Wolverine-Hawkeye Telecine

[Bruce Davis]

Hi Stan, thanks again for your work, have tested the One-Dir version and find the placement of the 2 files into one folder works, but the exposure does not change, it stays on the level at which it is originally set.

[David Brown]

Hey Bruce, I'm happy to see you getting after HDR!

I decided I was spending too much time on it when I was able to get ok results with WDR (in IC capture). I DO plan to revisit later.

I tried Hawkeye with Enfuse, Enfuse plugin for Lightroom, Photomatix plugin for LR, Lightroom HDR, and Photoshop HDR.

Some HDR software will not work with only 2 exposures, and/or using two separate folders.

Enfuse works as well as the others I mentioned above.I found there is enough range in film to do multiple exposures. I can't show samples having deleted all my tests. They filled my drive. These tiffs were 64bit! I only have 2 choices with the DFM-37UX226, 32b & 64b. Photomatix outputs 32b files, 64b may be overkill? I think both of these are using 8bits for transparency, that is wasted for us.

The scene I most tested had the subject in open shade with a bright blue sky and clouds. I exposed both frames 4 stops apart(1/4s-1/30s). That was enough, but the subject needed more emphasis, without clipping the highlights. Enfuse created a flat exposure.

Enfuse, and all these, mix the exposures, and leave the final tweek to the user. Maybe with 3 exposures, one 'normal', it could have produced a better auto mix?

Probably there is a way to weight midtones, and keep the rest balanced using Fred's scripts. If using Vdub or another editor these values can be adjusted. Be sure they are able to use the full files and are configured to work in 16b or 32b colors.


Stan, I don't think more than 3 captures would be useful. Does the new HDR 3 file capture only work with UX178?

I also wonder if it is useful to capture at 64b when there are multiple files, but the HDR output file should be 32b if it is to be adjusted.

[Stan Jelavic]

Fixed the readme here:
https://github.com/vintagefilmography/HDR-UX178-ONE-DIR

[Stan Jelavic]

The one dir version is here Bruce:
https://github.com/vintagefilmography/HDR-UX178-ONE-DIR

Perhaps you can try testing that one and if it works test the 3 exposure because the 3 exposure is based on the one dir build.

The readme file is a github readme and it can be formatted. Will look into that.

The file start number should be easy to add.

[Bruce Davis]

Thank you Stan, was not expecting you to create a 3 frame version, saving the 3 frames works well, but there is no variable exposure, the exposure remains at the pre-set normal level e.g. No-Low-exposure and No-High-exposure (all 3 images are saved as Normal). The image on screen also remains as "Normal" there are no Low-Normal-High exposures, as with the 2-Exposure version of your HDR program, I set IncLow to 0.3.

Your readme.md file, for me, does not seem to have any formatting, this makes it difficult to read, I am only using notepad++, is there another program I should be using. I notice you mentioned a "ONE-DIR version", is this also available, not urgent in any way but thought I might have missed seeing it.

If one stops the capture/transfer process, would it be possible on a restart (after closing HDR and restarting) to set a start frame number. As it is now it always starts at number one (1) and overwrites any previous files, if the same folder is used. In IC Capture under the "Filename and Target" tab "Index" this is possible, but may be to difficult to implement in HDR, but thought I would ask the question.

Thanks again for the pleasant surprise with this 3 frame version
Regards - Bruce

[Stan Jelavic]

Here is the test build for 3 exposures Bruce. There are 4 exposure slots, 1 thru 4. Slots 2 and 4 are currently used to save images. The test build uses slot 3 for normal exposure. Not sure if it will work but it is worth a try. All images are stored in the same directory.
https://github.com/vintagefilmography/HDR-UX178-3-EXP

[Stan Jelavic]

To the left and up.

[Bruce Davis]

Stan if you can remember, what would be the best claw position to start at, I can pre-set this before starting.

[Stan Jelavic]

No problem Bruce. Let me know if you change your mind and want to give it a shot. The frame sequence issue is caused by the initial claw position. It can be in the first half or second half of the travel. This may cause a trigger right after you start capture and that is not enough time for the first image to be processed. I tried to synch the claw and the capture start. It did improve but it is not 100 percent.

[Bruce Davis]

Hi Stan, understand that this camera caused a lot of problems for you (sorry), the third image was just a thought, as I saw it flashing by on screen. Did not remember that there were buffer problems that you had to deal with, would not be worth the effort in this case.

I have found that sometimes with HDR (running at the slowest speed only, have not tried 1fps as you mentioned dropped frames are possible) the frame sequence can be out by 1 frame (I guess it depends on the start sequence), its not a big problem as I just have to delete the extra file and do a renumber with "Better File Rename Series", good program and simple to use.
Regards - Bruce

P.S. After running the tiff files through videofred and playing the video, found another out of sync area 3/4 of the way through a 3 minute S8 film, so at this point HDR file save reliability does not seem good, I am saving files to a new internal SSD, so why this is occurring? Wondering if it would be easier to track down missing files if they were all in one folder, as it is with the files split between two folders it is very time consuming, anyway have a think about which might be better.
Thanks Stan.

[Stan Jelavic]

Here is the build for single directory Bruce:
https://github.com/vintagefilmography/HDR-UX178-ONE-DIR
You will have to set both Hi and Lo paths the same and the lo and high exposure will be assigned to odd and even image numbers.

I did just a basic test because I do not have the UX178 here.

We can also try to add one more image to the sequence but you will have to be the tester and it will be a hit and miss process. But what can we lose (maybe some nerves). It will be a separate test build and if it does not pan out we just trash it.

[Stan Jelavic]

It is possible Bruce but there is an issue with this camera buffer. I had a hard time synching the shots and exposures and added a few workarounds. Without the camera it would be like a shot in the dark to do the changes. The image names are easy to change but anything else would require a setup in here.

[Bruce Davis]

Thank you Stan for taking the time and making the effort, your ongoing support and dedication to this project is very much appreciated. I am very impressed with the result of HDR, yes it is slow with the UX178 camera, perhaps due to the double triggering requirement, but I feel it is worth it.
Regards - Bruce

As I am watching the HDR process, realised that there are 3 exposures being presented on the screen, High-Normal-Low why could we not capture all three, would that not make for better results? Maybe not, dslr cameras capture a minimum of three shots, just a thought, as that exposure is available.

[Stan Jelavic]

Ah that looks very nice, thanks for sharing Bruce. Would not be hard at all Bruce. Will issue a new version of HDR app.

[Bruce Davis]

Thanks Stan, I should have seen that, blind from looking, while checking into Enfuse on the web I came across EnfuseGUI, it is free and would be far more simple to use, it has I think the same variable settings (need you to check).
Instead of placing files into two separate folders they would all need to go into one folder and numbering would need to be e.g. 00001 to say 99999 (odds and evens). How hard would it be to add that option to your HDR program.
Regards - Bruce
EnfuseGUI (bergmark.com)