Re: Cheap Batteries amd 0.1.5

With my cheap batteries, I could not get it to record by pushing set button, or access the buttons, except for the camera menu button, and I could not get into the Magic Lantern menu. Screen showed up with level meters, but mp recording could be activated. I did try setting config with the start delay, but that didn't work either.

Chris: I think it has to do with the the message that pops up when using chipless batteries.. otherwise, there should be no operational difference between Canon branded and 3rd party batteries..

What am I doing wrong?
 

Following up my earlier question about whether ML would help me get a cleaner signal from my external Rode Videomic plugged directly into the camera, I tried the firmware, but the audio cuts off after a few seconds. I was trying it without changing anything in the menu (and without editing the cfg file) just to get a sense of how it worked. Is there something I should change in the cfg file that is causing this?

1. Is the mic battery charged (new, 9 volt I understand)

2. Mic Power switch on ?

3. What is PAD setting ? You need mic as hot as possible.

4. In Magic Lantern config, I would start with analog set at 5 which translates to 17 db. If you are not getting into green, maybe you have to push to 23.

Report back results cause we are all learning what Magic Lantern can do with various mics.

Also note, it is reported by Jon Fairhurst, resident expert here on sound into ML, that the first instance of a recording after starting Magic Lantern, will result in a wrong level. Just do a 3 sec record first, and then you would be good to go. On next recording.

rode videomic
 

Hi Chris, thanks for the prompt response.

I can see now that it has something to do with the levels. If I set mgain and dgain high enough, I get sound. I will have to play around and try different settings until I learn how to use it (I am a total novice in both video and audio, in case you can't tell!).

Bob

Bob:

You just may become the Rode VideoMic expert here :) You will be walking a fine line between to much background noise and high enough levels. I just set 10 digital gain and bounce analogue up, which is Tramm's default I think. Don't be afraid to record a little on low side, because at lower gain setting you can push up in post. Again 17 analog is not bad on a lot of setups for me. Pushing power up on mic by changing pad settings will be beneficial.

Thanks Chris, I am really ignorant about sound and how these settings work, I will have to do some studying on all that.

I set analog at 17 and had to go to 20-30 dgain just to get anywhere near the levels I get without the firmware. Are you saying it is better to set the digital low and increase the analog? (I realize I can set the digital higher in post, but I like to get a sense of the sound levels before I go to editing.)

I have the PAD settings at the default 0db (the mic also has -10 and -20)

So far I haven't been able to distinguish any "cleaner" sound with the firmware, but I haven't been in a very quiet setting.

Bob

Okay, I just hooked up a simple battery powered ECM MS-907 Sony Stereo mic just to see what I would get out of that. As with your test Bob, I had to push analog to 29 and digital to 12 to get the meter to register green.

I think this just confirms what we have known, if we leave the camera to its own amp feeding a direct mic, we will get a hiss that will have to filtered out. Otherwise a good preamp is in order to avoid that, such as is found in a filed mixer or the Juiced Link CX231.. The benefit of the firm ware remains at that point to prevent pumping of the auto gain when in stock firmware set up.

Thanks Chris, looks like I need to start saving up for some good sound equipment.

Bob

Custom Framing Guides
 

I am really enjoying the 0.1.5 release. Great work!

Still curious if there is a way to create a custom framing guides for various aspect ratios that can be called via the .cfg file and loaded with ML.

Is this currently possible?

All the best,
Dan

It is coming in 0.1.6 -- any 720x480 (non-square pixels) 8-bit palette BMP file can be used. Here is a demo picture with some cropmarks I drew in paint as a test. I don't think they quite line up with Academy guidelines:
http://cinema5d.com/download/file.php?id=619

Brilliant, Tramm!

You're probably right, though. I'm not sure those markings are Academy--but they look cool. :)

Looking forward to 0.1.6!

All the best,
Dan

Hi Tramm,

Does the camera accept the palette embedded in the BMP, or do we need to conform to the camera palette?

Thanks!

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/ma...px-Palette.jpg

You must conform to the camera's palette. I've started a writeup on the wiki about creating custom cropmarks. I need to go through the math again for computing the locations of the different formats when used on the LCD, and then do it again for the HDMI output since the BMP resolution changes depending on the output format, as well as depending on what information is being displayed on the HDMI output.

I imagine that the first iteration will select only one bitmap from the card. It would be nice if down the road we would be able to have multiple bitmaps, such as:

HDMI_16x9.bmp
LCD_16x9.bmp
HDMI_2.35.bmp
LCD_2.35.bmp
...

When using the HDMI_/LCD_ prefix, the menu would offer choices of "16x9" and "2.35", and the proper file would be chosen, depending on the active HDMI/LCD screen.

One more question... what is the value of the transparent color? 0? 255?

Thanks again!

Anybody heard from Tramm recently?

Impression I got was he is trying to get 0.1.6 into a releasable version for the near future, correcting most of the bugs in 0.1.5, and adding some new features.

Check this link out to see what he is working on, some of it being addressed still, and others resolved. Quite an ambitious project:

http://bitbucket.org/hudson/magic-la...es/?sort=-kind

Thanks for the update Chris!

Help! I've been taken captive by Canon and forced to remove features!

More seriously, most of the technical internals discussion is taking place on the ml-devel mailing list. Most folks here are more interested in lenses and f/stops than bit-clocks and integer division algorithms.

As Chris pointed out, we're making good progress towards the next release, with these milestones left to go (not all will make it into the 0.1.6 release). I'm hoping to have things wrapped up by this weekend and to shoot some new demo videos. Among the new features will be programmable bracketing and focus stacking, which have been the most frequently requested feature after 24p.

I just woke up and it took me about 5 sec. to realize that Canon was NOT strong arming you.
Thanks for the wonderfull laugh first thing in the morning. Glad to hear that things continue
in a positive direction.

Can I write the magic lantern firmware to the CF card while the card is in my camera? Or do I need a card reader. My apologies if this was mentioned somewhere but I simply could not find it!!!

David

Motivity Pictures specializes in HD Production, 3D animation and more!

Download from site, transfer to CF card root directory. Then go to camera. In camera, you go to the firmare menu, press it, and approve update, and it will load.
By the way, while this is posted in the 0.1.5 thread, 0.1.6 is out... new and improved !

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos...6-release.html

So does that mean the CF card can be in the camera while I transfer the firmware update to the root directory?

If so how do you do this?

If you can access the CF card through your computer by USB cable, yes, why not. I simply use a card reader instead. Check the User Manual thread here for more info on software.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos...er-manual.html