convmlv/docs/workflow.txt

The convmlv Workflow is a powerful one.


Shoot Footage --> 
convmlv, best-guess preview quality --> convmlv, final quality -->
Blender, VFX -->
Blender, film emulation/Looks --> Blender, color grading -->
Blender/Audacity/etc., Editing

Shoot Footage: Focus on losing no details - we'll be tonemapping later. Dual ISO/HDR isn't bad either. Shoot with correct White Balance, if you can.

--> Ensure that the camera's numbering is not reset while shooting a project. Non-unique filenames will give you headaches.,


Organization: Using MLRawViewer, sort each file by scene, and if preproduction was organized enough, by shot as well.
	-footage: Contains resources for development.
		raw: Contains all your raw footage. Usually on an external hard drive.
			-scn: Scenes of the movie. Contains shot folders or takes.
				-sht: Shots in the scene. Contains multiple takes/angles.
		conv: Contains all your converted footage.
		darkframe_<cameramodel>: Contains darkframe files. Set it up for now.
		convmlv: Contains a specific version of convmlv and its dependencies.
		<project>.conf

Setup Project: With all the MLV footage organized, it's time to build config files!

FIRST: Ensure convmlv is setup & working correctly from the convmlv folder above.

SECOND: Fill the darkframe_<cameramodel> with darkframes (see convmlv -h) for each combo of ISO, Shutter, Aperture, and Crop/Resolution
in your project.

THIRD: Create a badpixels.txt for your camera.

-Global Config: convmlv isn't always backwards compatible, so make sure you're using a static version of it. Add this VARNAME:
	RES_PATH /path/to/footage/convmlv #This makes sure that your project will use one version of convmlv.

-Local Config:
	CONFIG_NAME <project>
	IMAGE
	IMG_FMT 0 #For a Blender workflow, we're working from fast EXR's, not MOVs.
	
	PROXY 3 #We need jpgs; mp4s are more for a quick glance at the footage. 2 is fine too.
	PROXY_SCALE 50% #I like a bit smaller proxies

	DEMO_MODE 3 #Highest quality, but lower it for preview quality.
	SPACE 0 #We're working in Linear space here.

	BADPIXEL_PATH <path/to/badpixels.txt> #Interpolate around your camera's dead pixels. They're very irritating otherwise.

Use template.txt in the convmlv repository to organize your config files so far, and add any stylistic options you wish to the Local config.
They will apply to the whole project.


Preview Development: Go through each and every piece of footage, and make a file-specific block in the Local Config that corresponds,
previewing one frame for each/running MLRawViewer to decide. Make sure to add BADPIXELS if your camera is prone to that.

Ask Yourself:
	-What frame range do I really need of this?
	-Denoising - Do I need it? Is there predictable motion, so temporal denoising is OK? How much detail am I willing to give up?
	-Highlights - Should I reconstruct (3-9)? Leave them be (0)? Curve to grey (2)? Allow clipping, setting the SATPOINT too (1)?
	-White Balance - Should I let AWB have a go at it, or was the Camera WB fine?
	-Deshake - Are subjects small/immobile, making sure the algorithm doesn't latch onto them? Otherwise I might want to do this later, with more precision.
	-HDR - Make sure to add DUAL_ISO if you shot HDR.
	-LUTs - Add any LUT you want, but know that Blender gives you great flexibility with the looks you want.
	-OUTPUT FOLDER - Make sure each file is placed in an OUTPUT directory in 'conv' that corresponds to the file location in 'raw'.

Lower the demosaicing mode (by adding a CLI option), and you're ready! Run 'convmlv -C path/to/local.conf $(find /path/to/footage -name *.[mM][lL][vV])'
to develop everything overnight. Look at the shots in motion the next day, tweak, and you're good to go!


Final Development: If possible, develop it all once for preview's sake. If not, make sure to take it easy on temporal denoising. When your
config file is ready, run (again):

'convmlv -C path/to/local.conf $(find /path/to/footage -name *.[mM][lL][vV])'


Hello, Blender! I like to make one (depending on project size & collaborators) .blend file, import all exr sequences into the Movie Clip Editor (drag the
first exr in the sequence and drop it on the big screen, then press the little "F" so it doesn't dissappear when you save), then make one scene per composite.

Make one scene; name it edit.

MAKE SURE: Scene->Color Management->Sequencer must be set to "Linear".


This is the time to do VFX of any kind. Render to Linear Half EXR's


Film Emulation: Also in Color Management, you'll find some cool options. Render-->View can be turned to Film for film emulation, and various
old-school 3D LUTs can be found in Look. Since we have very nice dynamic range from ML RAW, playing with the exposure/gamma/curves lends us amazing control.


Color Grading: Shift-->A-->Input-->Movie Clip, select the shot named like the scene. Then node away! I like to put a Color-->Tonemap node in front,
as well as a Color Balance, maybe a Lens Distortion; options are limitless.