MLV App 1.14 - All in one MLV Video Post Processing App [Windows, Mac and Linux]

[vstrglv]

1.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49651132927_d00b636f83_b.jpg
ProRes4444,_screenshort from mpv player
2.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49650320083_b7fcb615b2_b.jpg
DNxHD_10bit, screenshort from mpv player
3.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49650318658_8672de8baa_b.jpg
ProRes4444,_screenshort from APP timeline
4.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49651131647_1e0f4ff712_b.jpg
DNxHD_10bit, screenshort from APP timeline
ProRes4444 and DNxHD_10bit converted in MLVApp 1.10 from the same mlv file.
1,2,4 look very similar to MLVApp window, but 3 looks a little lighter in green.
I am on Windows 10.

[masc]

The main issue for me is the difference of two screen images:
in  MLVApp and in MLVApp>Prores>APP.

MLVApp uses the identical encoder program (ffmpeg), picture data and color matrix settings for all these codecs. So if there is a difference, I would search the issue inside ffmpeg or your "APP".

[vstrglv]

The same issue in Adobe After Effect.

[masc]

The same issue in Adobe After Effect.

->

So if there is a difference, I would search the issue inside ffmpeg or your "APP".

[vstrglv]

It is an issue of APP 2020. I have tested it on APP 2019 - no issue.

[Luther]

There's no difference in green channel. The image has overall less contrast in your ProRes example, hence why it looks less saturated. Did you check your gamma settings? Make sure they are the same...
Btw, what is "APP"?

[vstrglv]

Adobe Premiere Pro v.14.02 (2020). Gamma settings are the same in MLVApp. I tried gamma 1.0 and gamma 0.85

[Kharak]

APP haha that's a new one.

[masc]

April 1st is not over yet... at least here in Europe. So here comes some new ML stuff: MLVApp v1.11:

- Better processing for highlights (reduced blue / violet clipping)
- Added raw2mlv with user interface
- Added bad pixel fix via pixel map and bad pixel picker
- Changed to floating point RAW black level adjustment
- Added post export script for averaging a clip to a single frame (OSX only)
- Added option for loading clips with a default receipt
- Added current clip indicator in session list
- Added clip marking feature
- Changed copy/paste/import/export receipt behaviour
- Some bug fixes and some minor changes

Minimum OS:
- OSX 10.8.5 Mountain Lion
- Windows 7
- Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

https://mlv.app/

Win64 version will be released a little later...

For one of the new features I recorded a small tutorial: Bad Pixel Maps

[DeafEyeJedi]

Happy April 1st to everyone and please, PLEASE keep your distance and ML is by far the safest community we can all be in without any hesitation. 

Thanks @masc for the much-needed updates especially with the better HL processing and the much-hyped copy/paste/import/export changes.

I will test this one out and report my findings when I can. Again, please disinfect to protect and try not to be too brave against this HOGshit! 

[ZEEK]

Awesome stuff guys. Glad to see the new update and can't wait to test it out. Thanks for all your work with this awesome app, it's amazing!

[togg]

Oh wow 0_0 This update is amazing, so many good things and the map for bad pixels is like a old dream finally streamlinked!! Thanks a lot. So badly needed.

[IDA_ML]

Hello MLVApp team,

Thank you so much for your remarkable work on MLVApp and these amazing new improvements.  Your continued efforts in making this software better and better are greatly appreciated by the community, so keep up the good work!

RAW2MLV has been doing a great job for me in the 1.10 version and I have always been very satisfied with the results.  Eager to see how it works on this new version, I tested it briefly.  It transcodes and imports the CR2 files just fine but when I start making adjustments on either one of them, after about a minute, I get Runtime error and a very polite message that the program has to terminate now.  I am on Win 10x64 and the CR2 files I tried to process are from the EOS-M.  The error occurs with both -  normal and Dual ISO CR2 files but does not occur when processing normal MLV clips from the same camera.

Could you please take a look and see if you can fix the runtime error?

I also have a question concerning the new "post export script for averaging a clip to a single frame (OSX only)".  How does it work?  If it averages an entire clip to a single frame, can it be used as a dark frame for noise reduction in high ISO clips?  What if there is motion in the clip?  Can this interesting feature be implemented in the Win versions too? 

[masc]

Thanks @masc for the much-needed updates especially with the better HL processing and the much-hyped copy/paste/import/export changes.

For this build, it again wasn't just me - Ilia, bouncyball, Danne, ... also did a lot for it. So thanks to all of them!

... but when I start making adjustments on either one of them, after about a minute, I get Runtime error and a very polite message that the program has to terminate now.
...
Could you please take a look and see if you can fix the runtime error?

Hm, this information comes a little late. The processing did not change for weeks. On the other side, I don't know what a "Runtime error" is, and such polite messages without information are brought by Microsoft . I did not get any crash since a very long time in all of my tests. So the only way to find such errors is to install Qt, open the project, and start it with the debugger, wait for the crash and have a look which line of code will be shown. That would help a lot, if you could try that. I don't see another way to fix such bugs. RAW2MLV is identical to the previous testing version.

I also have a question concerning the new "post export script for averaging a clip to a single frame (OSX only)".  How does it work?  If it averages an entire clip to a single frame, can it be used as a dark frame for noise reduction in high ISO clips?  What if there is motion in the clip?  Can this interesting feature be implemented in the Win versions too? 

All frames will be processed as if you export a movie. But then FFMPEG averages all frames to one single processed averaged frame. I would not use it as dark frame, because it is processed. But you can reduce noise in your photos because of this averaging. If there is motion you get a blurred picture. It is realized with an OSX script. If someone likes, you can also write Windows scripts. But this part is not platform independant.

[yokashin]

April 1st is not over yet... at least here in Europe. So here comes some new ML stuff: MLVApp v1.11:

Thank you all for the new version of the application.

[IDA_ML]

All frames will be processed as if you export a movie. But then FFMPEG averages all frames to one single processed averaged frame. I would not use it as dark frame, because it is processed. But you can reduce noise in your photos because of this averaging. If there is motion you get a blurred picture. It is realized with an OSX script. If someone likes, you can also write Windows scripts. But this part is not platform independant.

Thanks for this explanation, Masc.  I still do not understand the difference to the already existing TIFF export which gives you the option to create an averaged frame from a maximum of 128 frames.  Danne implemented two very nice presets on the EOS-M that create files appropriate for such type of averaging - ISO averaging and Frame burst:

https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=9741.msg222760#msg222760

[Danne]

The script averages the same as ffmpeg into one file only it does so with enfuse/hugin_align_image instead.

It is possible to use ffmpeg to create and use darkframes. Check page 50 here:
http://www.astro-electronic.de/FFmpeg_Book.pdf

[masc]

For darkframes I would use "Averaged MLV" instead. Because this file can be subtracted before you start to edit.

[IDA_ML]

The script averages the same as ffmpeg into one file only it does so with enfuse/hugin_align_image instead.

It is possible to use ffmpeg to create and use darkframes. Check page 50 here:
http://www.astro-electronic.de/FFmpeg_Book.pdf

Thanks for this clarification, Danne.  I understand now.  By the way, I love your two averaging presets - perfect for noise reduction in low-light photography.  I am trying to figure out which of all these options provide the best results for such type of photography and are most user friendly too:

1) Dark frame subtraction using an Averaged MLV, as Masc suggests;
2) ISO averaging (requires a tripod);
3) Frame burst (requires a tripod);
4) Silent picture using Dual ISO (typically 100/800 and 200/1600); 
5) Garry's hand held bracketing scrips.
6) Using "magic" ISO numbers to improve dynamic range (ISO research).

All these are remarkable ML options that can all be handled by MLVApp quite nicely.  Personally, I have been using option #4 a lot when traveling since it allows handheld shots with a stabilized lens at shutter speeds down to 1/4 s. with a very low count of misfocused shots. Taking multiple handheld shots with the intervalometer to select the sharpest one further reduces the chance that you end up with a missed shot.   ISO averaging seems a better option, though, since it allows working at closed apertures - better for wide-angle low-light landscape photography.

It would be nice if more of you share your experience on low-light photography using the above options.

[Digital Corpus]

Just wanted to extend my own thanks to this app. I come from shooting stills but have always been interested in some motion. ML has definitely had my attention since the first April first announcement introducing RAW video. Recently due to some abundance of time, I've been playing with it again and this app in conjunction with RawTherapee have been an interesting journey. Granted I've only used MLV App to export DNG files, but still, thank you for the work on it.

[743v04]

Hello everyone! First off thanks so much everyone involved for making MLV App it has been such a great tool. I have been having some problems with it crashing at 98-99% point of exports when using the AVFoundation ProRes export options though. It seems to only happen when using the 5K 1x3 preset modes for the EOSM, I am using the most recent build released. I've tried all variations of settings in MLV App and it will even crash when no changes are made to the file and it is exported immediately. It seems as though maybe it has something to do with the Transformation being applied? I have the crash message here: https://pastebin.com/PL1PyEcU. This one was taken from a custom built hackintosh however I have a normal 2015 Macbook Pro and this gives the same behavior. If there's any other info I can throw in let me know, thanks!!!

Edit: Uploaded sample MLV: https://we.tl/t-rC7vKZaTbp

[QuickHitRecord]

I haven't been using ML or MLV App lately, but in the wake of our recent quarantine, I decided to try them out once again. MLV App is a wonderful piece of software. I have one question though. When I set the profile preset to "Alexa Log-C" and then export to ProRes for grading later, I get some crazy banding in the resulting clips when a simple Log-C to Rec709 LUT is applied. Here is an example:



I seem to remember having problems with this in the past as well. Is there a way to export without this issue? In my case, I am using MLV App v1.11 and applying highlight reconstruction, making color temperature tweaks, and then exporting to 4K ProRes HQ. Then I'm bringing it into Premiere and applying the standard ALEXA_Default_LogC2Rec709 LUT in Lumetri. The camera is a 5D3 with 1.23 and a build from 2017.

[Danne]

If there's any other info I can throw in let me know, thanks!!!

Edit: Uploaded sample MLV: https://we.tl/t-rC7vKZaTbp

Downloaded and exported with av foundation, no problems.
You should specify your exact export settings. Preferrably upload the exact recipe for others to test.

Edit: tested with my own compiled build. Will test with an official build later.

EDIT: ALl is working with official download as well.

[masc]

I have been having some problems with it crashing at 98-99% point of exports when using the AVFoundation ProRes export options though. It seems to only happen when using the 5K 1x3 preset modes for the EOSM, I am using the most recent build released. I've tried all variations of settings in MLV App and it will even crash when no changes are made to the file and it is exported immediately.

Thanks for your message and your report. I had a look to the crash report. It tells the crash happens after the export is ready, while doing the very last step: freeing the memory of the Apple AV Encoder library. So it should not care what clip or setting you export. I don't have a OSX 10.14 here for testing as you have. I just can say in 10.9, 10.11 and 10.13 it does not happen (tested several thousands of times). No idea what should be the problem telling the library freeing its memory which it definitively used. But it is not the freeing process, it is a thread in com.apple.VideoToolbox calling a function named VTPixelTransferSessionTransferImage (we don't call it...)

[masc]

When I set the profile preset to "Alexa Log-C" and then export to ProRes for grading later, I get some crazy banding in the resulting clips when a simple Log-C to Rec709 LUT is applied.

This is to be expected: Log saves your shadows and highlights at the cost of midtones (which get compressed by the log function). So it is better to grad 100% in MLVApp or 100% in another app. In MLVApp you could also apply .cube LUTs. This should look better and should not bring those artifacts, because processing is 16bit instead of 10bit if you apply it in Premiere on a ProRes file.