Just downloaded latest v.0.2.5 - Win 8 64 bit
These are my "first" impressions/findings. A lot of this might come down to user error.
First of I cant import anything, when I click to find a file path, be it add files to project or change the 3D Lut Directory the program stops responding and I have to exit. I can basically only choose which features I want, set up the project, go to options and change anything except Path's.
The only way I get to play around with the program is by opening an old project from an older version (ver. from Early Summer) where I have a DNG sequence imported, sucks as its not a very flattering shot. But I cant figure out how to change the current project settings, seems like one cant change Project settings in existing projects. So to change settings I need to make a new project which will require me to import files again and that will crash the program.
I am very interested in importing an MLV to test out the MG debayering. So far I only have the DNG sequence to play with and that one is already converted from mlv_dump with Amaze. Now I am not sure if the Amaze debayering is baked in the DNG's and therefore applying MG Algorithm is messing with the image. I say this, because when watching the sequence in Fast CinemaDNG the Red Channel is messed up badly with round/circle Dots all over it. But when I export it again as DNG sequence and either preview a frame in Windows photo viewer or Resolve, the dots are gone, this is perhaps down to how Photo Viewer and Resolve debayer the DNG's.. I don't know. But I'd like to make a direct comparison between the output of MLV_dump and Fast CinemaDNG.
I also think the WB is skewed after exporting DNG, as the shot I am playing with is daylight WB so around 5500, but to get accurate WB I have to push it to 4800k in Resolve. (kinda like MLV App does when viewing MLV's).
I also tried De-noising to see if I could remove the dots in the red channel. Tried a combination of all the options, denoise, raw denoise etc.. It seems to help a little with the Dots but ends up being detrimental to the rest of the image. Also because the 5 vertical sliders dont have any information I am not entirely sure what they do, what is positive or negative value? As the Sliders start in a centered position, I can assume that the slider furthest to the left is High Frequency and furthest to the right is Low frequency as that is how the image seems to react, but cant be entirely sure. Also in the Common tab, with the two Wavelet Types I dont notice any difference, except a few ms in the benchmark, decomp level, higher is more aggresive?
Does Increasing Max Y. Treshold in Common make the increments finer or does it increase the power of the threshold?
The Help System is well categorized, but the Denoise info is confusing as it seems you've changed the names of the two denoise methods, also according the the embeded images in the Help Systems which have different names again than the Text ensues.
5.13 Denoising
in the software there are two denoising modules which could be applied independently. Both of them are wavelet-based, but the first one (RAW spatial denoiser) is applied for RAW data before demosaicing and the second one (RGB spatial denoiser) is applied to color data right after demosaicing. Denoiser in time domain is under development and is expected soon.
It is possible to suppress spatial noise for each channel of Raw Bayer image before applying demosaicing. We split Raw Bayer image into 4 planes according to Bayer pattern and then remove spatial noise for each plane separately. Parameters: wavelet name, threshold function, number of DWT resolution levels, array of denoising thresholds for each wavelet band.
There is also an opportunity to suppress spatial noise for luma and chroma. We convert RGB data to YCbCr before denoising. Parameters: wavelet name, threshold function, number of DWT resolution levels, array of denoising thresholds for each color component and for each wavelet band.
Which of the Denoisers is the RAW Spatial denoiser and which one is RGB? in the Help System it says the
first denoise is RAW Spatial denoising, but in the Denoising tab, RAW Denoiser is second and the first one is just called Denoiser. And again, the lack of information on the sliders is confusing. I would prefer them with their proper names or something more specific e.g. "Raw Spatial Denoising" or "Pre-Debayering Noise reduction". And a suggestion, not that I know exactly how your De-Noiser works, but in my experience separate R G B channel de-noising always works wonders with Bayer patterns as the Canon Bayer patterns (and most others I believe) always contain more Green pixels than red and blue, so green channel always has way less noise than red and blue channel. Just something I found gave good results in Neat Video, lowering the Green channel curve which has helped retaining a lot of information..
Just a general question. Are there any parameters that will not affect the picture if exporting to DNG? will colour space affect the DNG output? Like MLV App has a bunch of parameters that will not affect the image if exporting to DNG as the output will be RAW, how is it with Fast CinemaDNG? Which parameters if so?
Other than that, the program is very fast! with or without Denoising it runs at full speed.
Let me know if you want some Screenshot or anything, I will PM you then.
