RAW Video Post processing (raw2dng) [Mac/Win/Linux]

[Planet-X]

Walter, thanks for the info... So do I need to convert these first?  What do I need to do here? From what I read, I thought there was suppose to be a folder with individual frames in it. I'm fairly astute on just about everything else about the camera.   Do I need third party software? Thanks  Will

[Walter Schulz]

Open link, start reading there.

[Planet-X]

Walter... Many thanks for your kind reply.  The link seems to just return me here to this page.  I apologize for asking stupid questions which are probably covered in great detail someplace on this site.  This thread alone has more than 400 entires.  Is there an up-to-date guide to this conversion that I missed?   Sadly I'm not a programmer only a filmmaker.

Since I'm new here I'll give a little background on myself.   I'm new to posting but not new to the site. I'm a minor financial contributor to ML and great proponent of the work done here.  I'm a director and writer working mostly in Horror and Sci-Fi.  I've directed episodes of HBOs Tales from the Crypt, Showtime's Master's of Horror and several feature films for Warner Bros.  I've also worked as a Director Photography and in Visual FX.  I've been working as a writer and director since 1980 and a long-time member of the Director's GUild.  I just want to say "Hi" and thank all of you for doing such amazing work here.

[Walter Schulz]

The link seems to just return me here to this page.

Link will lead you to the forum "RAW Video Postprocessing" and this thread is only one of them. MLV is covered in other threads.

[Planet-X]

So... I think I get it, after reading a bazillion posts. Seemingly, the RAW video thing is really not any sort of practical tool.  A nice thing to play with if your a programmer....  raw2dng apparently doesn't support MLV files... (which seems odd as they were both created in this environment) and the latest Nightly Builds (unless I missed something in the camera menus) only output MLV files and not the advertised folder with discrete raw images in it.  I've done an extensive search of the internet and this site and apparently this is no converter for this.... Or at least non that I could find. There seems to be a kind of Cheshire Cat smile behind those clouds.   Frustrated Filmmaker and Mac User.

[Dmaff06]

What is the best workflow for getting the mlv raw into a format I can edit in fcx? I have tried a few converters but I end up missing audio or there are bright pink dots or green lines across the screen.

[reddeercity]

@ Dmaff06, I'm a FCPX user , for me I  found it was easer & faster to go cross-platform to Windows 7 .( I has a Laptop for this)
I extract my MLV/Raw+audio with MLVBrowseSharp (link-->  http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=8447.msg77759#msg77759)
on windows to raw+audio. There is also a Mac App version.
then convert them with raw2Cdng 16bit , I find v1.4.9 work the best as there display right in finder in Mac
and can be edited native in fcpx 10.1.3 as a compound clip.

Or Take the Cdng's import in to Apple Compressor or Motion & export a 16bit ProRes 4444 XQ .

Personally I use Adobe A.E. CC with ACR plugin for high light recover and basic adjustment etc....
then export 16bit prores 4444xq .

Or you could use RawMagic which will convert the MLV+audio to Cdng's , make a file from there in Compressor etc..
here are some links to look over
MlRawViewer 1.2.3 (CDNG/MLV/RAW Viewer & Encoder, Linux/Mac/Win) --> http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=9560.msg91165#msg91165
RAWMagic 1.0, a GUI CinemaDNG converter for Mac OS X!  -->http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6218.msg46900#msg46900

[reddeercity]

@ Planet-X , You should be able to record in Raw v1.0 as well as MLV v2.0
I shoot on a 5D2 and I use both formats ,  Raw v1.0 in 3x Crop mode  & MLV+audio in 1:1
Links in my last post for the FCPX user , those  programs support MLV native.
As will as Raw2Cdng link -->http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5618.msg39204#msg39204 
so I'm not sure what you platform is (Mac or/& PC) but there is converter for all platforms .

P.S. I just notice you are on a Mac , but my post still applies

[Planet-X]

Redeercity,  My sincere thanks for your kind reply. I'm using a 5 Mk2 and Mac G5 Intel 8 core.  I'm on the last version of FCP just before they went to FCP-X.  I have retained that version for numerous reasons too lengthy to go into here.  Are you saying Final Cut Pro X supports MLV files?  I didn't see that on the Apple website. 

[reddeercity]

No , not MLV but "Cdng's" with maverick osx and Nvidia  video card,
FCPX supports Cdng's as well as Open Exr, Your System need to be upgraded to take advantage of
the latest software. Even a MP1.1 is outdated(I have one) . That being said the only way of getting
MLV/Raw workflow with FCP7 & G5 Mac is to convert to 16bit Tiff's or Open Exr  import as a  image sequence.
Or make a reference movie from image sequence with qt7 pro.
Also make ProRes files , and if you have Adobe A.E. or Photoshop, that would be the best as then you have access to the raw setting with ACR plugin.
What is your OSX ? I think Lion is minimum for most of the App for MLV and I think G5's are limited to Snow leopard but not sure.

Note: FFMEG supports MLV but no app are use it yet,
Link to Post -->http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=11566.msg112415#msg112415

[ONEfromTWO]

Hello. Boys, help. raw2dng_cs2x2.exe works only one time, after it is necessary to move the program and clean a register, that it began to work. And so each time! Is there what that decision?

[rainless]

You probably need to have the latest version of the .NET frame work installed.

[chmee]

@reddeercity
..regarding ffmpeg.. its too buggy yet. i tested some weeks ago, and the convertings only did work to mpg4 with no properties. no, its not nearly done (on windows - zeranoe build tested). sorry.

[Oannes]

I am seeing a lot of flickering in my final export and I did not mess with curves at all. Here is my work flow.

1. Turn on 5DMark2 camera
2. Flip on liveview
3. Access ML menu and load modules - raw_rec
4. Scroll to ML menu tab Movie and select RAW video option
5. Start RAW video
6. Hit record on my camera
7. Upload video footage to computer (pc)
8. Convert raw files to DNG format
9. Use Lightroom to convert DNG files to TIFF or JPG
10. Import TIFF or JPG into Premiere CC
11. Export the sequence in H.264 format 1280x720
12. Play video
13. Video has micro second gaps in it where there are dead spaces as a result of the bracketing exposure shots. ( youtu.be/37Em8DqObD0 )

[pauledd]

Hi there and sorry, but I dont get it. I am on Linux (64bit). I have a *.raw file. I want to convert it. The script "raw2avi.sh" complains about "raw2dng not found". Ok downloaded raw2dng.c &  chdk-dng.c but how to compile this?

[gohai]

Edit: Problem solved by manually adding padding and the footer.

Hello,

I am trying to use raw2dng on a bunch of RAW file from a 5D3 1.2.3 (w/ latest snapshot). All but one file work flawlessly, but with one of them I get a This ain't a lv_rec RAW file error. The file has a size of 4,294,967,295 bytes, if this makes a difference.

Is there any chance of somehow recovering the content of this clip? (at least partially)

Thanks
Gottfried

The first 100 bytes are like this

Code: [Select]

DC 2A 22 E1 CD AD 2B F5 E1 04 B0 B2 42 CE 08 2B 62 E2 0E B0 2B 06 E2 08 B0 A2 2B 0E 08 2B 12 E2 4D B1 2B F6 E2 18 B2 32 3E 0E E4 2A 52 E2 0E B0 2B 02 E2 2C AC A2 49 0E 4C 2B 02 E3 CE B1 2A 06 E3 C8 AF A2 40 8E 08 2B 72 E1 CE B5 2B 05 E1 54 B5 72 43 4E 78 2B 82 E2 4E AF 2B 15 E0 00 B1 E2 4F 0E F8 2A

[xerxes4497]

Hey guys, I'm constantly getting this error with a long RAW recording in 4 files. Raw2CDNG constantly crashes when I drag the RAW file in. Shot on a 5D3.

Using 1.6.1 on the latest NET framework.

This file also doesn't extract in RAWanizer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:   raw2cdng_v2.exe
  Problem Signature 02:   1.5.0.8
  Problem Signature 03:   541ec237
  Problem Signature 04:   mscorlib
  Problem Signature 05:   4.0.30319.18444
  Problem Signature 06:   52717edc
  Problem Signature 07:   24d
  Problem Signature 08:   18
  Problem Signature 09:   System.ArgumentOutOfRange
  OS Version:   6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
  Locale ID:   1033
  Additional Information 1:   0a9e
  Additional Information 2:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Additional Information 3:   0a9e
  Additional Information 4:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

[Lasting Image]

I'm totally new at this and hoping for some feedback before I waste time on a non-functional workflow. This is what I have in mind:
From ML RAW files on the CF card -
to RAWMagic lite conversion -
to SpeedGrade -
to Premiere Pro  -
to After Effects.

Does this make ANY sense?
Trying to get a A,B,C answer here on RAW workflows seems to require an engineering degree 

[Kharak]

@lasting image

Why do you want to end with After Effects?

Nothing makes sense when you don't state your goal.. Is AE for VFX? Final edit?

I think its hard to get an A B C answer here, because there are 10 different workflows for MLV and all have there pros and cons and some people just enjoy one workflow better than another..

Don't think there is "the one" workflow yet.

How about using some of the supported Converters, MLRawViewer or MLVmystic? or no conversion and go with MLVFS is you are a macman. You wont get far with RawMagic here

edit: forgot my favorite. RAW2CDNG from Chmee

[Frank7D]

MLVFS also works if you are a "pc man":
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=13354.0
for example.

[Lasting Image]

@ Kharak

Thanks for the info.  Yes, using a Mac. I was thinking AE for a final edit but if that's the wrong choice -- I'm still on the ground floor looking up at a big fat learning curve and can't see the top of it yet. PLEASE let me know if you have a better place for me to start.  After my last post I found out about applying Lumetri correction effects in Premiere. That may be as good a place to final edit as any for now, I guess.  The MLVFS idea sounds good and I'll be looking into that tomorrow. Thanks again and do please let me know if you have other thoughts on workflow that may get me started. Thanks again!

[dmilligan]

There's no reason to use AE, unless you need to some complicated compositing or VFX (motion tracking, 3D, image stabilization, 'fake' slo-mo, animation, etc.). And even if you did need to do stuff like this in AE, you still probably want to come back to Premiere for final edits (Premiere is made for doing final edits, AE not so much).

I would recommend:
- Mount your MLV files with MLVFS
- Load CDNG sequences directly in Premiere
- Either grade in Premiere (the tools are actually decent if you learn how to use them), or "Direct Link" to SpeedGrade
- Edit in Premiere (jump back into Sg at any time to do more grading)

[Lasting Image]

@dmilligan

Excellent!  Thanks!

[WhiteMagic]

Today I encountered "Error: This ain't a lv_rec RAW file" when trying to use raw2dng on a set of RAW video files that came from a single recording on my Canon 7D that exceeded the 4GB limit. I actually had a series of files named like this:

M19-1734.RAW
M19-1734.R00
M19-1734.R01
M19-1734.R02

raw2dng.exe showed me the same error cited above when I tried to execute it on all the files except last (.R02) because (as per the logic here: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5732.0 ) the other files did not have the appropriate hex values at the foot of the files.

Instead of messing around with HxD and editing HEX (not something I think I should have to do on my files), I used HxD's "Extras > File Tools > Concatenate..." feature to concatenate all these files together in order. (I'm sure there is a way to do this on the command line in Windows but it's not something I know how to do off the top of my head.)

After the concatenation, I was able to generate a large series of DNGs as I would expect if my clip had not gone over the 4GB file size limit.

I have searched through this thread and I have not been able to pinpoint any reason why raw2dng doesn't fix this issue by itself. If raw2dng reaches the end of a RAW file and sees it doesn't have the proper footer, why not check to see if maybe there is a .R00 file in the same directory and then .R01 and so on as necessary until the end is reached?

[condra]

Do I need to convert the DNG files with Adobe DNG Converter?
I can already open the DNG files that Raw2DNG spits out...