[WINDOWS] MLV to DNG Batch Converter v1.9

Started by tonybeccar, January 27, 2014, 05:08:15 PM

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tonybeccar

Quote from: Frank7D on February 04, 2014, 04:42:06 AM
tony, v 1.5 works for me; thanks so much!
As far as metadata, in addition to what you already have, it would be helpful to see the lens name and aperture and focal length and shutter speed and ISO. I see those when I play an mlv in MLVViewSharp; not sure if they are from the current frame being played, but for me seeing those for even just the first frame of the mlv would be helpful. Any way you could make that available would be great, whether out front or accessed through a button or any other way.

Yes indeed! Via an info button, a screen will popup and show the info.. at least for now..

tonybeccar

Quote from: kgv5 on February 04, 2014, 05:54:00 AM
tonybeccar,
is it possible to implement your app somehow could reckon if mlv (or DNGs after unpacking) are dual iso or not and give some tag to the folder name? (is such an info in metadata?) After processing it would be easier to just quickly pick those folders and pass them to other app for dual iso processing  (at least unless your app is doing that yet:)?

I think it could be possible. As I have a 7D, I am not able to record dual iso video. But if you could send me via wetransfer a short dual iso clip and show me how is the actual workflow.. I could be able to implement it! But truth is I have no idea how it is now...

Cheers!

tonybeccar

Quote from: Frank7D on February 04, 2014, 07:18:28 AM
When I make proxies ("Prores Proxy" "Scale to 1080p") the proxies get dupe frames so they end up longer than the original dng sequence (and are out of sync with the sequence). At least, that's what it looks like in After Effects.

Edit: Looking at it in Premiere, I see that the main thing is that there is a dupe frame at the start of the clip (sometimes some garbage frames at the end of the clip but they don't matter since they can be trimmed).

By dupe frames you mean black frames? At the beginning or end? What's happening is that I'm not yet sure how to get the audio in sync (it's not right?) I know there's a tag that is "AudioCount", but I guess I'll have to investigate it a little more.. will fix it in the next version!

Frank7D

"By dupe frames you mean black frames?"
In the proxy video, the first frame of the sequence is duplicated so it appears twice at the beginning. This makes the proxy 1 frame out of sync with the dng sequence.

tonybeccar

Quote from: Frank7D on February 04, 2014, 04:24:18 PM
"By dupe frames you mean black frames?"
In the proxy video, the first frame of the sequence is duplicated so it appears twice at the beginning. This makes the proxy 1 frame out of sync with the dng sequence.

Whoa, ok, what could be happening then.. :S So, you tested a video with someone talking and it is IN sync? (despite the 1 frame disorder)

Frank7D

"So, you tested a video with someone talking and it is IN sync?"
I haven't gotten that far; I'll check audio sync when I'm back at my workstation.
But that would be a separate question, I think. Ideally we would want the proxy to be in sync with the video it is being substituted for, so that we can edit the proxy and then swap in the best quality video for final render. Not that there aren't possible workarounds, but if the proxy matched the original video frame for frame, that would be best.

arrinkiiii

I have record some new clips and everything work good. The frames numbers are correct and are showing. For sure that yesterday it was from the mlv file some kind of error. Today with the new clips everything went alright. THANKS =))


Can you tell technical what is the different from Normal/Lossless/Lossy ?


Canon eos m

Quote from: arrinkiiii on February 04, 2014, 07:20:47 PM

Can you tell technical what is the different from Normal/Lossless/Lossy ?

http://www.larryjordan.biz/picking-the-right-version-of-prores/


When I convert mlv to any version of prores using mlv converter 1.5 there is a constant changing of exposure.
The original footage does not have this issue.
Is it because I am running prores on a windows machine?
Canon 5D Mark III, Gopro Hero Blacks with 3D Casing, A Few Lenses, Adobe CC 2014, MacBook Pro, Windows 8 PC, Lots of Video Rig!

Started Nuke. Loved it but then the 15 day trial ran out. Back to After Effects and loving it :-)

arrinkiiii


Thanks for the link Canon eos m  =))  It's good reading, thanks for post the link indeed good reading... but i think wend you only convert from MLV to DNG the normal/lossless and lossy don't have nothing to do with prores, or have it?


Canon eos m

No link. MLV to DNG is just one form factor of RAW to another - DNG is the Adobe version of watered down RAW with same attributes but a smaller container size. The prores is a codec and the options range from proxy to 4444 (with increase in quality as you move towards 4444 but with heavier files).

In conclusion, DNG is pure RAW, prores is RAW like if you use the 4444 (lossless) which you can do in post. Another difference is the you cannot control the White Balance of a 4444 video whereas you can for a DNG file. So, be careful, 4444 should be brought in only at the time of final render.
Canon 5D Mark III, Gopro Hero Blacks with 3D Casing, A Few Lenses, Adobe CC 2014, MacBook Pro, Windows 8 PC, Lots of Video Rig!

Started Nuke. Loved it but then the 15 day trial ran out. Back to After Effects and loving it :-)

tonybeccar

Yes, in v1.5 the video brightness changes.. it is a bug of dcraw, I already fixed it and will upload soon. Thing is i need another debayer, because the only way I could fix it is to bring the overall image down in brightness.. (see dcraw: Highlights=clip, unclip, blend, rebuild).

Difference between normal, lossy, lossless: Well, adobe dng converter compresses the dngs you just made, "normal" is NO compression at all, will skip the process. Lossless compresses i think to a half of the size, no loss of bata. Lossy compresses up to one quarter of the size. It's supposed to be lossy convertion, but I did tests and it is the same, and the saved disk space is HUGE. Look it up in google, I think there are some pixel peepers talking about it.

arrinkiiii


Thanks Canon eos  =))  but dng is different.

Yes, will look in google, i have try the 3 options... i just see difference in size of each dng, in quality of image i didn't notice difference but for sure there will be some.  Thanks Tony =))

ProgenyLab

Hi Tony,
I noticed that when applying an ACR preset in 1.5, it only gets applied to the first dng of the sequence.  Also, is it possible to write the fps into the dng metadata somewhere?  I couldn't find it.

Thanks for this very useful app!!

tonybeccar

V1.6 OUT!

- Added an INFO button, in which shows camera info (focal length, shutter speed, apperture and iso) and a THUMBNAIL!!!
- Fixed some little interface issues.
- Proxy flickering fixed. (now the image is darker though)

YOU'LL HAVE TO DOWNLOAD IRFANVIEW: http://www.irfanview.com/  (maybe download the plugins too)
Sorry, it won't read the dng's unless you install it :S, couldn't make it work as standalone... will see about that.

Known "bug" on the thumbnails: It works good, you can scrub the queue and it will update the info. Now the tricky part: the thumbnail generation is SLOW, so, if you change your selection before the image is loaded, it will show a "No image" sign, you just have to refresh that item. Thing is, when you scrubbed to another item, the thumbnail was STILL loading the previous one... so I put the message "no image", instead of showing a mismatched thumbnail. Will have to think how can I fix that...

Another "bug", if you input settings like "name" and "take" in your MLV configuration (in camera), then the INFO will not be displayed correctly, it will display crazy numbers. That's because by adding that information, the bytes in the file shift, so you don't have them in the same place, a bit absurd really... oh well, will have to find a fix for that too!

Enjoy! More will follow...

tonybeccar

Quote from: ProgenyLab on February 04, 2014, 11:24:50 PM
Hi Tony,
I noticed that when applying an ACR preset in 1.5, it only gets applied to the first dng of the sequence.  Also, is it possible to write the fps into the dng metadata somewhere?  I couldn't find it.

Thanks for this very useful app!!

Yes indeed, it's for when you open the sequence in after effects. If you open in Bridge, it will be shown on the first one also, you can open all and then hit "synchronize". But it would be ridiculous to make an .xmp for every single frame.

ted ramasola

I love the improvements Tony!

Can I suggest the app delete the thumbs in the thumbs folder when you close the app? It can accumulate to a big size in the long run. ;)

Or perhaps direct the thumb generation to the destination folder of the file concerned? That way the user will always be able to keep track of all the elements of his files.
Right now there is a tendency for those thumbnails to be forgotten and the app folder to grow bigger in time.
5DmkII  / 7D
www.ramasolaproductions.com
Texas

tonybeccar

Quote from: ted ramasola on February 05, 2014, 01:39:00 AM
I love the improvements Tony!

Can I suggest the app delete the thumbs in the thumbs folder when you close the app? It can accumulate to a big size in the long run. ;)

Or perhaps direct the thumb generation to the destination folder of the file concerned? That way the user will always be able to keep track of all the elements of his files.
Right now there is a tendency for those thumbnails to be forgotten and the app folder to grow bigger in time.

Hehe, dont worry. I'm thinking of them being deleted when you close the app, or when they reach 1gb for example.. giving that they are SO slow to generate... or maye an option to erase them... we'll see! :)

Frank7D

Thanks for the new metadata; very helpful!

As far as the proxy sync issue, I haven't determined yet if the sound is in sync or not for the mov files; it's hard to tell because they are only off by one frame (from the dng sequence). I can probably chop that first frame (the dupe) off somehow before editing it, but if you can figure out why the extra frame is getting tacked on the beginning of the proxy files, that would be even better.

Arthur Rambo

Thanks again for this 1.6 version Tony !
I haven't figured out how to optimize my editing workflow for now. But as I understand it, I will have to deal with proxies in AE.
Have you planned to implement batch process .avi proxies in future versions ?
Or in other words : what is the best proxies format for AE ?
I have searched but it seems you can't import DNG sequence within Premiere, and that is a real pain...
Samuel

tonybeccar

Quote from: Arthur Rambo on February 05, 2014, 01:35:37 PM
Thanks again for this 1.6 version Tony !
I haven't figured out how to optimize my editing workflow for now. But as I understand it, I will have to deal with proxies in AE.
Have you planned to implement batch process .avi proxies in future versions ?
Or in other words : what is the best proxies format for AE ?
I have searched but it seems you can't import DNG sequence within Premiere, and that is a real pain...
Samuel

Yeah workflow's a bitch. Still haven't determined mine either. The codec I use in AE in Windows in Grass Valley Canopus, because dnxhd doesn't let me export in 2.35:1. And when I buy Edius I'm moving towards there anyway... So as far as .avi goes, what codec do you want???

tonybeccar

Quote from: Frank7D on February 05, 2014, 05:03:39 AM
Thanks for the new metadata; very helpful!

As far as the proxy sync issue, I haven't determined yet if the sound is in sync or not for the mov files; it's hard to tell because they are only off by one frame (from the dng sequence). I can probably chop that first frame (the dupe) off somehow before editing it, but if you can figure out why the extra frame is getting tacked on the beginning of the proxy files, that would be even better.

So, you tested with someone walking and it "appears" to be in sync? That's what I was asking.. sorry..

Frank7D

Quote from: tonybeccar on February 05, 2014, 03:26:07 PM
So, you tested with someone walking and it "appears" to be in sync? That's what I was asking.. sorry..

Yes, the audio is pretty much in sync, but as I said if it's off by 1 frame it would be hard for me to tell.

The proxy is definitely off by one frame (visually) from the dng sequence however, because of the extra frame at the beginning, which makes editing with the proxies problematic if you want frame-accurate edits.

Arthur Rambo

When I create proxies in AE, it exports them in .avi, that the reason why I was wondering if it would be better to do that as well within your application...

But now that I think about it, maybe it would me wiser to create proxies with AE after adjusting the dng sequences with Adobe Camera Raw beforehand.
Then import all that in Premiere, and do the edition there...

jayzed

This is probably not going to be possible, given that the codec needs to be purchased but as you're asking for AVI codecs - Cineform. I love the active metadata feature - Cineform RAW would be heaven.

Rawanizer works with Cineform but I've not been able to get the Cineform transcode working on my machine (I'm long overdue a rebuild) and, at last check, Rawanizer didn't handle MLV or audio.

Saying that, I've not used CF as much since the birth of RAW as I've been using ACR for much the same purpose - an active basic grade. However, I only work on short sequences so I'm fine loading RAW into After Effects and either rendering from there or transcoding to Cineform for use elsewhere.

Anyway, please don't consider this a moan or a begging letter. I really love this tool and have moved over completely to MLV (with audio) since starting to use it.

Downloading version 1.6 now.

Frank7D

Quote from: tonybeccar on February 03, 2014, 09:45:13 PM
It SUCKS that first you have to convert to TIFF in order to create a proxy, ffmpeg doesnt support it. Does anyone know a workaround? For now DCRAW is debayering the dng's into heavy tiffs. IT IS SLOW!

This are the parameters of dcraw that I'm using for now:

dcraw -v -w -H 0 -6 -T IMPUTFILE

I understand it has LOTS of options, can anyone point me in a better direction? I notice a color shift with the proxies. I dont know if I'm gonna add a dcraw section, the point of this program is to keep it user friendly and not "hackish" or complicated. The user must have a complete NON understanding of these complicated procedures and still be able to get the footage processed!

So maybe it is slow because of some of the parameters?

tony, I did a little reading on dcraw. I don't know if you've seen this:
http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/dcraw.1.html

Based on the above, my suggestions to maybe speed up proxy creation process:
~ Make 8 bit tiffs instead of 16 (drop the -6)?
~ Eliminate metadata in tiffs (drop the -T)?