will be the fastest way of getting something usable out of your camera and into an nle. It would also be sweet to be able to export only proxies. I appreciate your work and thanks!

[Markus]

Great program, have a few feature wishes i've been thinking about.
1. .raw support as well as .mlv - Since this program is so good it would be nice if it could handle both!

2.  compressing dng files at at a later date - Since compression in adobe dng converter is so slow It would be great if could use MLV converters interface to batch convert already extracted uncompressed dng catalogs.
       I seldom have time to let the computer do the lengthy compression at the time I'm extracting dngs. I we tried to do this at a later date through adobes gui but it takes ages for the program just to compile the batch list. And it has to search for the dngs and so on. Cant find a setting that replaces the original files directly as MLV Converter does. This means I have had to Batch rename and delete originals manually =(. If I could go back into MLV conv. and compress I would not have any of those annoying problems.

3. Dng Strip integration - Saw this small app that could strip down the compressed dng's a bit further. Could it be integrated to the compression options as a selectable option?

/Thanx for for this great tool =)

[screamer]

@markus: about your point 2, when i have to do batch renaming i use this software: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
it's free and very powerful, full of rules that can help in batch renaming

[Markus]

@markus: about your point 2, when i have to do batch renaming i use this software: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
it's free and very powerful, full of rules that can help in batch renaming

Currently using total commander, tnx for tip will check that out. =)

[edge11]

Hey everybody!

Sorry for leaving the project a bit abandoned... I started coding it because I was on a 3 month holiday, and now I'm back! That and also that I don't quite see the point now con continuing until there's a command line for Cinema DNG's. Which are your workflows? Davinci Resolve? AE feels like too much time really...

I want to continue it, for now I don't have the time really... maybe I can add the update for Dual Iso which is really easy and takes 0 time... but it'll be nice really to have access to Cinema DNG's, because that's the way to go!

Cheers guys!!

chmee released the source for his raw to cdng.

[dsagilles]

Hi,

First thank you for your contribution tonybeccar, your program is very usefull !

I gave it a try this afternoon with some RAW .MLV videos, and I found out a problem with the 2x2 chroma smooting : yellow point appears on the very bright areas :

DNG From MLV file without chroma smooting (converted with Adobe Camera Raw)

DNG From MLV file with 2x2 chroma smooting

As I'm a 650d user, I need chroma smoothing to get rids of the pink dots.
I remember a "raw2dng_cs2x2_white_fix.exe" was released for .RAW processing, I guess the same fix need to be done with .MLV files

Also, I've installed IrfanView v4.37 with all its plugins, but no video preview are displayed (I linked "i_view32.exe").
I don't really care about the preview, it's just to inform you in my case it doesn't work.

Again, thank for the time you spent on this software, keep going !

I will post my test video soon.

[chmee]

thats informative for @a1ex, who wrote the chroma smoothing.

[a1ex]

Right, just upload a sample DNG without any processing (without chroma smoothing).

[dsagilles]

Right, just upload a sample DNG without any processing (without chroma smoothing).

Here it is :
http://www.speedyshare.com/YU9Pb/yellow-dots-on-sun-with-cs.dng
(you have to click on "yellow dots on sun with cs.dng" on the top of the page to start the download)

With chroma smoothing (2x2, 3x3 and 5x5), a lot of yellow dots appears on the sun.

[jimmyD30]

@tonybeccar

Nice job! Love the conversion app, works great 

Is there any way to save the Chroma Smoothing setting under DNG Options? I looked through the Config.ini file and didn't see the parameter for this feature. I would like to be able to save this setting to None, right now it defaults to 2x2 and I'm afraid in a rush one day I'll forget to update it to None.

I tried saving and loading the settings, but it seems like Chroma Smoothing isn't included in the ini file. I would be glad to manually add the parameter to the ini file myself, just would need to know the parameter name.

Thank you!

[jimmyD30]

Right, just upload a sample DNG without any processing (without chroma smoothing).

FYI, I experienced the same thing using 2x2 (didn't try other settings), but the highlights were green. Unfortunately I've already deleted the video, as it was just a test. If it occurs again, I will upload a sample.

EDITED: OK, I deleted, but still in trash can, so here they are...

Control Image: http://filehosting.procypher.com/download.php?d=20140427&f=MLV_TEST_2_NS_A001_261640.dng
2x2 CS Image: http://filehosting.procypher.com/download.php?d=20140427&f=MLV_TEST_2_A001_261640_2x2.dng

[dsagilles]

Here is the video I've made using .MLV RAW Format with my 650d :