Fusion DPX output intended for CF conversion
 

I need to take some R3D files through Fusion...since Fusion dosn't support high bit depth video....otherwise I would just use cineform files...
I was intending on exporting DPX's from fusion and using the cineform conversion utility....converting to cineform avi then editing in PPRO

There are quite a few options when exporting DPX and I am not very experienced with the LOG workflow of it so I have some questions

The default options are to export at 10bit with a 95 black 685 white and film stock gamma of .6...these options are adjustable of course

i can export as well at 16 bit or 32 bit float...which at those levels the white/black point options are not available....

fusion also gives you the option to bypas conversion and save it out as linear.

In an ideal world cineform would also have a TIFF or EXR converter and I would just save it out linear and convert it that way...but the demand probably isnt there...so

Will the cineform converter properly deal with the linear 16 bit or 32bitFP data....

If i have to keep it 10 bit what white/black point/gamma should I use...and what flags do I need to know about in the converter to use it properly...

Loaded question I know....but thats my life..

it seems on further investigation DPX does allow for 16 and 32bit in it's standard...
so i assume cineform will respect these values...

rendering a test now...

We support the vastly more common 10-bit RGB DPX format. 16-bit linear or floating point DPX, I've never seen one, and we work with all the big guys from FotoKem to Technicolor. 10-bit black at 95 and white 685 is a cineon model, good for uncorrected film scans. Depending on you target and source image dynamic range, you may want a different curve, optimized for more mid-tones.

I hate choices....

would 0-1023 be a reasonable output then...using all of the 10 bit space?

when converting a DPX to cineform....i am assuming it gets multiplied by a gamma curve to convert it to linear space....or is that gamma curve based on the header that the cineform converter is reading from the dpx file.

Basically i want to take a creative choice out of the conversion at this stage and do a LIN-LOG-LIN conversion...

If i have to I'll just use tiffs and edit with a proxy...but i would like to figure this out
Thanks for your patience :)

double post....oops

The choices aren't hard if you know your source. Are there supers (whites greater than white,) if so 10-bit or even 16-bit into a TIFF will clip. Is your image data linear or does it already have a display curve (does it look correct without an adjustment layer for monitoring?) If is non-clipping displayed as is 2.2 gamma video, write out 0 to 1023 and all is fine. In After Effects the numbers aren't used to convert the image anyway, might be the same in Fusion. Try it, you will know soon enough if you made an error.

thanks
appreciate the help so far...

for the life of me I cannot get the dpx2cf converter past the frames loaded stage...whether running from the shell or the exe shortcut
I type in for instance

dpx2cf *.dpx c:\output\new.avi -f24

and it loads all my dpx frames and just gives me a command prompt....no output file is generated

i have tried renaming the frames so there is no padding, moving the files to the shortest directory name...ect, ect...nothing has worked

If you are not a 4K user, you will not have 4:4:4 support. Likely need the -y switch.

i'm a 4k user....

but just found this
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/cineform...cf-script.html
and i added the registry entry, as I am 64 bit

and it did generate a file...although with some serious problems

ok sometimes things are too simple....and when you overthink them you end up screwing up

in Fusion in case anyone finds this thread, all you have to do is in the DPX export dialog
check 'bypass conversion' and make sure 'data is linear' is checked

that will give your DPX converted cineform avi an identical image to your red source data (plus any grading and metadata settings applied)

for some reason I assumed the cineform DPX converter would expect only LOG files....but obviousely it was a lot simpler then that