I posted a feature request/bug at Adobe and started a discussion on their forum. Chime in for visibility:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/6334477#6334477~~~~~~
Discussed at
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5710.0People using ACR to import video image sequences into After Effects have discovered that ACR's highlight recovery and other exposure controls produce varied exposures depending on the content of each frame.
The result is "flickering" in the rendered video when the scene changes such as when light or dark objects come into view.
Users have experimented with Process 2010 and Process 2003, but they all exhibit the same problem to some degree.
The problem makes ACR unusable for some video shots where it would otherwise be a great solution due to its superior highlight recovery.
I discovered this issue when reviewing my footage rendered from After Effects. Any with significantly bright or dark objects coming into frame changed the exposure of the rest of the frame, irreparably.
SUGGESTION
The suggestion is to offer an “Exposure Lock” feature in Adobe Camera RAW, which would lock the absolute exposure values determined via the prototype frame (typically the first frame), and use those for every frame of video rendered. This means that exposure computations performed based on the content of each frame would be disabled during rendering. The computations would be performed only when the user interacts with the exposure controls via the ACR UI.
The benefit of this feature is that ACR could be legitimately used to initially process high quality RAW video. A side benefit is any situation, including still photography, where the user needs to match absolute exposure settings between shots.
I hope Adobe will consider adding this feature or something equivalent that provides, for video, ACR’s unsurpassed ability to tame highlights.