Recently, there have been lots of customers asking about purpose of D-log, so we did a simple D-log test shoot with Inspire 1 X3 camera and used the LOG mode Transcoding Tool to pre-process. This transcoding tool can transform the compressed 8 bit code steam into larger bit-depth code stream, and the exported files can be compatible with the post-processing software as the Adobe Premiere or the Apple Final Cut Pro. D-log mode gives us great post processing capabilities. Videos shot by Osmo can also take advantage of this useful tool.

Before we get started, we need to choose the D-log color mode in the APP:

Setting->Camera->Color->D-log

D-log mode can provide higher dynamic range and more scene details than normal mode, which offers more color editing freedom. Let’s look at the demo footage screenshot using D-log mode.


In this picture, you can see that D-log mode preserves details in the shadowed areas. Without post processing, the videos shot using D-log may look a little dim and monotonous compared with normal mode. However, it’s the dimness and white color settings that bring flexibility and freedom to videos, leaving wider space for post editing.

Before we start the post processing, we need to calibrate the color by using the PC software named LOG mode Transcoding Tool, which is available on the DJI website: http://www.dji.com/product/inspire-1/info#downloads
You can download the Windows version or the OSX version according to your needs.

There are four types of profiles which support the ProRes codecs, the main difference is the Bit rate. Ranking from low to high, their ratings are ‘proxy’, ‘LT’, ‘SD’ and ‘HQ’. In most cases, the proxy profile can satisfy common needs. Also, the transcoding tool offers four different Gamma correction methods: DJI Inspire 1 (normal gamma correction), Gamma 2.2, Gamma 1.8, Linear (no color correction). Then, click the run button and start the transcoding process.  



Please note that the transcoding speed is relatively slow, and the current progress bar has a bug that it might move the progress bar from 0% to 100% instantly. We are working to improve this bug in future updates.

Here is the photo after color correction:


After the correction process, we can see that the color is more natural and the rich details have been preserved. Then, you can import the calibrated files to ProRes or AfterEffects in order to edit further. Please choose MOV as the output format if you’re using PR. For AE, both MOV and AVI format can be imported.
Now you can tune the color and lightness by PR.



After some simple adjustments, the photo looks good. D-log mode and 10-bit depth provide more color and light processing freedom. Shooting in D-log and adjusting afterwards will help take your photography to the next level!

Here provides several pictures in D-log and that converted by LOG transcoding tool for comparison

D-log mode:


After converted:


D-log mode:


After converted:


D-log mode:


After converted:




Welcome to share your works here!

Thank you for this. Very interesting. Is there an advantage to using this conversion tool, rather than shooting in D-LOG and editing the DNG file in a RAW editor such as Camera RAW?

If only the converter actually did anything!  (Macbook Pro).  I know you said 'relatively slow', but 45 minutes and absolutely nothing has been output, for a single 27 second clip??? Now that's not what I call slow, I'd call it infinite.  I've tried various options.

alansworld@gmai Posted at 2015-12-4 23:01
If only the converter actually did anything!  (Macbook Pro).  I know you said 'relatively slow', but ...

Have you installed the right version? For MAC, you can download the DMG version. The EXE version works well on my windows PC.

thebiomed.yahoo Posted at 2015-12-4 22:22
Thank you for this. Very interesting. Is there an advantage to using this conversion tool, rather th ...

Transcoding the files before further post editing can give you more details and larger color editing freedom.

DJI-Amy Posted at 2015-12-7 06:37
Have you installed the right version? For MAC, you can download the DMG version. The EXE version wo ...

I think you'll find that no .exe will even load on a Mac actually.

alansworld@gmai Posted at 2015-12-7 16:42
I think you'll find that no .exe will even load on a Mac actually.

Hi, alansworld, I've contacted the R&D, the current MAC version is not working very well, we will post v.0.9 later. Sorry for the problem caused.

DJI-Amy Posted at 2015-12-7 07:37
Have you installed the right version? For MAC, you can download the DMG version. The EXE version wo ...

Oh my...a supporter talking about software for Mac and Win who doesn't know about .dmg or .exe.

Sorry, but that is very, very basic stuff and doesn't give a great impression of your knowledge.

Interesting
It looks like actually the Protune mode on the Gopro with WB RAW which actually records all the informations from the sensor and produces a very flat image.

In Premiere Pro, i generally use some LUT filter using the lumetri correction for pumping the colors first and after i finish the job with some color correction and color grading.
I even found a LUT filter for the DJI D-Log mode a couple of months ago which allows me to do the exact same thing.
It looks like your application actually does the same job with my LUT filter and allows me to finish the job with my videos editor.

I will test the both methods and see which one is more convenient and efficient.

Thanks for sharing Amy

There is no audio data after transcoding
I want to use my external microphones.

officeguts Posted at 2015-12-10 21:39
There is no audio data after transcoding
I want to use my external microphones.

Hi, what software version did you use? EXE or DMG? Since we've found the problem of the version 1.0, we provide the download link of Inspire 1/Phantom 3/ X5 Transcoding Tool v0.9.2 instead.

i been unable to upgrade my bird (inspire 1) and we use the log mode... my cuestion is if is the same as the new d-log ??

I've just done a brief test with v1.0 (32 bit) on Windows 10 (64 bit). No real issues. I noticed that the resulting file used an extremely high bitrate compared to the original file, which is good for additional post-processing.

Regarding the audio, I understand that most D-Log users will want to do additional post-processing in After Effects or whatever, but I think that many of those users would appreciate having the audio included as well. It shouldn't be a big deal for your developers to copy the existing audio stream to the new file.

If you do include audio with future versions, please copy the source container format (MOV, MP4) to avoid possible sync issues down the road.

D-Log I use this mode for a long time. Because he couldn't deal with postcorrection in D-Cinelike mode.

1. The comparison is not objective. Since You have compared D-Log with post-processed. It was necessary to bring the shot in frame mode None, then we'd see what really making the right color correction D-Log, get a better result than initially after filming mode None.

2. Still there is a mode D-Cinelike. How it differs from the D-Log? And how to properly handle D-Cinelike in editor (Adobe Pr/Ae CC 2014/2015).

Due to the fact that independently to get more or less the desired result is not managed using only the D-Log. But I would like to know more about D-Cinelike.
P.S.
Thanks to user blackmennewstyl for the tip on LUT filter for D-Log.

Just to be clear, this is for video only correct? (or for taking screen grabs from video)

Hey guys, has anyone had any problems getting the footage after transcoding into Premiere? I've followed the instructions in the OP, but when I try to import one of the .mov transcoded files into Premiere, I get a message saying "unable to open file, no video or audio streams'

I'm getting very dark results when transcoding with "Linear" settings. Is this normal?

zhandor Posted at 2016-1-28 14:35
I'm getting very dark results when transcoding with "Linear" settings. Is this normal?

Yes.  There is no gamma curve.  You have to do it by yourself.

thebiomed.yahoo Posted at 2015-12-4 06:22
Thank you for this. Very interesting. Is there an advantage to using this conversion tool, rather th ...

Wait, DNG files, what DNG files?

Beau Posted at 2016-1-30 09:08
Wait, DNG files, what DNG files?

RAW stills have the .DNG suffix/file type.

smyers63 Posted at 2016-1-30 15:48
RAW stills have the .DNG suffix/file type.

Ohhh right right right. Thought this post was about video though.

WetDog Posted at 2016-1-28 20:14
Yes.  There is no gamma curve.  You have to do it by yourself.

Shouldn't linear be flat?
How do I make a gamma curve?

Thank you!

Is this utility compatible with Windows 10? I tried to run it today and had a lot of problems. It wouldn't let me select an output directory. If I typed in an output directory, I got an error message that said "The input and output should not be empty."

Tried it and not practical.I rather grade it myself using premier pro

Hi, I saw the conversion tools is painfully slow, and I also saw it uses ffmpeg which is a command line tool I love to use and I have created many guides on how to use it, so after some googling and having installed the latest version of ffmpeg I ran this command to encode a DJI Osmo D-Log video to ProRes422:

ffmpeg -i INPUT.MP4 -vcodec prores -profile 3 -an OUTPUT.MOV

It is way faster than the conversion tool because it uses all my Mac Pro cores, the DJI tool uses only one core.
The profiles are the following:

0: ProRes422 (Proxy)
1: ProRes422 (LT)
2: ProRes422 (Normal)
3: ProRes422 (HQ)

The file obviously gets bigger because it is an intermediate codec for professional edition and color grading, it doesn't have any color profile correction nor audio, but, I’m curious .
How much benefits are in pre-converting the videos from one format to other when using Adobe Premiere CC or Final Cut?

Hello, I've been trying to find the right LUT to de-LOG the D-Log footages from the DJI OSMO (X3 camera) with no luck.

I've tried Ground Control's DJI LUT. It's done a great job, but it doesn't feel right. It makes the image so dark, and it seems to clip the highlight and shadow.
Drone-RSS also offers a free LUT, but it tints all the colour blue. It's more like a stylish LUT than a colour correction LUT.

Then I found out there is a LUT that comes with the DJI Transcode software. It a "DlogtosRGB.cube" file in the install directory. It's designed for the X5, but it also gives some interesting result on the X3 footage. It makes the colour a lot richer, but sometime it can be too extreme and reveals the video compression artifacts.

Eventually I ended up making a curve in Davinci Resolve to do the job. Basically I took a D-Log footage, transcoded it to Pro-res HQ using the DJI Transcoding software, brought both of the original file and the transcoded footage in to Resolve, and use a curve to match colour of the original footage to the transcoded one with the aid of the video scopes. I would say it matches 97% of the colour. Here is how the curve looks like:



I have exported it to a .cube LUT file for everyone to download Adam_DJI_X3.zip (341.07 KB, Down times: 257)

2016-3-24 Upload

Click on the file name to download attach


The good thing about it is, the curve is non-destructive, meaning that you can do your colour operation after the curve, which is in a (almost) linear environment rather than LOG. Feel free to grab the LUT and let me know what you think. I really wish DJI can give us an official LUT to do the de-LOG some day.  


Cheers,
Adam

For filming flat with the Osmo you can set the style to D-Log mode.
But I found also the option for setting the style settings to  -2 Sharpness, -2 saturation, -2 contrast to filming flat.

Can I compare these two settings? Or have style settings nothing to do with filming flat?

Thank You

n_d_cornelis@ho Posted at 2016-4-21 03:29
For filming flat with the Osmo you can set the style to D-Log mode.
But I found also the option for  ...

That's an interesting question. I think they are not the same at all, I will test it, but D-log supposed to be at 10-Bit (that I read), but what's the bit depth of the flat and regular video log?

Can I just record at D-log and then work that footage right into my software (FCPx, Davinci or another one)? Or I always HAVE to transcoding it with the DJI software in order to take maximum advantage of the bit depth?

Nobody answer.

FabricioE Posted at 2016-5-8 18:53
Nobody answer.

As I have understood it you can take your D-Log movie files directly to your preferred editor software if it supports working with the files.
For instance, this video was great for me to explain how to work with D-log color mode in Adobe Premiere Pro:

On apple if you do not have a mainstream editing application you can use a free apple app called ffdrop... Google search. On windows and Linux you can use ffmpeg to produce a prores file to access more color depth data.

gustofusion Posted at 2016-5-8 16:18
On apple if you do not have a mainstream editing application you can use a free apple app called ffd ...

So, what you are saying is that I can take my DJI .mov file (D-log) into FCPx or Resolve and I'll be working with a 10 Bit file?

F.

ronny@ronnyroe. Posted at 2016-5-8 15:53
As I have understood it you can take your D-Log movie files directly to your preferred editor soft ...

Nice video and thanks, but the things is about how to get the 10 bit file without using the "Transcoding tool v0.9.2"? Can I use Compressor, for example? Or if I use the D-log file directly to FCPx, Premiere or Davinci Resolve it would interpreted as a 10 bit file?

Hello Everyone, I found a great resource for using LUT's His name is Brian and he owns the site www.osmotips.com
He has a free LUT that you can download! And he also has a bunch of great tutorials for using the OSMO and color grading the footage!
I really recommend everyone check it out! Here is a link to his YouTube channel as well...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoEsGPAjQokxKkxyw8vXEFA

I'm confused. What kind of larger bit depth are you talking? What more than 8 Bit the video of the Osmo X3 can give to one?

Will this work with the Phantom 4 as well?

FabricioE Posted at 2016-5-2 03:36
Can I just record at D-log and then work that footage right into my software (FCPx, Davinci or anoth ...

FabricioE, the true bit depth of a file is a function of the sensor of the camera. Transcoding into say ProRes 422 which has 10 bit sample or ProRes HQ, 12 bit sample, will not magically improve your 8 bit file to the same extent. An 8 bit file is an 8 bit file. The only advantage to transcoding an 8 bit file into 422 or HQ gives you slightly more flexibility when color processing within the 8 bit of the file. You don't get more, you get smoother process...slightly.

There is another advantage to transcode to ProRes 422 for Mac users. The format works really well with the hardware/software combo of the Mac. It is pretty fast.
So I would import your D-log files into FCPX and from them transcode them to ProRes and again from within FCPX transcode your files to proxies for faster editing.

FabricioE Posted at 2016-5-9 06:50
Nice video and thanks, but the things is about how to get the 10 bit file without using the "Trans ...

A 10 bit file is a 10 bit file. It is a function of the camera. Transcoding to higher bits won't change it.
Like form a one bedroom apartment to a 5 bedroom house with the same furniture. You have more room to move the furniture but you'll end up with empty spaces for which you will pay a higher mortgage.

Sky Lens Posted at 2016-7-4 17:16
A 10 bit file is a 10 bit file. It is a function of the camera. Transcoding to higher bits won't c ...

Yes, as I suppose so.
Thank you!