7D "tearing" / "shearing" / fractured pink frames in RAW video - Suggestions???

[ariaelf]

Hey Everyone,

I keep seeing tearing/shearing in the RAW video off my 7D, examples bellow. Using 64GB 100x Komputer Bay Cards, they all test at around 67-69mb/sec with the ML benchmark test on camera.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is for a "no-budget" production. Should I try installing a more recent version of ML, changing settings, or do you think it's the cards being too slow?


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[Frank7D]

You could give more information as to resolution / other settings / modes used.
Personally I have only seen tearing when I shoot crop mode and use the grayscale preview for correct framing (which is why I never use that preview any more except before hitting record).

[N/A]

Same here, with the latest nightly I only get bad frames with ML Preview on. I almost always shoot in crop mode for 2k video as well. I think 50p and 60p with fps override on produces bad frames, but I haven't checked in a while. Give us more details, and get the latest nightly build.

[ariaelf]

Thanks for the replies -

Histogram off, no HTMI out, global draw off, NOT crop mode, 24fps raw.

I have tried disabling just about everything that could take extra processing power, I'll try the suggestion of the latest nightly build. My build is from April 20th of this year. 

Curious, without the ML preview, how do you set up the shot? I would be bummed if I couldn't use live preview, or HTMI out or a histogram and had to "guess" at the information I need. Just trying to figure out what's causing the problem for now though, so running tests...

[Frank7D]

You can use the ml preview to set up the shot, but you need to switch it off before filming or you get the tearing.

[ariaelf]

Gotcha, let me try that with a test and see if that fixes the problem. (as tedious as that would be to do shot by shot by shot, it's better than tearing frames!)

Okay, I turned off the ML menu and did a test with plenty of motion and went through frame by frame looking for shearing. Woohoo!! Looks like turning off the ML info overlay is the solution. It's just a bummer you can't see a waveform, histogram, CPU core temp, etc WHILE actually filming, that's sort of the point of the menu.

Perhaps this has been resolved in a more recent build?

[dpjpandone]

you should also turn off highlight tone priority, peripheral illumination, high iso noise reduction, and any other options that you may find in the Canon menu (not ML menu) to squeeze every little bit of performance. ML histogram is the biggest resource hog in my experience...

[ariaelf]

Will do, it's too bad because I <3 the ML histogram for setting up proper exposure. To turn it on and off before every single take, especially when I'd prefer to see those levels while recording, is a bummer to say the least. Kind of like being the sound recorder on set, and having to be blind to your meters throughout the take... so you have no idea if you've clipped and ruined your audio or not.

Is this issue corrected in newer builds, or is it just impossible to have a working histogram and raw video at the same time from the 7D processor?

[N/A]

Yes, try the newest nightly. If you're not shooting in crop mode you don't need ML Preview, because framing in non-crop (normal liveview display, NOT 5/10X) is correct. You're limited to a lower resolution but performance will be much more consistent because the camera won't have as much data to write. Well actually, I shoot 2.5k resolution clips with global draw and sound recording on with the latest version and still get perfectly good performance. Need a good, high speed cf though.

[ariaelf]

I wanted to update this thread, as I've been dealing with the "shearing" issue for a long time and I'm sure others might run into the same problem, and search the forums for answers.

It seems that the sheared frames ONLY happen when using HDMI out from the camera for monitor viewing.

I don't have a great solution for this, as any professional behind a camera would want to use a monitor for accurate framing, focus-pulling, etc - but at least I've identified the cause after trying and tweaking a million different settings! (The big clue was that it would only happen on location, and never at home when I attempted to troubleshoot this... sans camera rig.)

For now the only thing I can think of is setting up the shot with the monitor, then unplugging it before hitting the record button, then plugging back in for the next take, etc. It's a bit maddening, but better than going through it frame by frame in post to fix jacked up image capture...

Does anyone have any other ideas???

[a1ex]

Using a lower resolution for the HDMI output may help (Force HDMI-VGA).

[ariaelf]

That's a good idea - not sure where to find that setting. Would it be in the Canon menu, the Magic Lantern Menu, or in the monitor menu?

[cmccullum]

That's a good idea - not sure where to find that setting. Would it be in the Canon menu, the Magic Lantern Menu, or in the monitor menu?

Pretty sure it's in the canon menu

[a1ex]

Pretty sure it's in the canon menu

How exactly did you reach this conclusion?

[DeafEyeJedi]

Seriously please look thoroughly in the ML menus for this such feature...

Hint: Display > Advance settings > ...

[cmccullum]

How exactly did you reach this conclusion?

Just an off-cuff half recollection. I know I've seen the option, but I'm assuming I'm wrong in thinking it was in the canon menu. Guess I should've been more clear, or not commented till I was sure 

[ariaelf]

Thanks I'll give that a try and report back!

[ariaelf]

I'm happy to report that using a lower resolution for the HDMI output (force HDMI-VGA) completely solved the problem.  After a brief home test with the new lower resolution output settings, ML was battle tested last night filming three more scenes for our indie feature. Everything looks great - no other changes were made.

Now we have the benefit of raw footage from the camera AND a working 7" monitor while shooting. Couldn't be happier