Not taking advantage of raw at all

Started by zen_nudist, November 28, 2018, 11:42:35 PM

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zen_nudist

So, I think I'm an idiot, and I want someone to affirm that I am, indeed, an idiot. I think I missed something big in my workflow.

1-I shot a bunch of test clips in 14 bit raw (nightly build from February this year). I know I had all the settings and modules and resolution activated/correct etc.

2-I used RAWMagic to create DNGs from the MLVs.

3-I imported those DNG sequences directly into Premiere and cut them together using Pr's new proxy ingest tools (awesome, by the way).

4-I applied a LUT (Osiris by Vision Color) to the DNG sequences.

5-I exported an h.264 video at these settings: 1080p / variable bit rate 2 pass / target 15 + max 30.

I uploaded the test video to YouTube, resulting in something that looks like utter garbage. So much artifacting, noise, mushiness and so on. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRLIC5vqVs4

*So, I missed the step where I take the DNGs into ACR (or lightroom or after effects ... I know there are several ways) and do all the corrections there: levels, contrast, clarity, noise reduction. Right?

Only after that has completed do I import into Premiere, cut together and apply a LUT for color grading. Right? Because I've done that method before, and the footage looked a lot better. I just thought I could bypass that cumbersome, work-heavy stage, and I think that is a mistake.

**Note: Used 5DIII and a less-than-great lens (70-300mm canon f/4-5.6).

ilia3101

That whole process is much simpler if you just open the MLV up in MLV App, make colour adjustments there (It's kind of like lightroom), apply the lut if you want, then export to prores or any codec you choose. Premiere isn't really made for handling raw well.

And imo the m31 LUT is overused. It simplifies many beautiful hues to brown and blue, therefore reduces the greatness of raw if used everywhere.

If you are on windows you can try MLV Producer as well.

zen_nudist

The general process, though, is that you don't simply throw completely untouched raw DNG sequences at Premiere, right? And that you should be doing as much correcting (sharpening, levels, contrast, etc.) of the footage before Premiere sees it, like in the form of a ProRes clip generated from After Effects--or this MLV App program. Right?

ilia3101

Quote from: zen_nudist on November 29, 2018, 12:25:45 AM
The general process, though, is that you don't simply throw completely untouched raw DNG sequences at Premiere, right? And that you should be doing as much correcting (sharpening, levels, contrast, etc.) of the footage before Premiere sees it, like in the form of a ProRes clip generated from After Effects--or this MLV App program. Right?

Yep, that is the way to do it for best quality. With After Effects it takes a long time as it requires conversion to DNG and then the export is slow, but the quality is fantastic.

zen_nudist

Wow, your app MLV App is simply stunning. I took a 14 bit MLV clip into the app, and it exported a beautiful ProRes clip in one step. Blown away.

But...when exported as a .mp4 (h.264) from Premiere Pro and uploaded to YouTube ... it looks like garbage on YouTube. Even at 720p it's far worse than a comparison clip (linked below) at SD. This YouTube hurdle is just a monster I can't seem to defeat no matter what I try ...

Very good looking footage at 480p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRycHtgDcgU

My footage example using MLV App
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpZKTWnawVc


zen_nudist

I tried some different footage I got with a better lens in better lighting conditions. Looks pretty good.

Thank you for the truly stellar app.

ilia3101

Quote from: zen_nudist on November 29, 2018, 03:34:55 AM
I tried some different footage I got with a better lens in better lighting conditions. Looks pretty good.

Thank you for the truly stellar app.

Lighting is definitely important. Good luck with getting nice looking footage :)

Levas

@zen_nudist
I'm not a heavy youtube uploader, but found out recently that if you upload something, it is always bad in the first hours it's online, or day, not sure how long it takes.
Your upload is available for viewing, even in 1080p, but the quality is just really bad in the first hours it is online...after a while youtube has done his magic and everything looks normal.
So maybe that's the problem  ???