DSLR Controller

Started by Rick W, August 26, 2012, 09:32:33 PM

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Africashot

I have been fiddeling with this a bit further; since updating to 4.4.2 the system on the nexus seems to at least connect to the tablet each time and also reconnect when it crashes without needing to reboot.
By now I am pretty convinced the weak point of this all is the cable connection starting with the Nexus 7 plug, the slightest wiggle  will break up the connection, this is why I'd be interested if this workaround offers a viable solution: http://nofilmschool.com/2014/01/dirt-cheap-wireless-monitor-hacked-tp-link-mr3040-router-will-help/
Anyone here who has tried it?
ML 5D2 & T3i

engardeknave

Yes, I use this all the time. I made a thread about it. It's much better wireless.

jose_ugs

DSLR controller working w/o any issues on an Asus MemoPad FHD 10" when recording the regular h264. I got it to work a few times with MLV, and by work: real live feedback while recording... but only for about 10seconds. Then MLV drops a frame. I think i managed to do the same with raw_rec, but again: dropped frame after some seconds...
All other attempts: i get a frozen frame from before the recording starts... and it stays like that until i stop recording and open Canon's menu, for example.

@a1ex / @g3gg0 any clues? This is with the latest nighlty... i think i had it working properly some time ago (live preview on tablet while recording raw/mlv)

Africashot

Hm, never even considered this could work with RAW, it would certainly be awesome if there was a way to make it work!
ML 5D2 & T3i

jose_ugs

I played some more today and tried to use my LG G2 Android smartphone (4.4.2) but to no avail... As soon as you hit record, the DSLR controller's view freezes.
Then i switched again to my tablet and i actually managed to pull off a few shots with live monitoring on it. Too bad... i believe those were random.
There are some settings @ DSLR controller Liveview that i played with: Renderer quality(Performance, Quality) and Renderer framelimit(15,24,30)... I tested all 6 combinations, not helping...

eyeland

I don't understand why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Upon my first test of the bleeding 1.2.3 ML, DSLR controller was fully functional for a several shots, then suddenly, it went"back" to freezing all the time as I used to experience on 1.1.3..
I guess this is something that would be best looked into by chainfire? (the dslrcontroller dev)
Edit: Forgot to specify that I am using nexus 7 and that whereas Monitoring .raw and .mlv doesn't work, h.264 works just fine.
Daybreak broke me loose and brought me back...

jose_ugs

I've asked him for help already... let's hope he has the time to look this up.

chris_overseas

I mentioned it earlier in this thread but I'll say it again since it could well help solve your stability problems:

Make sure you have decent cables

I had similar issues with three different Android devices (Nexus One, Galaxy Nexus, HTC One) until I bought a Lindy cable. Since then DSLR Controller has been far more reliable for me. Another big benefit is that you can connect your Android device to your camera with just a single cable, rather than having to chain together a standard USB cable plus an OTG one.

Details for the Lindy cables are at the bottom of this page: http://dslrcontroller.com/devices.php
EOS R5 1.1.0 | Canon 16-35mm f4.0L | Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 | Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II | Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L II | Canon 800mm f5.6L | Canon 100mm f2.8L macro | Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art | Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II

jose_ugs

So what you're saying is you have it all stable and singing when it comes to pairing an Android device and MarkIII ML RAW? And it's all about the cables?
Because if that's the truth: i'm on my way to Lindy's site :)

chris_overseas

Quote from: jose_ugs on March 28, 2014, 06:03:02 PM
So what you're saying is you have it all stable and singing when it comes to pairing an Android device and MarkIII ML RAW? And it's all about the cables?
Because if that's the truth: i'm on my way to Lindy's site :)

I'm just referring to stability in general. Prior to getting the Lindy cable I had problems with DSLR Controller hanging, crashing, not finding the camera, losing the connection, and other similar behaviour. Most if not all of those issues have now gone away. I'm a photographer, I don't shoot video, so can't comment on using with with RAW specifically. If I find some time later I'll give it a try though and see what happens. It's quite possible you're seeing a bug specific to RAW recording there (and/or the 1.2.3 firmware build).
EOS R5 1.1.0 | Canon 16-35mm f4.0L | Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 | Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II | Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L II | Canon 800mm f5.6L | Canon 100mm f2.8L macro | Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art | Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II

jose_ugs

Thanks Chris, please report back if you test it.
I have tested something myself and i think i have at least figured out a way to make it work for a little while... i hope this will be of use to a developer who can help...
Wire the tablet.
Make sure the tablet is On and not asleep.
Turn the Canon On with all the settings you wish already set up, i am using presets.
DSLR controller should start automatically.
At this point a healthy set-up should result in a live view from the cam.
Press record on the cam, and not the app. Dont go for further settings on the cam as this appears to mess it up later...
So for me... this works, but only for a number of seconds, 10-30 sometimes....
Then i get a dropped frame, which wont happen if i am not using the tablet!
The next time i start recording without switching the cam Off first, i get a still frame/image on the app... phuhhhhhh

chris_overseas

I just tried and it's unstable with RAW video for me too, much the same as you describe. I tried dropping the resolution (to 1280x720 24fps) but that didn't seem to help. I didn't play with any other settings beyond that.
EOS R5 1.1.0 | Canon 16-35mm f4.0L | Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 | Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II | Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L II | Canon 800mm f5.6L | Canon 100mm f2.8L macro | Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art | Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II

rebelj12a

Ok saw this on the XDA forums, had to stop in here. The problem is I believe the implementation of the DSLR Controller only interfaces with the Canon side of the firmware code. Thats the problem.

Magic Lanterns side is entirely separate with RAW recording. Magic Lantern bypasses the entire Canon recording process, and reads and writes directly to the CF card in RAW format. That's why you can switch off the liveview and gain faster read write times.

Unless Chainfire specifically updates DSLR Controller with a fork that addresses the Magic Lantern System specifically and not just the canon system you can probably expect this to continue.

Right now whats happening is DSLR Controller is attempting to pull and signal the Canon Firmware, which is currently being bypassed by magic lantern for speed and stability, since magic lantern hooks that code and pulls it into the code they've created, then it also pulls the power to send that signal and code over usb 2.0 to the phone. Resulting in code that shouldn't be working and hasn't been debugged, running concurrently along with magic lantern. Its like its trying to do double duty here not to mention the data squeeze trying to send image over usb 2.0 v_v I can practically hear the digic processors screaming their terrified screams.

Hah but anyways. You've basically got the phone addressing the old firmware hooks meanwhile Magic Lantern may or may not have taken them and integrated them into their programming and hooked them into other processes differently than the stock Canon Firmware, causing miscellaneous errors and system slowdowns. Especially with RAW.

RAW needs alot of processing power, every ounce of it that the DIGIC processor in the Canon cameras can give. All I can say is try dropping the resolution, liveview off, cf card tweaks (im a little behind on the most current builds but i think they still apply), external audio recording, as cropped as you can make the sensor, and you may get some stability with the least amount of dropped frames but I wouldnt hold my breath on that one.

Also ive heard mixed things about leaving the SD card in and having magic lantern run from that, or leave the SD card out for the Mark III have to experiment with that one. You'd honestly just be better off getting something like this and calling it the day.

http://www.atomos.com/ninja/

Sorry for the info dump. Theres just really alot to it and its difficult to explain in a way thats understandable in few words.

Quote from: jose_ugs on March 28, 2014, 11:03:18 PM
The next time i start recording without switching the cam Off first, i get a still frame/image on the app... phuhhhhhh

Btw I do see that as pretty clear evidence that Magic Lantern is taking over the Canon Firmware processes as soon as RAW starts.

jose_ugs

uh uh uh... @rebelj12a, thank you for the insight :) i'll try different resolutions, this never came to my mind, and will report back...

Alexia 92

Good evening. I bought dslr controler application yesterday. Everything works fine :)
Except when I turn on the magic lantern firmware. With firmware it shows a black screen. Tell me which settings in the magic lantern need to be set to fix it. Sorry for my English. Thank you:)
Camera 5D mark II
Device Sony Z