Professor Tips

Work magic on your movies in Capture One 7

The great news is that you can now use Capture One to color correct or “grade” these files in an application that makes sense to you as a photographer and that you are already familiar with.

Better image quality in your movies

Additionally, using Capture One will open up the use for image quality tools not available in any current video editor. For example, bayer level noise reduction and significantly better highlight and shadow recovery.

The corrected images can then be compiled as a master clip in your chosen video editor.

Video cameras that are capable of recording in the Cinema DNG format simply capture individual frames as Cinema DNG files and store this as a sequence of images on the camera’s storage media. For example, a camera recording at 24 fps (frames per second) will write 24 Cinema DNG files for one second of footage.

Which cameras support Cinema DNG?

Cameras that support this format are abundant, as an example there are the products from Black Magic Design, including the relatively new Pocket Cinema Camera and the Magic Lantern adapted Canon DSLR’s.

Now you can use Capture One for producing the creative look you want for your movies and leave the editing tasks to your chosen movie editing application.

Working with Cinema DNG files

Capture One treats a Cinema DNG file exactly the same as a RAW image file with the ability to change or perhaps fix exposure, color and contrast. If you want to try out the workflow below, you can download some sample Cinema DNG files from here, courtesy of Black Magic Design.

Further sets of Cinema DNG files are available by changing the link to Shot_1, Shot_2 etc.

Try out the workflow

I started by creating a new Catalog (you could also use a Session workflow) and imported the Cinema DNG files. This gave me a sequence of 110 images, which will eventually go to form a clip of just over 4 seconds.

The unadjusted file in Capture One looks like this alongside a file with a few changes I made.

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Using the tools in Capture One, I could increase the exposure, improve the shadow detail and I also change the density of the red jacket a little.

Note, I only needed to do this on one image for the sequence. After the first file is adjusted I used the Copy Adjustments icon in the toolbar (upward facing arrow) to copy my adjustments to the clipboard.

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and then selected the rest of the images in the sequence and clicked on the Apply Adjustments icon, the downward facing arrow in the previous image.

I now have a complete sequence of corrected images.

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To bring them into my chosen video editor I then need to export them as a 16bit TIFF file. I used the following settings for my process recipe.

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This of course gives me a folder of one 16 Bit TIFF file for every processed Cinema DNG file. Now, I need to get these into my chosen video editor as a single clip.

You could use a simple package like Quicktime Pro 7 or your chosen video editing package.  I haven’t had much time to experiment with Quicktime Pro7 but it is likely that the best quality will be achieved by using a full editing package like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere.

Quicktime Pro 7 was superseded by Quicktime Pro X but the newer version is unable to compile a sequence of images into a video file. There go with Quicktime Pro 7 that can be downloaded from here. You will need to buy a licence for Quicktime Pro, from Apple.

Unfortunately it is not possible to compile a sequence of images in Quicktime Pro X, which is the replacement version of Quicktime Pro 7.

Alternatively, search for many freeware applications that are available on Mac and Windows for the compilation of single images to a video sequence.

Open Quicktime Pro 7 and choose File>Open Image Sequence.

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…you will then asked to set the frame rate. In this case, the footage was shot at 24fps.

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Then your clip will then open as a compiled movie. Export this in the movie format or compression of your choice to then bring into your editor.

The same thing can be achieved by importing the image sequence into Final Cut Pro X or Adobe Premiere for example.

For Adobe Premiere some handy RGB Sequence presets can be installed by downloading the Black Magic Camera Utility 1.4.1 from http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

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I also experimented with using a Split Tone Preset to create this look in Capture One.

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Here are the final two sequences edited together.

I am somewhat of a ‘newbie’ when it comes to processes like this but I believe it opens up interesting options for working with your movie files in a familiar application for color as well as other corrections.

 

Best regards

David

 

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David Grover

David Grover is part of the Capture One team, bringing you help, advice and education on a variety of subjects and platforms. David can be found on most weeks delivering live Capture One Webinars or anytime on our YouTube Channel.

Comments (33)

Roman Medvid

Nice news overall, thanks!

But in the article it says that Cinema DNG’s from “relatively new Pocket Cinema Camera” are supported by Capture One.

In fact, BMPC presently outputs only ProRes video files. It is expected to output Cinema DNG sequences with the future firmware (time to be confirmed). More than that, it is announced to me lossless Compressed DNG.

Can you confirm that Capture One is capable of supporting them?

Thanks!

David Grover

Hi Roman,

Thanks for your comments!

Yes, I did mean to mention that the BMPC is awaiting a firmware update so thanks for pointing that out.

Ill investigate regarding the Lossless compressed format.

David

Roman Medvid

And I just tested Cinema DNG’s from my ML’ed Canon 50D and confirm that it works excellent!

David Grover

Great! If the Cinema DNG file is prepared to the correct specifications, then Capture One should have no issues.

With regards to the Lossless Compressed DNG, then we need to look into this a little more.

Roman Medvid

Cool! Thanks for the fast update!

That is a great news for the industry. It is always easier to work with tools we know. Color grading softwares are not that intuitive.

Roman Medvid

I just posted the reference to this article on the Black Magic User forum.

http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?5731-Capture-One-%28by-Phase-One%29-now-supports-Cinema-DNG

So far people are happy! As someone on the thread suggested, it will be interesting to see some grading tests of Capture One vs Resolve 10. Not to find the weakest, of course, as it makes no sense, but to know which tool should be used when.

David Grover

Thanks for spreading the word Roman!

Hey, if you REALLY want to clean up in this corner of the video post prod sector set up key framing.

Should be a simple bit of coding.
Allow us to make changes to frame 001. Then make changes to frame 250. Then C1 divides all the changes between 001 and 250 by 250 and adds the 250th bit of adjustment to each frame. Everything after frame 250 stays. Or you can make more changes within the sequence.

This would give C1 Pro colossal editing power for video clips.

It would allow us to deal with exposure changes around dusk or dawn on time lapse shoots, or emerging say, from tree cover into daylight in a moving car sequence.

Can’t be hard eh?

David Grover

Hi John,

Thanks for the suggestion. Sometimes what seems simple on the surface can often get very complicated, but it is certainly an interesting idea!

David

Mario Seiss

I tried Capture One Pro 7.1.4 trial version together with DNG files created from Magic Lantern Converter “raw2dng” but with no success. I was able to open the DNG files with “Adobe Camera raw” but not with Capture One 7.1.4 (they were simply not displayed in the Import window). Could you please tell me where I made the mistake?

David Grover

Hi Mario,

Thanks for the information.

I have had a look at the raw2dng app and it seems like it does not create a full cinema DNG file.

I found this about it in the Magic Lantern forum…

http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5618.0

It seems like there could be a workaround so I would have a read through of that thread.

David

Mario Seiss

Hi David,

thanks for your link. In fact fthere is a better converter called “raw2cdng”. The link for the program can be found in the first post under http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5618.0 The DNG files created from this converter can be easily imported into Capture One. Maybe this information is of interest for other users as well.

Mario

David Grover

Great! Thanks Mario for clearing that up.

CinemaDNG was released for the BM Pocket Camera yesterday.
I’ve shot a test sequence and loaded it into Capture One 7 successfully.
Great. Loving it.
Would be much better if we could export in a more video NLE friendly format however, instead of TIFFs.
Maybe ProRes 442?
I would work in CO7 rather than Resolve if the bridge between CO7 and FCPX was quicker and easier to achieve.

David Grover

Hi Chris,

Thats great Cinema DNG is on the BMPC now.

Thanks for your suggestions and I will forward it on to the team.

David

David,
I’ve been working with this for a week.
The individual stills from the BM Pocket Camera look stunning after Capture One grading. Much nicer than BM Resolve in my opinion. But getting them into FCPX is a nightmare. I’ve tried several different approaches, including downloading a demo of Adobe AE at one point.
One minute of BM Pocket raw produces over 2000 stills in CO. In high quality format, such as Capture One generated TIFFs, just about everything on my 2012 iMac grinds to a halt. Likewise FCPX hates to deal with that many separate but HQ files. I’ve spent many hours watching the spinning beachball this week, and often ended up with an error message at the end of it. The CO part of the process was relatively painless, it was just the next step of actually reassembling the video.
This is a long way of saying capture One is three quarters of the way to being a fully functioning and superb Motion Raw programme, better than Resolve 10, which is one of the few alternatives.
I hope Phase One consider building a Cinema Raw product to compliment CO7.

David Grover

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your kind comments!

Is it FCPX that is struggling? I’ll have to do some tests myself.

I found it pretty easy going in Adobe Premier to import the still as a clip, but I’ll have to look again.

David.

FCPX struggles, at least on my set up (iMac 3.4ghz, Lacie TB Drive).
Try working with longer cinemadng files. As I say, 1 minute of footage resulted in 2020 stills. It took Capture One 1.5 hours to export over 2000 graded TIFFs. FCPX really struggled to ingest them all, and if you happened to click on a wrong button in FCPX you’d either be waiting for a looooong time (beachball spinning) to correct your mistake, or be resigned to ‘force quit’ and start the whole process again.
Importing and grading in Resolve 10 (on my set up) is fast and error free, although I still prefer the TIFF I graded in CO7 from the same sequence.

I take everything from C1 into a little bit of inexpensive software called sequence. This ingests stills files and outputs an MOV file with lots of options, even 4K. I then take this straight into FCPX without issue.

There are a couple of things you need to do in FCPX to get all the benefit of these huge files though. Ask me if this seems like a fix for you.

I tried searching for ‘sequence’, but it’s such a generic term…..
I’m still willing to give it a go. I would like to edit in FCPX as Pro Res 422 I think.

David Grover

I’m guessing this one…

http://frosthaus.com/sequence/

Ack! “Sequence requires OS10.8 or later’.
That might screw with my other work related software (music).

David Grover

What OS are you on Chris?

10.7.5 – which has been working well.
I’m downloading the CO7 Update, then I’ll download some music software updates (Ableton Live), then I might consider downloading OSX Mavericks.
As things stand, ‘sequence’ wont work on my computer.

David Grover

Ok – I was just worried you might have been on 10.6.8 which will definitely impact the performance of Capture One, and I am guessing FCPX as well.

Ugh. Three days of purgatory, upgrading, downloading etc.
I’m now on OSX 10.8.5, latest version of CO7 and using ‘Sequence’.
It’s all good, except…….
I seem to be generating a copy of each still in the sequence somehow.
I shot a shorter sequence, about 15 seconds.
That imports over 400 stills into CO. I have my export recipe as exactly above in David’s example. But CO exports over 1000 TIFF’s, same on the Sequence import, and when I finally get it all into FCPX. It all looks great, but my clip is 34 seconds long and looks to be half speed slo-mo.
In short. Looking great! Much easier now! But generating too many TIFFs out of CO for some reason.

OK. Downloading the demo of ‘sequence’ now. Thanks.
There is still the issue of keyframes in the end I guess, making a motion version of CO more ideal.
However I see a lot of new raw video users (Blackmagic and Magic Lantern) on the forums searching for a quicker, easier workflow than current raw motion programs.

I personally would be very much interested in either an upgraded Capture One that can handle files for video output, or a stand alone product that strips out stills specific code (to make it more stable?) and concentrates on high number count high resolution image files for video specific application outputs.

There seems to be a gap in the market (Resolve partially filling it) and this particular niche in the market seems to be really bourgeoning given the hardware that is now appearing.

The grading capacity Capture One offers is such a major pull that it seems crazy not to explore this market. But the key-framing is the essential ingredient that has to be deployed because ultimately, C1’s adjustments can only be employed on locked off cameras, I want to use my eMotimo motion control head, and for this I need to be able to key frame adjustments throughout often complex camera moves. A stand alone product might be better because the likelihood of many highly complex layers of local adjustments would potentially over tax the processing capabilities (but I am no expert on what is possible).

I must say here I am at the bottom rung of the learning curve, having shot stills for 26 years this is my first foray into moving images from DSLRs, and I am only doing this because we are so tantalisingly close to a solution that employs skills I have already mastered (relative term) that will allow me to get the full quality and specific styles I have in my stills images into moving images. This is incredibly exciting, I cannot help thinking about the huge potential there is, and how much I want it!

John

Update:
Got it all working now. The ‘Sequence’ software app is very good.
Everything in Capture One and Sequence is happening quite fast now.
I guess I plan to export from FCPX into Resolve at the end to make any keyframe adjustments in my edit.
But I’m really happy with the image from my BM Pocket Camera, graded in CO7and exported into FCPX via Sequence.
The final big test is going back to 1 or 2 minute takes, which is what I’m normally working with. It’s a little scary working in CO7 with over two thousand images live.
Anyway, great stuff. Very happy camper.

cool, I am glad you fixed this, and glad you like Sequence. Any chance of posting some examples in Vimeo? I’d like to see what the BMPCC can do, what’s the DR like?

Can resolve be obtained without buying the camera (although it looks tempting kit, could I fit my fast Canon primes?).

I was looking at the Canon C100 too, that’s dropped in price lately and is affordable. Not much adv over the 5DMk3, except I love the idea of 13 stops of DR. That’s a huge pull…

When will this be available for use with Nikon?

David Grover

Hi Daryn,

What do you mean exactly?

If Cinema DNG will be enabled on the Nikon? If so, that’s a question for Nikon I am afraid!

David