Photoshop curves for Final Cut at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > Apple / Mac Post Production Solutions > Final Cut Suite

Final Cut Suite
Discussing the editing of all formats with FCS, FCP, FCE

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old October 5th, 2010, 02:27 PM   #1
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
Photoshop curves for Final Cut

I'm about to write a plugin for Final Cut which should imitate the Photoshop RGB-Curves. But I have one problem/question which I just can't get answered even with extreme googleing:
What is the interpolation-formula Photoshops curves uses to interpolate between the points?
It seems to me that Photoshops curves inpolation is both unique out of all curves out there (Apple Color, etc.) and best regarding the photographic quality compared to the effort to tweak a curve. Other implementations of such curves-tools often use interpolation-schemes like Bezier, but they feel really inadequate for this application. So I absolutely want to implement the interpolation like Photoshops curves does, but I have absolutely no idea what the formula could look like.
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 5th, 2010, 04:49 PM   #2
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,650
Be careful, it might be patented.
__________________
William Hohauser - New York City
Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation
William Hohauser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 5th, 2010, 10:06 PM   #3
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
The plugin is now almost done. You can download and test it here:
http://www.dominik.ws/rgbcurves.zip
I also attached a screenshot of it to this post.
The only missing thing is a good interpolation between the points. Currently linear interpolation is used. If someone of you could give me a hint what kind if interpolation I should implement, I will do it! :) Please give me some feedback what you think about the plugin!
Attached Thumbnails
Photoshop curves for Final Cut-screenshot.png  
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 6th, 2010, 12:22 AM   #4
Trustee
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Thousand Oaks
Posts: 1,099
That's a great idea. I always thought they were just B-splines. I think it would be a lot more useful if you could edit the curves directly, break them at the point so they can linear in and Bezier out.

I thought Apple started improving their graph editor, it was good for a while in variable speed, but it never really went anywhere.

Is there a high-pass filter in FCP? That's a good filter for sharpening, if your taking requests...
Chuck Spaulding is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 03:32 AM   #5
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 2,054
A suggestion: Use Color.

It already has curves and is an immensely powerful color correction tool.
__________________
Dean Sensui
Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing
Dean Sensui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 05:40 AM   #6
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Spaulding View Post
I always thought they were just B-splines.
Thank you! I finally discovered that Photoshops curves uses so called "natural cubic splines". I implemented them now into my plugin. Here you can download and install the result (I used fxplug sdk 1.2.5):
http://www.dominik.ws/rgbcurves.zip
Btw., a 16bit (unsigned short) per channel lookup-table is internally generated and used, so the image processing is fast and posterizing free (but not GPU accelerated right now. If you know how to write an ARB fragment shader which uses a lookup table, please let me know!).
A sreenshot is attached to this post which shows the plugin in action.
Please give me some feedback!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Spaulding View Post
Is there a high-pass filter in FCP? That's a good filter for sharpening, if your taking requests...
What kind of high-pass filter? Like the simple sharpening filter or more like unsharp mask?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Sensui View Post
A suggestion: Use Color.
I don't like the behaviour of Colors Curves. Also I don't like to even start Color up. I think the workflow is very inconvenient.
Attached Thumbnails
Photoshop curves for Final Cut-bildschirmfoto-2010-10-07-um-13.31.06.png  
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 01:09 PM   #7
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,650
Your filter sounds good but the download installer file seems to be empty, only 16k. Could you post the filter without the installer package?
__________________
William Hohauser - New York City
Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation
William Hohauser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 01:25 PM   #8
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,409
Thanks Dominik,

Plugin works great and I like it. Is there anyway to add a point to the curve rather than adding a point as it moves. I say this because as I add a point the cure moves and I may not want to add a point in that spot.

Cheers
Simon Denny is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 01:29 PM   #9
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Hohauser View Post
Your filter sounds good but the download installer file seems to be empty, only 16k. Could you post the filter without the installer package?
Well, the installer isn't empty, but of course (I guess it's a trust issue) I can also give you the raw fxplug File/Folder:
http://www.dominik.ws/rgbcurves2.zip
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 01:45 PM   #10
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Ash View Post
Is there anyway to add a point to the curve rather than adding a point as it moves.
I just added this feature. With the right mouse button you can now add a point which initially doesn't alter the curve (x value comes from your mouse, y value from the current curve). I already updated the files rgbcurves.zip and rgbcurves2.zip on my server, so you can immediatelly download the new version.
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 08:26 PM   #11
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,650
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dominik Seibold View Post
Well, the installer isn't empty, but of course (I guess it's a trust issue) I can also give you the raw fxplug File/Folder:
http://www.dominik.ws/rgbcurves2.zip
It's not that, but it didn't install after running it. But thanks for the direct plug-in. I'm going to try it now.
__________________
William Hohauser - New York City
Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation
William Hohauser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 08:53 PM   #12
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,650
Not to be a nuisance but the plug-in unzipped as a folder.
__________________
William Hohauser - New York City
Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation
William Hohauser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 7th, 2010, 10:26 PM   #13
Major Player
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Posts: 285
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Hohauser View Post
Not to be a nuisance but the plug-in unzipped as a folder.
Yes, you have to copy that folder to /Library/Plug-Ins/FxPlug (or ~/Library/Plug-Ins/FxPlug). But I guess the folder is already there, because you already executed the installer package. I'm not sure why my plugin isn't shown in your plugin-list. Which version of Final Cut do you have?
Dominik Seibold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2010, 02:30 AM   #14
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,409
Hi Dominik,

Where can I find the updated cures version for downloading?

Cheers
Simon Denny is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2010, 05:28 AM   #15
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 55
I have been testing this Dominik, and it works great, what a great time-saver and so easy to use.
Well done and thanks.
Anthony J. Howe is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > Apple / Mac Post Production Solutions > Final Cut Suite

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:34 PM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network