The GoPro Hero3 Vegas Raw Challenge!

Andy_L wrote on 4/8/2013, 12:33 PM

Hey everyone this seems like a perfect job to crowdsource, so here goes: I've uploaded two files of the same scene shot using a Hero3 Black Ed. One file uses the GoPro's standard image processing, the other uses GP's new "Protune" RAW mode.

http://www.sierradescents.com/GOPR0002.MP4
http://www.sierradescents.com/GOPR0003.MP4

Here's the challenge: download both files, then make the RAW file look like the standard camera file USING ONLY VEGAS' TOOLS and post how you did it (ie, your plugins and settings) here.

****

I confess I can get a very nice color rendition out of the RAW file using Photoshop, and I can get wonderful detail out of the RAW file using 2 passes of sharpening again in Photoshop, but I'm floundering badly when it comes to matching color, contrast, and sharpening in Vegas.

Yes, these aren't really RAW files, they're MP4. But what a stroke of genius on the part of GoPro to give us this option, which is so data-rich but still manageable in file size! It stuns me that GoPro came up with this, rather than one of the big guys like, oh, I don't know, say, Sony?

Once you see how much detail you can tease out of these files, you'll wonder why every other pro-grade camera doesn't offer something similar.

Another thought: these files are both shot at 1080/24P, and they both look fantastic considering the Hero3 is a helmet cam. In fact, for detail and cleanliness, this might be beating every other camera I've got. That said, the Hero3 will also shoot 2.7K at 30P, and my quick tests absolutely confirm you're getting even more resolution and detail at the 2.7K setting -- again, shocking!

It's a very impressive camera...

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Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 4/10/2013, 10:13 PM

Vegas Pro 12 is the only Vegas version that has native S-log correction capabilities.

I have not seen any test results to see how well the VP12 corrections (designed around Sony F3) work with GoPro Protune or other S-log flavors. Since Cineform Active Metadata is proprietary, it is most reasonable to assume that one would still have to unpack Protune in Cineform first, but I have no way to test that.

In the last couple of days, I have looked on the internet for curves presets or a script that will make this possible in earlier versions of Vegas, or even Photoshop. So far, nothing has come up.

Anyone interested in creating a curves preset or script for earlier Vegas versions should find some useful equations here (not for the faint of heart):
http://www.sony.co.uk/res/attachment/file/66/1237476953066.pdf

Laurence wrote on 4/10/2013, 10:25 PM

I have done a couple of projects lately where what I did was put all my raw footage on a timeline, put markers between the clips, then color corrected all the individual sections of raw footage using Vegas 32 bit mode, added Neat Video noise reduction and Mercali stabilization where needed, and rendered this to an XDCAM .mp4 working file which I then edited. The reason I did it this way is that even with my I7 quad core, by the time the footage looked right, it was really sluggish on the timeline. Also, I really like the way that gradients look in the 32 bit color mode. I did this aware that the XDCAM .mp4 video looks really good initially, but doesn't have the latitude to keep details in the shadows and highlights if it is corrected after it is rendered. The results looked so good that I have been seriously considering this as my regular workflow.

With that in mind, going the Cineform route and correcting the footage like you would RAW photos actually makes a lot of sense. Yes the file sizes would be bigger, but there is a real gain in terms of flexibility and time savings when going for 32bit quality color.

With Cineform vs native footage, there really isn't any gain in performance before you start color correcting. If you color correct from the GoPro software though instead of with Vegas filters, you get more natural gradients as though you were using 32 bit color and the footage previews and renders at about the same speed it did before the correction.

musicvid10 wrote on 4/10/2013, 10:40 PM

Laurence,

Yes, yes, and yes, in that order.
You are one of the few people who has managed to wrap his head around this new way of thinking about video storage.

This graphic shows how the F3 stores 10 times the data of normal REC 709 (Gamma 2.2), up to 12 stops linear!
There should be no doubt that log is an exponential improvement over gamma, but at much higher bitrates. Useful for grading, correcting, and fx, but useless for delivery, since we're still rooted in a REC 709 world.

That's why most GoPro 3 owners should stick with normal acquisition and delivery, and save the fancy 4K and Protune stuff for later!

Laurence wrote on 4/10/2013, 10:54 PM

Just because somebody had to do it:

This is frame save from the original clip using the new ColorMatch filter set to a frame save from the GoPro processed clip. Close with absolute minimal effort. Only about one frame per second preview though :-( :

Laurence wrote on 4/10/2013, 11:09 PM

I now have a "GoPro Protune 1" ColorMatch preset. Looks great but boy is it slow! You can use it to render to XDCAM .mp4 or .mxf though (which is one heck of a lot smaller).

musicvid10 wrote on 4/11/2013, 8:50 AM

"With Cineform vs native footage, there really isn't any gain in performance before you start color correcting."

This needs to be emphasized again. "Protune" is one of those baited terms (like "High Profile" or even "4K") that makes people assume that more complex = better.
For consumer delivery, it is not; what it creates is wasted time, wasted drive space, and a lot of headaches.
Protune RAW mp4 inside an editor like Vegas is about as useless as t*ts on a boar hog. Converted Cineform inside Vegas Pro 12 makes some sense, for a small number of users

If one wants their movies to look like traditional GoPro, why not shoot it?

Laurence wrote on 4/11/2013, 1:01 PM

The free AAV ColorLab plugin is still my favorite color correction tool in Vegas, even though it hasn't been updated since 2009:

http://aav6cc.blogspot.com/

That and just a touch of the Sony sharpen filter is my standard go to chain for processing footage,

Laurence wrote on 4/11/2013, 1:21 PM

On a related note, this is how I would treat this clip if I was to use it in a project. A bit of AAV ColorLab and some Sony Sharpening. This is not an attempt to match any look. This is just how I would adjust the clip:

Andy_L wrote on 4/11/2013, 6:45 PM

Laurence, does it seem like the Sony WB plugin has gotten better in V12? I was comparing Sony's WB versus AAV (which I like), and for the first time, I thought the Sony WB looked better...

musicvid10 wrote on 4/13/2013, 7:35 PM

A couple of months back, I wrote a mini-tut for Movie Studio users stuck with Protune footage (VMS only creates 8-bit projects).

Anyone wanting a "nutshell" approach may pick up something from reading it, with the caveat that creating a 32-bit float project for working with the Cineform intermediate and setting your own levels is obviously the way to go in Vegas Pro .

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=848611

musicvid10 wrote on 12/27/2014, 10:40 AM

bump