Music video created with rawtherapee

Open source workflow:
Magic lantern, rawtherapee, blender, virtualdub, x.265

Rawtherapee has a few tools that are (unfortunately) unsuitable for video work, but as long as they are avoided, it provides fantastic results!

https://youtu.be/KBzi4eHxQOY

5 Likes

Can you tell us what you did in a little more detail?

Shooting raw with magic lantern produces a series of DNG files.

Each clip is in its own subdirectory.

A suitable frame is selected to process for whatever I’m trying to achieve,
be it cleanest shadows, or perhaps the right skin tone.

Within rawtherapee, my first step is digging into whatever demosaicing
algorithm best accentuates the shot while minimising the ubiquitous
weaknesses associated with video. I love the many options and would love
to see even more! I use most of the algorithms routinely.

It’s great to have secondary options for similar tools. Most times, the
first choice for the best result won’t produce a stable result across
hundreds of frames, so test renders are essential. Sometimes I’ll use two
similar tools simultaneously, each contributing in a way that doesn’t fall
apart when scene conditions change.

It’s not easy, but I really enjoy having low-level tools to be able to get
exactly the look I’m after.

I use every component of rawtherapee, including wavelets. Excellent
results, but very susceptible to changing conditions.

Haldclut is fantastic. It can be a little time consuming to narrow down
the one that works best for the scene, but having so many varying exposures
is a real life saver for some very challenging scenes. I often wind up
changing the exposure and white balance after changing the film. Shooting
video in raw makes the workflow very complicated but incredibly powerful.

The biggest problem with rawtherapee for my workflow is the weakness around
the edges of the frame. I shoot accordingly, truncating the edges to
eliminate the intermittent issues there. It’s a strange problem
considering how rawtherapee is already truncating the DNG files when
opening them. I’m losing more of the frame than I am comfortable with.

I’m hoping this will be resolved, but I can handle working around it.

It’s a great program. If it can be a little more robust to better handle
changing scene conditions, it would make me very happy!

2 Likes

Why don’t use a video editor that can let you use 3D LUT ?

In my experience, I get better results with my workflow as stated.

It’s time consuming, but I don’t mind.

I’m always open to other options…

It’s all fun for me!

With that model of camera?

5Dmk3