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THE
VERSION 2.0.1
8.16.13
[2]
QUICK-START GUIDE
FOR THE CANON 5D MARK III
Step One: Get the Firmware
1. Download the latest nightly ML RAW build at this link:
(http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0)
2. Format Compact Flash (CF) and SDHC cards in-camera.
FORMAT CARDS
Always format Compact
Flash and Secure
Digital Cards in-camera
Lantern RAW.
THE FILES
When youre finished
loading the firmware,
your card directory
should look like the one
in the above image.
[3]
5. In the appropriate Canon sub-menu, select firmware
update.
6. Once the process is completed, power down and restart
your camera. You should see a quick internal check of the
internal memory cards run by the ML firmware.
*Recommended Setup: Load the ML Firmware on your
bootable SD card (which stays in-camera), and record video to
your wicked-fast CF card.
TRASH/DELETE
With the Magic Lantern
firmware installed and
running, pressing the
Trash button takes you
to the ML menu.
SUCCESS!
When successfully
installed the ML
firmware will show the
above message when
you press the Trash/
Delete button.
[4]
QUICK-START GUIDE
FOR THE CANON 5D MARK II
Step One: Get the Firmware
1. Download and unzip the Magic Lantern software (currently
5D2 Alpha 1) at the link below:
https://bitbucket.org/a_d_/magic-lantern/downloads/5d2_alpha_One.zip
FIRMWARE
For Magic Lantern to work
properly, your 5D2 will
RESOLUTION
The 5D2 isnt capable of
recording at as high a
resolution as the Mark III,
so work with your setup to
find the right settings for
reliable shooting.
[5]
9. Place CF into your camera, turn ON, press live view, press
trash bin icon to bring up ML menu, go to Modules Tab, Select
Load modules now.
10. Still in ML menu, go to Movie tab, Scroll down to RAW
video, press SET to turn ON, press Picture Style Button to go to
RAW video sub menu, Select Resolution or Aspect Ratio, exit ML
menu by pressing trash bin.
11. Shoot Raw Video by pressing SET button to start and
stop recording.
PICTURE STYLES
FILE BROWSER
You view and delete your
RAW videos here. Since
the 5D2 uses FAT32-format
cards, files bigger than 4GB
are split into sub-clips with
.RXX extensions, which will
have to be re-combined
using a voodoo ritual in post.
[6]
[7]
CANON 40D
This is a joke, right? A camera that just turned SIX YEARS
OLD cant possibly record RAW, can it? Well it can, in theory.
Its only real limitation is the speed of the elderly Digic 3 processor inside. There hasnt been a whole lot of testing with this
body, but its certainly possible that ML RAW will work on the
40D. Not bad for a body you can pick up used for $250.
Verdict: None. The jury is still out.
CANON 7D
Finally. The 7D, a dual Digic proccessing beast, has finally
gotten its hack on. Development is still in process, so check
the ML forums for the latest info.
Verdict: Stay tuned. Could be awesome.
CANON T4i / 650D
Again, this APS-C body is hampered by the slower speed
involved in recording to the SD cards. They just cant handle
the same throughput as Compact Flash. So this one is only
good for reduced-resolution shooting, which isnt terrible
considering the price of the body.
Verdict: Meh.
CANON T3i / 600D
See T4i above.
Verdict: Meh.
CANON T2i / 550D
See T3i above.
Verdict: Meh.
GUIDE to
Magic LanterN RAW
THE
Table of Contents
1 Introduction, 13
2 Getting Started, 16
complete
complete
44
45
38
www.dvxuser.com/V6
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 13 ]
1
INTRODUCTION
Theres just no other way to say it: the Magic Lantern RAW-video firmware for Canon
HDSLRs has changed the game for budget-minded filmmakers. (And believe me, I hate
using the phrase game-changer, or any variation thereof.) What has this firmware
done? Well, it took something that was already revolutionary in the Canon HDSLR
camera and turned it into something even more incredible: a filmmaking tool that
unleashes the true power inside every 5D Mark III, not to mention a host of other Canon
cameras.
The RAW-video firmware also builds on Magic Lanterns previous work, firmware
creations that have constantly given DSLR filmmakers the tools they needed to make
working with these cameras easier in the context of cinematic shooting. Waveforms.
Zebras. Aspect ratio guides. On-screen audio meters. All of these are things filmmakers
use (and depend on) every day on-set. And even if RAW-video is not for you, or if the
project youre working on doesnt need the benefits that shooting RAW can provide,
your Canon DSLR should always be running the Magic Lantern software if youre
shooting video, simply to have these features at your fingertips.
But when Magic Lantern gives you the ability to record RAW sensor data, in full-HD
resolution, at 24 frames per second (or more), with14-bit, 4:4:4 sampled color, all
wrapped in a DNG file, why wouldnt you use it?
[ 14 ]
So, whats so great about RAW? To put it quite simply, we want tools that give us the
look and feel of film. Back in the day, the original Panasonic DVX gave us the ability
to shoot 24p, giving images with a much more film-like motion. But it wasnt quite
enough. We wanted the shallow depth-of-field look that motion pictures often have.
Then the Canon 5D Mark II came along, with a video mode tacked on almost as
an afterthought. Shooters quickly embraced both the depth-of-field and low-light
shooting potential with the Mark II, and the revolution had arrived. We quickly tossed
aside our 35mm ground-glass adapter rigs, grabbed whichever of these cameras we
could afford, rigged it up with all sorts of accessories, and went out shooting.
But even that wasnt enough. These cameras lacked many of the features that video
pros have come to depend on. And Magic Lantern was there, delivering the original
ML firmware that transformed these tools and what
they could do.
the original ML
firmwaretransformed
these tools and what
[ 15 ]
[ 16 ]
2
GETTING STARTED
Before you get started with Magic Lantern, there are a few things youll want to make
sure youve prepared and considered.
First, youll want to confirm that your battery is fully-charged. If something is going to get
fubared with your install of ML, its likely going to be due to your battery running out of
juice. Theres a reason Canon encourages you to have a full battery in the camera when
youre updating the main camera firmware, and its because bad things can happen if
you dont. In fact, I prefer to take in another step, and to only use a fully-charged genuine
Canon battery when Im running firmware updates. If your battery fails in the middle of a
firmware update, whether its Canon firmware or Magic Lantern, your camera is probably
going to be toast. So take every precaution you can to avoid a failure.
Next, there are certain Canon firmware versions that are Magic Lantern-friendly. So, if
youre using the 5D Mark III, youll want your cameras firmware to be set on version 1.1.3.
For those of you using the 5D Mark II, youll want version 2.1.2. These are the most/only
stable versions currently playing nice with the Magic Lantern firmware. If you dont have
these, check the Quick-Start section at the beginning of this Guide for download links.
[ 17 ]
Next, be sure to do a full format of both your CF and SD cards in the camera. This
ensures that the correct directories and folders are in place for your install of Magic
Lantern. But about those cards
Recommended CF Cards
Given the sheer amount of data being written from the camera to the CompactFlash
card, not just any memory card will work with ML RAW. And to make it more
complicated, cards that say theyre a certain speed may not actually write AT that
speed. For example, a few of the larger-capacity cards (128GB or so) actually write
slightly slower than the same model card with a lower capacity.
Below is a list of CF cards that have been tested and are verified working with full-HD
(1920x1080) resolution at 24/25p from the ML RAW Canon 5D Mark III. Keep in mind
that card speeds and capacities are constantly
getting better (and bigger), so there may be other
cards out there that shooters are using with ML
RAW. This list includes only the cards weve actually
not just any memory
been able to test and verify as working with the
Mark III:
card will work with
- Lexar 1000x
- Toshiba 1066x
- Komputerbay 1000x (with reservations)
Many people have had success with Komputerbay
brand 1000x CF cards, but others have had some
issues with them. Even though they may be branded the same, with the same speed,
there may be variations in quality from card to card. Buyers have had good luck getting
problem cards replaced with new ones. Well leave it up to you to make the decision as
to which cards to use, but to us the possibility of losing a single shot (or an entire cards
worth of footage) isnt worth the savings to buy anything but the best memory cards
possible.
As always, be sure to get your cards from a reputable dealer. There are counterfeit
cards out there, and theres a decent chance you might get one if you buy from places
like eBay, or from discount online stores. In the era of e-commerce, we prefer to buy
memory cards from (gasp) our local retail camera stores. If something goes wrong,
they always stand behind what they sell, and by supporting them, we know theyll be
around when we need them.
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To make your life easier, you can use software to create a bootflag that will allow the
Magic Lantern firmware to auto-load when you restart your camera.
NOTE: USE A CARD READER
When youre copying files to and from your memory cards, always use a card reader. I
like the Lexar combo CF and SD card reader, with a USB 3.0 connection.
MacBoot: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html
EOSCard: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard
b. Run the EOSCard application, and choose your Compact Flash card from the dropdown selection box.
c. Click the Magic Lantern Logo, then click Save.
NOTE: Be aware that EOSCard might install one of the older 5D Mark II Magic Lantern
releases on your card. If so, delete those files manually.
[ 21 ]
MACBOOT
EOSCARD
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 22 ]
[ 23 ]
exFAT FORMATTING
If you want to shoot longer clips in RAW with Magic Lantern, youll want to format
your cards in exFAT format. Its quick and easy to do with Disk Utility on the Mac.
SUCCESS!
If youve done everything right, you
should see this screen when you
start up your camera. (If you dont
see it, double-check your work, and
perhaps start over again.)
[ 24 ]
A quick way to verify that the software is installed and working is at camera start-up.
When you start up your 5D Mark III, you should see indications of the Magic Lantern
software at work. The first of these is the card check function, which will go through a
complete check of the setup and speeds of both of your memory cards. You might also
see audio meters at the bottom of your LCD, another indication that Magic Lantern is
installed and working properly.
Once startup is complete, you can access the Magic Lantern menu by pressing the
Trash/Delete button on the lower left side of the camera. The first press will bring up
the Enjoy! message seen on the right. A second press of the button will take you into
the main Magic Lantern menus, which well go into in the next section.
One last method youll want to know about to verify that Magic Lantern is installed is
found in the Canon SETUP menu. Here, your Canon firmware version should no longer
read 1.1.3, but it should look like the image on the bottom of the next page.
If you dont see these indications of success, backtrack through the installation guide
to make sure you didnt miss a step, or check the Troubleshooting section that follows
below.
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 25 ]
restarted
your
camera,
[ 26 ]
[ 27 ]
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 28 ]
MacBoot: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html
EOSCard: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard
b. Run the EOSCard application, and choose your Compact Flash card from the dropdown selection box.
c. Click the Magic Lantern Logo, then click Save.
[ 29 ]
MACBOOT
EOSCARD
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 30 ]
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 31 ]
THE LIMITATIONS OF CF CARDS
One reason the 5D Mark III may
be able to provide higher reliable resolutions than the 5D2 is
because the Mark III can use the
SD card slot for the firmware
while recording to CF, where the
5D2 has to use the CF for both.
SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION
Below is an image showing what the Canon firmware version readout should look like if youve
succesfully installed the Magic Lantern firmware.
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[ 33 ]
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0
Canon EOS Firmware Version 1.1.3 for 5D Mark III
http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d3_113.zip
Canon EOS Firmware Version 2.2.1 for 5D Mark II
http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d2_212.zip
MacBoot
http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html
EOSCard for Windows
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard
[ 34 ]
Troubleshooting
Okay, lets face it. Sometimes things go wrong. And when they do, all you want is to get
back to shooting as quickly as you can. So here are a few common-ish problems that
ML RAW users talk about, and what you can try to fix them should they happen to you.
The main thing to keep in mind isdont panic. Formatting your cards will (almost)
always get you back to at least being able to shoot with you camera in an unhacked
state.
1. When I start up my camera, why wont the ML firmware load?
First, make sure the folders and directories on your cards match the ones at the end
of the step-by-step install guide above. If that doesnt work, double-check that your
cameras Canon firmware version matches the recommended versions from earlier in
this Guide. Finally, if neither of those are the issue, try completely removing all User
Settings from your Canon camera, re-installing
the recommended firmware version, and then
go step-by-step through the installation guide
Theres not a whole lot
above.
[ 35 ]
debug sub-menu. Again, if this doesnt solve your problems, check out the online
Magic Lantern forums for additional help.
4. When I remove the CF card from the camera to copy my files, the camera wont
start up after I put the card back in. Whats up with that?
When you open the card door to remove a card, theres a moment of time when the
camera is actually interacting with the cards. If you pull the card immediately, the
camera can get stuck in a kind of loop, where its trying to access the card, but the
card isnt there. If this happens, youll likely have to remove the battery, re-insert it, and
restart your camera. And to avoid this in the future, just wait a moment or two before
pulling your card once youve opened the card door.
www.dvxuser.com/V6
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 37 ]
3
SHOOTING RAW WITH MAGIC LANTERN
This is the good stuff youve been waiting for
If youve loaded the ML firmware on your camera (and by this point I hope you have),
it can be overwhelming to see the sheer number of options and menus that pop up
when you hit the trash can button. Honestly, there are more options and choices in
the menus than we have time to cover here. So were choosing to focus on the key
settings and features that youre likely to want to use most often in the Magic Lantern
world.
Dont let that deter you from experimenting with the various options in the ML
software. Theres nothing wrong with trying different things out, and seeing what
they do and how they work. Best of all, theres not a whole lot you can do to get
yourself in trouble. If you get lost, or if youre having issues with your camera after
you change some settings, you can always reformat your cards and start over with a
fresh install of the ML software.
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[ 39 ]
CINE ACCESSORIES
[ 40 ]
In the color sampling system, the number 4 represents the maximum value given to
one Luma (brightness) channel (Y), and two Chroma (or color) channels, (Cb and Cr).
Stock Canon HDSLRs operate in video mode in a 4:2:0 color space, offering full resolution
luma, and half resolution in the horizontal direction and vertical direction for the chroma
components.
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[ 42 ]
With the Magic Lantern firmware installed, and the RAW module active, images are
recorded in full 4:4:4 color space, where the Luma channel and both of the Chroma
channels are seeing full resolution.
For reference, the Arri Alexa also has the ability to record images in 4:4:4 color space,
and the camera is priced in the mid-five figures. The fact that the ML RAW firmware
allows us to bypass the built-in 4:2:0 color sampling in favor of the same 4:4:4 sampling
of the RAW stills is nothing short of revolutionary. The fact that its free, and runs on our
$2,800 (and under) camera bodies is mind-boggling.
Bit-Depth Explained
My apologies in advance. There is more math involved.
[ 43 ]
8-Bit
16-Bit
[ 44 ]
Setting Up ML Firmware For RAW Shooting
Once youve got Magic Lantern loaded and booting on your camera, youll need to
go through the menus and set up a number of features before you can get started
shooting. As we said before, there are a metric ton of different settings available to you
in Magic Lantern. But were focusing on the handful that youre most likely to use in
your pursuit of digital cinema greatness. And it starts with the RAW recording module.
In the ML Movie menu, when you select RAW recording, you can press the Q button
to enter the resolution/aspect ratio settings. Here, you can change your vertical AND
horizontal resolution independent of each other, and when you do, Magic Lantern
automatically calculates the aspect ratio based on the settings youve entered. This
allows you to prioritize any of these settings depending on your needs, and Magic
Lantern will help you do the math to set up the rest.
[ 45 ]
RAW VIDEO
Now if you go back into the ML
Movie menu, youll see RAW video
listed. Scroll down to it and hit the
SET button to turn it on. Youll see a
little Q icon on the right. Press the
Q button on your camera and
[ 46 ]
Preview
This is where you tell Magic Lantern how youd like to see the image youre shooting
on your LCD screen. AUTO will let Magic Lantern decide for you, this is what we
recommend using. Selecting CANON will get you the normal LiveView look, but your
framing may not be accurate.
Digital Dolly
This feature allows you to simulate a dolly move using a cropped area of the sensor.
Think of it as a window over your sensor, and you can move it digitally to create
the effect of a slider or dolly. Using the software, your camera joystick becomes the
controller. You can set your start and end point and create the dolly move you want.
Cool, eh? We talk more about it later in the Advanced section.
Frame Skipping
The idea behind this function is simple: if youre using a slower card, and you drop
a frame, frame skipping set to allow means your camera will continue recording,
dropped frames and all. If this is set to OFF, the camera will stop recording when
dropped frames are encountered. Wed encourage you to always leave this set to OFF,
provided, of course that youre using one of the recommended Compact Flash cards.
Card Warm-Up
Due to some internal card-related mojo, some cards dont like to have a bunch of RAW
files dumped to them when theyre still cold. They want you to buy them dinner, tell
them theyre pretty, and THEN record RAW files. The Card Warm-Up function simply
records one long file to the card at startup, giving the card a chance to warm up and be
ready for future recordings.
[ 47 ]
DIGITAL DOLLY
With the full-frame of the 5D Mark
III sensor, there are lots of possibilities that can be unlocked. Digital
Dolly is one of them, helping you
get shots that simulate a dolly, even
if you dont have one.
FRAME SKIPPING
With Magic Lantern RAW, your
memory cards need to be up to
speed (at least 1000x). But if they
arent, and if you dont mind dropping frames, use this function to
continue recording.
PLAYBACK
To play back clips shot in ML RAW,
simply go to the RAW Video menu,
and select the Playback function.
Clips wont play back using the normal Canon system, so you have to
do it in the ML menus for it to work.
[ 48 ]
Audio Settings
(MENU:AUDIO:BEEP, TEST TONES)
Sound with Magic Lantern RAW is a bit of a train-wreck at the moment. But heyaudio
was never that great on these cameras to start with. Theres just too much processing
going on to reliably record in-camera sound. But you still have some tools to work with.
The main one youll want to enable is the Beeps. Basically, this generates an audible
beep whenever you start recording. This gives you an easy sync point for matching up
your picture with sound (recorded by someone else, preferably) in post.
Histogram
(MENU:OVERLAY:HISTOGRAM)
The one exposure tool that should be available to you on-screen at all times is the
Histogram. In ML RAW, the histogram reflects the RAW data, and learning how to use it
means you wont ever have to worry about overexposure or clipping again.
[ 49 ]
FPS OVERRIDE
Since ML RAW is recording unprocessed stills without compression,
you are no longer limited to the
frame rates the camera was designed to record. ALWAYS set this
to the exact frame rate you want.
GLOBAL DRAW
Think about what Magic Lantern is
doing. Its recording RAW video, on
top of the existing Canon firmware. All the while the Global Draw
feature gives you on-screen data to
help you shoot better video. Damn.
[ 50 ]
Resolution: 1920x1080
Preview: Auto
(MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:RESOLUTION)
(MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:RESOLUTION)
(MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:PREVIEW)
(MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:SMALL HACKS)
(MENU:OVERLAY:GLOBAL DRAW)
PRO TIP
Be sure to
double-check
your Global
Draw settings.
These can
impact the max
speed at which
your RAW files
can be written
to the cards.
PRO TIP
Under the RAW
video menu
youll find this
feature. The
card warm-up
function writes
a big file to the
card when you
boot up, which
some cards
seem to enjoy.
[ 51 ]
IMPORTANT NOTE!
One of the most important settings youll need to set in the Canon menus is to choose
the destination card for your recordings. A lot of people overlook this setting, and they
wonder why they cant get sustained RAW recordings out of their cameras. If the camera
is trying to record to the SD card INSTEAD of the CF card, youre going to have problems.
So be sure to go into the Canon settings and choose the Compact Flash card as your
recording location.
The settings
PRO TIP in your Canon
On the 5D2,
menus may not
you can set
it any effect
have
to providing
on how your
framing guides
images look, but
with black
they can affect
bars, making
how it
your camera
easier to performs
focus
in
on composing
RAW. Set them
your shot.accordingly.
PRO TIP
Hit the Magnify
button once to get
into 3x crop mode.
Pressing it twice
gives you normal
10x magnification
you can use to aid
in focusing. Press
it a third time to
get back to the 1x
normal view.
[ 52 ]
[ 53 ]
www.dvxuser.com/V6
[ 65 ]
5
WORKFLOW AND EDITING WITH ML RAW FILES
Youve got beautiful RAW files, now what do you do with them?
We want RAW for one very simple reason: we want to preserve as much information
as possible in the original image file. It is this information, which we call dynamic
range, detail, and color accuracy, that RAW is designed to capture. But once we have
that information captured digitally, we need to have the right tools to turn that
information into beautiful images, and we need to know how to use them.
How you use those tools, and the process that takes you from footage to finished
product is called workflow, and its the key to getting the most from RAW.
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Preparing to Edit
The next thing you have to realize is that RAW files from Magic Lantern need to be
processed, just like RAW stills, or even actual film. (You remember that stuff, right?
Now that your footage is backed up and safe, you have to prep your footage for editing.
Depending on what environment youre editing in, your choices may already be made for
you. For example, if you edit in FCP X, youll have to transcode your RAW files to ProRes to
make them edit-friendly. If youre editing in Premiere, you might also want to transcode,
but you can also work natively with the RAW files from ML by using a plug-in called
GingerHDR. If youre comfortable in AfterEffects, you can make adjustments to color,
contrast, and even apply a basic grade before running your transcodes. Or you could work
with the Cinema DNG files in Blackmagic Resolve, the industry-leading professional colorcorrection software thats free to download. This is the workflow I prefer to use, starting
and finishing in Resolve, and using XML to round-trip to and from the NLE program of
choice.
A promising new tool that can automate a lot of this work for you is Red Giants software
package called BulletProof. It automates a number of the copy and secure backup
functions in one single program, and it also enables
you to apply LUTs (more on that shortly), generate
proxies, and even apply some basic color grading.
(BulletProof is brand new, and its yet to be seen how
or if it will handle Cinema DNG files, but its worth
RAW files from Magic
keeping an eye on.)
Lantern need to be
[ 69 ]
SHOOTING
|
PROCESSING/TRANSCODING
|
EDITING
|
MASTERING
THE WORKFLOW
Every persons workflow should be their own. And how yours will flow is
likely going to be determined by what NLE youre using, how you like to
finish or master your materials, and even who youre working with.
[ 70 ]
If youre working in a solo environment, and dont have to worry about how your
footage looks as you work with it, applying a LUT may not be something you want
to mess with. But my feeling is that, if youve chosen a RAW workflow, you should
understand and embrace the industry-standard practices used by professionals in post
houses around the world. Theyre using LUTs, so you should know how to do it too.
Soon, well be sharing a few LUTs (in .CUBE format) that you can use in Resolve to
quickly apply a look to your footage. To install, simply drag to the LUT folder tucked
away in the Resolve Application Support folder. (Look for links to LUTS soon!)
One of the great advantages of RAW2DNG is its ability to create ProRes files during the
conversion process. This means you can quickly sift through your footage
Rarevisions RAWMagic is a clean and simple drag-and-drop app that takes your ML
RAW files and quickly converts them to Cinema DNG format.
[ 71 ]
[ 72 ]
Son Of Batch (Mac Only)
http://tshit.de/Son_of_Batch_OSX-68.zip
This Mac-only app is another great little tool for converting ML RAW files to Cinema
DNG. Son of Batch will also allow you to preview your RAW files, create backups and
proxies, and you can even set in and out points for your clips, which is a great way to
save some space.
Developed for Windows users, RAWanizer is a great little utility that offers RAW to DNG
conversion, along with the ability to create proxy files in ProRes, DNxHD, and other
formats.
Cineform Studio
http://cineform.com/products/gopro-cineform-studio-premium
Cineform Studio is
more than just a tool to
transcode or prepare
your clips.
Its not free, but the ability to transcode to Cineform RAW, with all the benefits that
brings, is certainly worth paying for, if you need what it offers.
Adobe Lightroom
With the rise of HDSLRs, quite a few photographers have embraced the filmmaking
world, using their cameras to deliver both still and motion images. And many of them
are much more familiar with tools based in the world of photography, including the
leading image library and development application, Adobe Lightroom 5. The great
news for them is that RAW shooters can actually use Lightroom to process their files.
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Heres how you can use Lightroom to develop clips, with help from QuickTime
Pro 7:
1. Load your DNG files into Lightroom 5.
2. Verify that the correct number of files have been loaded, matching the
number of DNG files in the folder you converted the RAW files into.
3. Create a new library, and import the files.
4. Develop your grade for a single frame, and use Lightroom to copy the grade/
look to each frame in the clip sequence.
(NOTE: When developing and grading your images, remember you can
make automatic lens adjustments to correct for distortion, vignetting, and
aberrations.)
5. Export TIFF files from Lightroom.
6. Open QuickTime 7, and open your TIFF files as an image sequence.
7. Export your image sequence in the ProRes flavor of your choice.
ADOBE LIGHTROOM
Anyone coming from a still photography background is likely familiar with Adobes killer photo
library and processing app, Lightroom. If youre more comfortable making your initial (and
even final) color work in a photo-focused application, this is the one to use. (Nice fish, eh?)
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GingerHDR Plug-In
http://19lights.com/wp/
Once installed, youll want to verify that its working properly. If you go to File -> Import
you can check supported file types, and GNR files should show up in the menu.
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PROJECT SETTINGS
See that little gear icon down
there in the lower left corner of the
screen? Clicking that little button
will bring up the Project Settings
panel, where you can customize
most of your Resolve settings.
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What follows is our recommended workflow for getting the most out
of RAW files. Why? Well, if youre shooting RAW, you want the absolute
best image quality you can get, with the maximum amount of range
and gradability in post. Blackmagic Resolve is one of the leading colorcorrection tools available to video professionals, and knowing how to
use it will no doubt make your work better.
This workflow is also NLE-independent. What that means is that if your
NLE supports XML import and export, it will work with Resolve. Avid
Media Composer 7. Final Cut Pro X. Adobe Premiere Creative Cloud. All of
these (and more) are ready to go with the following workflow.
Recommended Round-Trip Resolve Workflow
1. Launch Resolve and create a New Project.
2. Import DNG files by dragging them to your Media Pool.
3. Go to the Color Tab, where your clips should show up in your Timeline.
4. In the Camera Raw window, select Decode Using -> Clip -> BMD Film.
5. In the same window, click the Highlight Recovery box.
6. Shift-click in the Timeline to select ALL of your clips.
7. Click the Apply Settings To All Selected Clips button (bottom center window).
(NOTE: All clips should now be in Log Gamma, thanks to the BMD Film setting.)
8. Shift-click to select ALL of your clips in the Timeline, and mouse down to the 3D LUT
selection.
9. Choose the REC709 LUT you want to apply.
10. In the Conform Tab, click the Project Settings (the gear icon) button at the bottom
left of the screen.
11. From the Master Project Settings Tab, select the Assist Using Reel Names radio
button and click Apply.
12. Go to the Deliver Tab.
13. Export your clips for editing in the format of your choice. (If youre going to roundtrip back to Resolve, select a proxy format for easy editing. If not, choose a Masterquality format to preserve as much information in each clip as possible.)
(NOTE: Be sure to select Render Clips with Unique File Name from the Output Options
menu before exporting your clips.)
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14. When the clips are finished exporting, go to the File menu and select Export AAF/
XML, setting it to export into the same folder as your media.
15. Import your .XML file into the NLE of your choice, and edit to your hearts content.
16. Export an .XML file from your NLE.
17. Launch Resolve, open your previous project, and from the File menu, select Import
XML, and select the XML file from your NLE.
18. In the dialog box that opens, be sure to DE-select the Automatically import source
clips into Media Pool checkbox.
19. When the XML imports, all of your edited clips should show up in the Conform Tab.
20. In the Color Tab, make any corrections and perform any grading you want.
21. When youre ready to export a colored master (which we call the submaster), go
to the Deliver Tab. Choose your export format, and select the Single Clip box so that it
exports as one long, master-quality clip.
22. In your NLE, import your submaster, apply your finishing elements and audio mix,
and export your final master.
23. Drink copious amounts of alcohol, preferably of the grain variety. Youve earned it.
HIGHLIGHT RECOVERY
Check this box to have Resolve
recover your highlights where necessary. Just remember to uncheck
it if you dont want your highlights
recovered for some reason.
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