Here's my first test run through with Version (Alpha 1) 0.1.1 (78) on OS X 10.12.3:
•COLOR SPACE:
Nice set of enlisted options although I'm not a fan with any of the S-log's (maybe because I don't know how to use them properly) as I've gotten used to using Cinelog DCP over the years. C-log is acceptable but there's something about the algorithm (Apple's CIRawFilter) that's being used in this app which makes it look a bit more pixelated than it should look. Even at ProRes4444. Although Rec.709 looks legit to me and I notice it crushes the blacks (which is to be expected) but seems doable when the footage is at least up to ETTR otherwise. Would be nice to have an option to include our own Log's, DCP, etc.
•TONE:
Exposure settings seems to work OK although it seems limited to only -/+ 3 stops one way or another.
Highlight settings doesn't seem to do much (although much better than previous version with the magenta cast) so I am not sure if it's practical to have it only go down to .5 from 1.0 which is like halfway down. It seems to create a massive 'Halo' effect when pushing to its limit (as to be expected) but since you are using your own algorithm so not sure why it seems extremely sensitive.
Shadows settings seem to work nicely without creating too much additional noise. I find that to have this setting at .4, .5 or less which looks clean.
Blacks settings doesn't seem right to me. It works if I keep it no more than 5.0 or so otherwise it'll just complete crushes the blacks to the point where it's useless. Just like photoshop we need to approach this app like it's a photography application (although its made for videos) but it is definitely good practice to keep this in mind.
•WHITE BALANCE:
Temperature settings seems to work as expected. I also noticed a bug with the White Balance picker which doesn't respond if I were to use a Thunderbolt display connected to MacBook Pro. Without Thunderbolt display it works like normal. Also it may be more ideal to have the
White Balance Picker to stay on after each time we click on a white subject just so that way we wouldn't have go back and forth to enable it on if that makes sense.
Tint settings seems a little harsh to me. I wish there was a way for us to dial in the numbers as sometimes the sliders can be troublesome when making small adjustments. For instance like in ACR we can use the arrows (up and down) to gradually change the effect in more precisely increments.
•NOISE REDUCTION:
Luma settings doesn't seem to do much (it seems I need to zoom into the footage in order to see the changing effects but currently the app doesn't let me) otherwise I'm not sure if it's due to an user error on my part. I even left this on 1.0 and compared to with it off. No different on final output.
Chroma although I'm not sure if this is the same as Chroma Smoothing 2x2, 3x3, etc but I usually leave this at 1.0 just because I don't know what It's doing. If it's there for a reason(s) then so be it. It just seems different results than normal cs2x2, cs3x3, etc. Sharpen seems to work best with noise reduction when set at 1.0 (play with this back and forth and you will se what I mean) which can be useful for certain situations.
Contrast seems to have this weird 'Halo' effect similar to what happens when you push the Highlights down too much. Not sure if this is normal or a bug?
•PRESENCE:
Boost settings really surprises me the most out of all the available tools online. Maybe not but still it seemed cool. I like to push this up to 0.2 or so. Gives a good overall boost without creating color noise. Really useful.
Boost shadows seems to be another useful tool although I slide this one up to 1.0 which is maxed out and can barely seen the difference but still noticeable.
Vibrance settings although I don't use this in ACR much as it is more of a photographic approach but I can get away with this nicely if I push this up to 0.3 or so.
Saturation settings seems like a very sensitive area to play with. Only very little room to push without creating the ugly orange look on skin tones. Still overall a very cool and useful tool.
Sharpness settings under this category seems not as effective as the one from Noise reduction. I like to push this one up to 0.3 to 0.4 or so to keep it not too obviousThought they both play different roles respectfully. It's all like a puzzle and gotta spend more time on it to piece them all together nicely without overdoing any of these features. Again like I previously mentioned that all of this tends to have this photographic approach in mind when it comes to grading on this application.
•RECOVERY:
This discolored highlights settings seemed to have helped with that magenta cast in the highlights from the previous version (0.0.1) so that's a positive sign but again like I mentioned earlier that after playing with this one throughly from 0.0 to 100.0 which doesn't seem to do anything. Maybe I don't have a the right footage with overblown highlights or any of that matter to see if this feature actually does anything. This one definitely needs some more investigation.
•PERSONAL REQUEST OR SUGGESTIONS:
-Dual-ISO support would be really nice actually.
-Possible to highlight all files together for batch export or even to copy/paste them all at once rather than one by one re: settings.
-More logs, DCP, LUT support.
-Pause playback using SPACE key or play/pause icon.
-Toggle fullscreen and windowed mode using TAB key or fullscreen icon
-Jump to next/previous RAW or MLV files in same directory as current file using K/J keys.
-Step forward and backward through frames by one second (LEFT/RIGHT cursor keys) or one frame (,/. keys) while playing or paused.
-Brightness control while playing using UP/DOWN cursor keys. Or click/drag in brightness box.
-Fast GPU Bilinear demosaicing for playback
-High-quality (but slow) CPU demosaicing (AMaZE) when paused or enabled (can be a Q key) <-- This is important for when you plan on enabling the playback function.
-White Balance adjustments. Keys: 1=WhiteFluoro,2=Daylight,3=Cloudy, 4/7=Red down/up, 5/8=Green down/up, 6/9=Blue down/up. Or click/drag in Red/Blue box.
-RGB Histogram option.
-Drop-frame+audio and non-drop-frame modes. Toggle with "F" key
-Slide audio sync -0.5,-0.05,+0.05,+0.5 seconds with V/B/N/M keys.
-Mark IN/OUT, Jump to PREV/NEXT mark with I/O and U/P keys.
-Loop or one play mode with I key or loop icon.
-Exit viewer with ESC key.
-Last but not least to possible have a way of exporting ProRes4444XQ. Especially for logs.
•POSSIBLE FULL LIST KEY CONTROLS?:
-SPACE - Pause/Unpause playback
-TAB - Toggle between initial windowed mode and fullscreen
-LEFT/RIGHT CURSOR - Jump back/forward 1 second
-COMMA(,)/PERIOD(.) - Nudge back/forward by 1 frame (works best when paused)
-UP/DOWN CURSOR - Increase/decrease brightness
-1, 2, 3 - Change White Balance preset or click the dropper icon and then anywhere to choose a neutral colour
-7, 4 - Change red multiplier up and down by 0.1
-8, 5 - Change green multiplier up and down by 0.1 (by reduced red/blue and increasing brightness)
-9, 6 - Change blue multiplier up and down by 0.1
-F - Toggle between drop-frame mode allowing synchronised audio playback, or sequential frame mode and no audio
-Q - Toggle between fast and high-quality demosaicing for playback (high-quality is used automatically when paused)
-A - Toggle anamorphic aspect to take into account the 1.4x squeeze from shooting 50p/60p
-S - Toggle anamorphic aspect to take into account anamorphic lenses (1.33x, 1.4x, 1.5x, 2.0x)
-W - File dialog to choose the export directory
-D - Choose export type, ProRes or H264, etc
-E - Add marked range to the export queue. Will use the source name with ".MOV" or "_DNG" appended.
-C - Export all files in the current directory using the current settings
-Y - Start processing, or pause processing of the export queue
-X - Cancel current export job (and start next one in queue)
-Z - Cancel all export jobs
-T - Toggle between Colorspaces (sRGB, Adobe, Rec.709, etc)
-J/K - Change to previous/next MLV/RAW file in same directory as current file
-V/B/N/M - Slide audio file start by -0.5,-0.05,+0.05,+0.5 seconds
-I/O - Set IN/OUT marks. IN mark must be before the OUT mark. OUT mark must be after the IN mark
-U/P - Jump to the previous/next marks
-R - Reset the marks to start/end of the file
-L - Toggle looping or play-once mode
-H/G - Save/load current colour balance & brightness (for matching multiple takes)
-0 (ZERO) - Toggle stripe/hot-pixel removing preprocess pass
-Shift-F - FPS override cycles through a range of standard FPS rates, overriding the clips default rate.
-Shift-L - Choose LUTs from .CUBE files to import. LUTs only need to be imported once.
-Shift-LEFT/RIGHT - Select 1D LUT 1 from the available (imported) 1D LUTs
-Shift-UP/DOWN - Select 3D LUT from the available (imported) 3D LUTs
-Shift-Z/X - Select 1D LUT 2 from the available (imported) 1D LUTs
-Shift-H - Show/Hide RGB Histogram
-Shift-1 - Remove current 1D1 LUT from index and current file
-Shift-3 - Remove current 3D LUT from index and current file
