The CinemaDNG Discussion (raw2cdng)

[chmee]

for them raw2dng is the right converter.

[pascal]

Is there a way to batch convert conveniently with raw2dng.exe?

[Redrocks]

Edit: Just scraped a lot of my findings since i just found out that all you have to do is add a C befor the last four numbers.
Example, if your file is called "M16-2227" all you have to do is change it to "M16-C2227" and Davinci Recognizes it as a movie instead of a folder

Works for me on Windows, although it introduces the same problem AE does in that all my clips come in as
"DNG[000000-000670000million].dng". I'll find a way round that though. Great find, Scarluuk.

Welcome back, Chmee. Your app was vital till BM upgraded Resolve, as was Fatpig's till I needed to use Resolve, so thank you both for that. What I like about R2C is its ease of use, whilst BATCHelor is great for organising projects. RAWanizer has its uses though - the file information it provides and it opening the last folder you selected upon restart. I'd love a raw converter that would combine all of these things and maybe use a Resolve style GUI that exchanged Media, Conform, Colour... with Basic, On set, Power user, Info... Either way, the work done by you guys on the raw converters doesn't go unappreciated at all.

[fatpig]

@pascal:
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5645.125

@chmee:
ok, i get it.
still: raw2dng.exe does not support split files.

[chmee]

Hey there, i'm much workin.. so, finally i dont really will continue the raw2cdng-tool - all changes and small patches (if..!) are only tests for the forthcoming mlv2cdng-tool - MLV is in every form the better approach to stabilize the raw-revolution - and mlv2cdng will be coded from scratch as a commandline-tool with an external GUI. please be patient.

But back to raw2cdng: i thought about integrating exif-data from a cr2-file into the metadata of the dng. by now i only read the RGGB_Levels_measured from the cr2-makernotes and convert them into the dng-AsShotNeutral-Values. If someone's up to test that, feel free to write, if it helps/works in ACR or Resolve.

The Approach is easy - right before recording movie, do a photo. put both into the same path and give the CR2-file the same name.

Example:
M02-2221.RAW
M02-2221.CR2

raw2cdng will recognise the file automatically (it will be shown up with +CR2 in the importlist, same as splitted files..). It's tested by now only with a 5DIII. By the Way, if you're recording a whole set with the same whitebalance, you can name this one photofile ALL.CR2 and all files in the importlist will use this data - except the files having their own CR2.

Example:
M02-2201.RAW (will use ALL.CR2)
M02-2221.RAW (will use M02-2221.CR2)
M02-2221.CR2
M02-2312.RAW (will use ALL.CR2)
ALL.CR2

raw2cdng v1.3.0 - with CR2-whitebalance

regards chmee

[vikado]

oh wow, that's a fantastic addition chmee!
i did a quick test myself. color balance looks spot on.
that's one less step on resolve for color balancing!
awesome job, bro! 

[Canon eos m]

Hey there, i'm much workin.. so, finally i dont really will continue the raw2cdng-tool - all changes and small patches (if..!) are only tests for the forthcoming mlv2cdng-tool - MLV is in every form the better approach to stabilize the raw-revolution - and mlv2cdng will be coded from scratch as a commandline-tool with an external GUI. please be patient.

But back to raw2cdng: i thought about integrating exif-data from a cr2-file into the metadata of the dng. by now i only read the RGGB_Levels_measured from the cr2-makernotes and convert them into the dng-AsShotNeutral-Values. If someone's up to test that, feel free to write, if it helps/works in ACR or Resolve.

The Approach is easy - right before recording movie, do a photo. put both into the same path and give the CR2-file the same name.

Example:
M02-2221.RAW
M02-2221.CR2

raw2cdng will recognise the file automatically (it will be shown up with +CR2 in the importlist, same as splitted files..). It's tested by now only with a 5DIII. By the Way, if you're recording a whole set with the same whitebalance, you can name this one photofile ALL.CR2 and all files in the importlist will use this data - except the files having their own CR2.

Example:
M02-2201.RAW (will use ALL.CR2)
M02-2221.RAW (will use M02-2221.CR2)
M02-2221.CR2
M02-2312.RAW (will use ALL.CR2)
ALL.CR2

raw2cdng v1.3.0 - with CR2-whitebalance

regards chmee

can't wait for the mlv2cdng  . . fingers crossed

[araucaria]

@chmee

Maybe this has already been answered but, if I got it right the cdng format is just a tiff with some metadata (or whatever) this means it's already debayered, right? But when I put these clips into Resolve (coming from a 50d) I get false colores and artifacts from debayering, although they show up correctly in ACR. I don't get this 

[chmee]

..if I got it right the cdng format is just a tiff with some metadata (or whatever) this means it's already debayered, right..

* tiff is a containerformat.
* tiff can contain pattern-oriented picturedata as well, here bayer-pattern from a sensor.
* dng is in general a tiff with some mandatory tags in the metadata
* btw CR2 is as well a tiff with another file-ending

saying this is very important for me
* cinemadng is quite the same as dng, with some videorelevant tags (f.i. framerate, reelname, timecode)

shortly saying, no, the dngs (cdngs too) are not debayered - and by now i think, the debayering-algorithm in resolve is not the best - far away from the adobe-world, which is able to de-vignette or remove badpixels (automatically or/and with help of metadata) and so on..

regards chmee

[araucaria]

Thank you

[Canon eos m]

can't wait for the mlv2cdng  . . fingers crossed

Hi,

I am missing something here. I copied a *.CR2 file and name it the same as the RAW video file and dragged both on the raw2cdng convertor. The interface opens. What next?

[chmee]

? You just drag/drop the RAW-File into the list inside the exe - NOT on the exe-icon! The Converter recognises itself, if the file is splitted and if a cr2-file exists. if it finds splitted files, it will be shown in the importlist with (+[Number]). if it finds a corresponding cr2-file, it will be shown as (+CR2). Thats it. Then convert via button.

regards chmee

[vikado]

Hi,

I am missing something here. I copied a *.CR2 file and name it the same as the RAW video file and dragged both on the raw2cdng convertor. The interface opens. What next?

open the utility first and then drag and drop the .cr2 file and the raw. you'll see a (+cr2) after the raw file.
plus, you dont have to rename the .cr2 file, and if you do, just rename it "ALL.cr2" like he mentioned and use that for all your conversions.

btw, chmee, i noticed a noticeable difference of white balance between your utility and adobe camera raw(7.0).
adobe camera raw white balance was set to "auto". temperature at  "2850". and Tint set to "+24"
the light source was a typical tungsten lightbulb on a lamp, where the shade of the lamp gave off a warmer diffusion of the light.
i felt the proper white balance was more true on adobe camera raw vs your utility.
even though yours looked right, it was a bit off based on the light source.
hope this was insightful
link below of comparison.

http://i.imgur.com/cFDv5B2.jpg

[chmee]

@vikado because i m out of home im thankful to see some picture-examples and im excited, my idea works So.. facing this example i'm not sure, if my whitebalance-correction is needed.. Did you try (asShot) in ACR? My idea was indeed a neutral whitebalance, not a pleasing (subjective!) one - the question is, what is easier to handle? changing a neutral picture into a warm one or correcting a tint into neutral

regards chmee

[vikado]

@vikado because i m out of home im thankful to see some picture-examples and im excited, my idea works So.. facing this example i'm not sure, if my whitebalance-correction is needed.. Did you try (asShot) in ACR? My idea was indeed a neutral whitebalance, not a pleasing (subjective!) one - the question is, what is easier to handle? changing a neutral picture into a warm one or correcting a tint into neutral

regards chmee

here is the breakdown between the two files. http://i.imgur.com/JRuSweJ.jpg
left side is the dng with 1.3.0 and the right is the 1.2.1.
both having "as shot" and "auto" for comparison.


based on what the light source is (single tungsten), you'll see that ACR set to auto is the most accurate, in my humble opinion.

the question is, what is easier to handle? changing a neutral picture into a warm one or correcting a tint into neutral

changing the kelvin values and not touching the tint is best, (i think)

[nico]

Hi, I am new in the magic lantern world, just got a brand new 5d m3, I was wondering, what kind of a computer do I need to process all this data? Thanks!

[vikado]

Hi, I am new in the magic lantern world, just got a brand new 5d m3, I was wondering, what kind of a computer do I need to process all this data? Thanks!

just to process raw to dng sequence or dnxhd444/prores444?
you dont need a lot of cpu power to crunch through raw files.
the difficulty is playing back those DNGs in realtime on resolve or your NLE.
i have two computers running an overclocked 2600k set to 4.9ghz, 32gb 1600mhz RAM, one has a gtx 570 and the other a gtx 580.
playback in realtime is fine. i use proxies on premiere so the real resource hog is in resolve, where i'll get dropped frames during playback when i start to use noise reduction on a node.
so my recommendation is to get a gtx 680 or above to be on the safe side or maybe a 670 if you're short on funds.
as for myself, im going to buy a gtx780 before we start on our feature.

[chmee]

@vikado yeah, if i see the comparison, the auto-definition made by adobe is a pleasing one - by "mathematical" view i'd say, the AsShot-measured RGB-Values are ok, because neutral-gray have to sleep and sit back home on my desktop on that

[Mei Lewis]

The Resolve readme for the latest versions says:

"What's new in DaVinci Resolve 9.1.5
...• Improved DNG format support
"

Is it really DNG they mean or cinemaDNG?

Can't get ordinary photo DNG recognised.
Thanks

[araucaria]

Since Davinci Resolve won't work fine (even after blurring the chroma,etc...) I wanted to try out speedgrade. It plays the cdngs at realtime (with a shitty 560ti, resolve wouldn't do more than 12fps with 1080p footage) but everything has a green cast to it. Is there already a cure? I'm a total n00b to speedgrade, so any help is welcome!

[chmee]

The Adobeforum's got some really good guys - there are already some threads about it. bmcc-user have this problem as well.
the weakest (with good links in it ) http://forums.adobe.com/message/5579981

regards chmee

edit: please do me a favour: open one (ML)dng with ACR - save it as 16bit-DNG-uncompressed and import it in speedgrade. Did it changed its behaviour?

[araucaria]

It won't show, it only accepts footage in cdng. I took a small cdng secuences made with your converter and opened it in PS as 16bit then clicked save as, DNG, uncompressed, and then tried to open in Speedgrade without luck (it won't render it "Failed to decode frame).

I'll try to read through the Adobe forums, thanks a lot!

[chmee]

marvelous News - Premiere CC Update in October will give us native CDNG-Support.
http://blogs.adobe.com/premierepro/2013/09/adobe-premiere-pro-cc-october-2013-release.html

regards chmee

[Davidos]

... and Cinema DNG can be debayered on a supported GPU (in Premiere CC October release) for even better performance. 

[hookah]

i got the chance to play with some cdng sequences in the new adobe CC (converted via this tool) - works okay - but the picture turns out very pinkish (maybe some metadata are missing ?? or maybe premiere dosent read the black/white levels correct).

But can be played in realtime in fullres. :-D
 - a shame that ARC is not available as in AE.