Wolverine-Hawkeye Telecine

[Bruce Davis]

Hi Stan, first time using/testing the HDR function, for some reason unable to make the Enfuse v4.2 batch file work.
When running the batch file named HDR.bat contents as below:-

SET Input_PATCH1=C:\High
SET Input_PATCH2=C:\Low
SET OUTPUT_PATCH=C:\Out
SET start=1 SET end=1000
FOR /L %%i IN (%start%,1,%end%) DO (CALL :loopbody %%i)
GOTO :eof
:loopbody
enfuse.exe --soft-mask --exposure-weight=1.0 --saturation-weight=0.2 --contrast-weight=0.0 --entropy-weight=0.0 --exposure-optimum=0.4 --exposure-width=0.2 -v -o "%OUTPUT_PATCH%\%1.tiff" "%Input_PATCH1%\%1.tiff" "%Input_PATCH2%\%1.tiff" GOTO :eof

I notice that in C:\High and C:\Low the file names are exactly the same, 1.tiff 2.tiff etc. (I thought at one time they were supposed to be odd and even numbers). I Have the batch file in the same folder as the exe and dll files.

In command only the following occurs with nothing in the Out folder:-
C:\>cd C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>HDR.bat

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>SET Input_PATCH1=C:\High

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>SET Input_PATCH2=C:\Low

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>SET OUTPUT_PATCH=C:\Out

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>SET start=1 SET end=1000

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>FOR /L %i IN (1 SET end 1000 1) DO (CALL :loopbody %i )

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>GOTO :eof

C:\1_Reference Info Files\Wolverine - Hawkeye\1_Enfuse v4.2\bin>

Thanks Stan

[Stan Jelavic]

Just off the top of my head Bruce, the for loop is not picking up you start and end properly.
FOR /L %i IN (1 SET end 1000 1) DO (CALL :loopbody %i )

SET start=1 SET end=1000
should be on separate lines

[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)

[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]

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]

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.

[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.

[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]

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]

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

[Stan Jelavic]

To the left and up.

[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

[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]

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.

[Stan Jelavic]

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