Does ProRes 422 HQ on the I3 Look Better to you?
881 13 2023-12-5
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Josephsmith
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So far there are lot's of review videos on the I3 mostly unpackaging the drone and praising it but I have yet to see a single video that goes into any depth at all about the settings that they used to get decent footage and then upload their ProRes Raw or Cinema DNG footage to Final Cut Pro or Divinci Resolve, color correct and then color grade it showing us the final result.  There is so little information available about the I3 in this regard, I feel like we are left on our own to find out for ourselves on how to get the best image out of the I3.
With that being said, I have been shooting in ProRes Raw 8.1k 60 fps for over two months and I'm still frustrated with it so much so that I've resorted to only using ProRes 422 HQ because this normal color profile simply looks better to me especially when you are filming during the day.

With ProResRaw 8.1k 60 fps you get dull darkened footage and when you try to expose it more in post in an SDR setting, the whites get blown out and it simply looks wierd.  If you shoot the sunset in proresraw the sun and sky look wierd and when you shoot the same sun and sky with pro res 422 HQ, it simply looks better and more natural/realitsic.

I have plenty of samples of footage shot with prores raw and color graded or had luts applied and the normal color profile ProRes 422 HQ always looks better.  I would be happy to stick with ProRes 422 HQ but it's limited to a jittery 8.1k 30 fps which brings up blurry issues with the rolling shutter when following moving humans and it's also limited to 10 bit.

Is there anyone out there who can prove to get a better image with prores raw than prores 422 HQ?  If so, how so?
2023-12-5
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ChriguVideography
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In ProRes, the image is already post-processed. That's why it looks better at first glance. With RAW, you basically have the raw sensor data, and you have full flexibility to work with it. Personally, I prefer CDNG because I can use it directly in Resolve, and DJI also has instructions on how to edit it in Resolve. ProRes RAW can also be converted to CDNG later using a RAW converter.
2023-12-5
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ChriguVideography
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Here the DJI Manuel: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... emaDNG_Files_EN.pdf
2023-12-5
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Josephsmith
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ChriguVideography Posted at 12-5 22:46
Here the DJI Manuel: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/inspire_3/Recommended_Workflow_for_Editing_CinemaDNG_Files_EN.pdf

Well thank you I will definitely try this out for CDNG in Resolve but what software would you recommend to convert ProRes Raw footage?

Unfortunately CDNG does not shoot 8.1k in 60 or 75 fps so it looks like I'll have to convert ProRes Raw to CDNG
2023-12-5
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ChriguVideography
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I use this one: https://www.rawconvertor.com/
2023-12-5
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Josephsmith
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ChriguVideography Posted at 12-5 23:38
I use this one: https://www.rawconvertor.com/

Awesome! Thanks
2023-12-6
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Josephsmith
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ChriguVideography Posted at 12-5 22:46
Here the DJI Manuel: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/inspire_3/Recommended_Workflow_for_Editing_CinemaDNG_Files_EN.pdf

Not sure where you got this but it looks like it's extremely useful information that could finally make my raw footage look decent.  However, I am not familiar with divinci resolve.

Are there any video tutorials on youtube where this color workflow for CDNG could be demonstrated for either Divinci Resolve or FCPX?

Also,  I would love to see 1 video on youtube out of 300 I3 videos by now on how someone could work with prores raw in FCPX.

Thanks in advance for anyone willing to demonstrate on how this color workflow is done
2023-12-8
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Mike9129
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Josephsmith Posted at 12-8 11:54
Not sure where you got this but it looks like it's extremely useful information that could finally make my raw footage look decent.  However, I am not familiar with divinci resolve.

Are there any video tutorials on youtube where this color workflow for CDNG could be demonstrated for either Divinci Resolve or FCPX?

To the best of my knowledge, its less of an inspire 3 problem you are seeing with the funny colours in Prores RAW and more a Prores Raw issue. Its just the codex causing it. Usually people would convert it before using it in a timeline unless youre using FCP as its supported natively.

It does however come up funny in Premiere which is a pain without conversion.
2023-12-11
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Josephsmith
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Mike9129 Posted at 12-11 01:14
To the best of my knowledge, its less of an inspire 3 problem you are seeing with the funny colours in Prores RAW and more a Prores Raw issue. Its just the codex causing it. Usually people would convert it before using it in a timeline unless youre using FCP as its supported natively.

It does however come up funny in Premiere which is a pain without conversion.

Yes I think you're right, there was a new review video on the I3 and there was a segment where the colorist said that when he first looked at the I3 Raw Footage it was blown out and over exposed but somehow through davinci he was able to bring the colors back.  I guess my issue is I have no idea on how to convert, color correct, and color grade this prores raw footage in FCPX.

I can't find a single youtube tutorial out there to explain the process of doing this from beginning to end.  Thank you, at least now I know it's not a defective x9 camera and there is hope to make this ProRes Raw footage look as nice as ProRes 422 HQ hopefully
2023-12-11
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ScooterC5
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Josephsmith Posted at 12-11 10:23
Yes I think you're right, there was a new review video on the I3 and there was a segment where the colorist said that when he first looked at the I3 Raw Footage it was blown out and over exposed but somehow through davinci he was able to bring the colors back.  I guess my issue is I have no idea on how to convert, color correct, and color grade this prores raw footage in FCPX.

I can't find a single youtube tutorial out there to explain the process of doing this from beginning to end.  Thank you, at least now I know it's not a defective x9 camera and there is hope to make this ProRes Raw footage look as nice as ProRes 422 HQ hopefully

2023-12-11
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Josephsmith
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ScooterC5 Posted at 12-11 18:09
https://vimeo.com/281010747

Wow thank you so much!  This is extremely useful for FCPX I3 owners on how to grade ProRes Raw footage.  I searched youtube relentlessly but this video was on vimeo all along and I never bothered looking.

Looks like switching to wide gamut from standard for ProRes Raw 8k and then switching those two other settings makes a big difference.  Can't wait to try it out

Thanks again
2023-12-12
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826 Raw
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Josephsmith Posted at 2023-12-8 11:54
Not sure where you got this but it looks like it's extremely useful information that could finally make my raw footage look decent.  However, I am not familiar with divinci resolve.

Are there any video tutorials on youtube where this color workflow for CDNG could be demonstrated for either Divinci Resolve or FCPX?

I have not read all the posts in this thread, so I'm sorry if this is already mentioned. If you use Adobe Premiere, it imports without a hitch, then you would use the DJI LUT. However, this is complicated in Resolve as ProRes RAW is not supported; this is an easy problem to resolve. Colour Management needs to be right, or else everything else will be wrong. So I use the settings with Resolve; if you use 8K, then maybe change to REC 2020 (hopefully shown in this image). Then, in your timeline, at the end, have a CSM node and make the output REC 709 or 2020 gamma 2.4. With this, you should see a marked improvement.

Resolve Settings

Resolve Settings

Separte Color space

Separte Color space
2-7 07:07
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Josephsmith
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826 Raw Posted at 2-7 07:07
I have not read all the posts in this thread, so I'm sorry if this is already mentioned. If you use Adobe Premiere, it imports without a hitch, then you would use the DJI LUT. However, this is complicated in Resolve as ProRes RAW is not supported; this is an easy problem to resolve. Colour Management needs to be right, or else everything else will be wrong. So I use the settings with Resolve; if you use 8K, then maybe change to REC 2020 (hopefully shown in this image). Then, in your timeline, at the end, have a CSM node and make the output REC 709 or 2020 gamma 2.4. With this, you should see a marked improvement.

That's very useful information, I thank you for putting this out.  I finally discovered how to make the ProRes Raw footage look proper in FCPX after 4 months of getting it wrong with the color grading.  It's insane because they don't show you this workflow anywhere but basically you need to switch the project to HDR from SDR and raise the highlights to just under 400 instead of under 100 for SDR.  Then you have to click on the information tab and open the raw settings for each individual clip on the bottom and switch it from none to dji log and then click general or extended for the information block and set none to the Inspire 3 dji lut (download it if you have not).  Now, how the hell was I supposed to know how to do all this first?!  There's probably more stuff I've got to do to make it look even better but once you learn this, FCPX is a lot faster to edit and render your footage with than davinci
2-7 19:40
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Josephsmith
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826 Raw Posted at 2-7 07:07
I have not read all the posts in this thread, so I'm sorry if this is already mentioned. If you use Adobe Premiere, it imports without a hitch, then you would use the DJI LUT. However, this is complicated in Resolve as ProRes RAW is not supported; this is an easy problem to resolve. Colour Management needs to be right, or else everything else will be wrong. So I use the settings with Resolve; if you use 8K, then maybe change to REC 2020 (hopefully shown in this image). Then, in your timeline, at the end, have a CSM node and make the output REC 709 or 2020 gamma 2.4. With this, you should see a marked improvement.

Oh yes, I will rarely use ProRes 422 HQ now but it's always smart to get a shot with both ProRes 422 HQ and with ProRes Raw because sometimes ProRes Raw tends to blow out your whites where as ProRes 422 HQ with it's fixed color tends to regular your whites pretty well
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