Normal vs D-Log

[akdrone]

I get what you're saying, but raw video is the equivalent of raw stills and D-Log (or just LOG footage in general) is basically just a flat color profile (and not necessarily 10-bit, although newer DJI cameras pretty much all do LOG as 10-bit only). I don't say this to be pedantic. For video, it's really important to understand the distinction.

The best example to illustrate the difference is white balance. Raw photo and video don't have baked in white balance because of where WB is applied in the processing pipeline (raw is basically just data straight from the sensor with no processing), so adjusting WB in post has no effect on the image/video. But DLOG video *does* have WB balance baked in, so making big changes to it in post can degrade your image quality. So even if you shoot LOG, it's REEEEALLLY important to set your WB correctly before you record (although even with raw you should try and set it correctly from the start).

thanks very much for helping me understand the distinction!

 

[moldorf]

ok....so I decided to play around with D-Log. Some of my options are limited because I don't want to pay for some of the expensive editors like Adobe or Resolve Studio. I especially don't want an annual charge

one thing I do to almost all my videos after editing is speed up the clip by X2 or X3. I have found that the app that does the best job of speeding up video with minimal artifacts is VSDC Free Video Editor. And yeah, the free part of that is appealing

anyway, I did a test flight and recorded in D-Log. VSDC does have a set of 10 LUTs you can access. They are pretty limited. But using one LUT I like and some additional adjustments and grading after applying the LUT I was getting some decent results. I did find that I have to scale back saturation quite a bit each time. I don't think I have progressed to the point that the final video is better than what I'd get from recording in normal mode. Although it did seem that the D-Log versions were much better at controlling over-exposure

I have the free version of Resolve but apparently that won't accept D-Log.

Has anybody else used VSDC? Also, I tried to add 3rd party LUTs like the Rec 709 from DJI and they didn't work. Anybody have a clue why?

 

[BobaFut]

I have the free version of Resolve but apparently that won't accept D-Log.

So the issue with Resolve is the H265 codec and not LOG footage specifically (DJI records LOG footage using the H265 codec). My understanding is you can download the HEVC/H265 codec from the Windows store for $1 and then you can edit your LOG footage (although whether your computer can handle it is a different story). Windows (and Linux, I think) doesn't support H265 natively.

Has anybody else used VSDC? Also, I tried to add 3rd party LUTs like the Rec 709 from DJI and they didn't work. Anybody have a clue why?

If it's anything like Premiere you have to basically know alchemy to install LUTs (okay not really, but it's not as simple as it should be), but it could just a limitation of the software since it's free?

 

[akdrone]

there are times I wish I was using something more powerful than Final Cut Pro but then there are times...

 

[SmilingOgre]

there are times I wish I was using something more powerful than Final Cut Pro but then there are times...

Every NLE has limitations. I'm producing a project for distribution on FilmHub and they want Prores 4:2:2 delivery. Davinci Resolve for windows does not offer that option per patent conflictions. So in this case I have to render Avid then use Adobe Media Encoder to transcode to Prores. Doable although hoops.

 

[cammyjams]

I mainly shoot stills so "what they said" lol. The way I look at it the same as the difference between RAW and JPEG. They're both great but RAW gives you a lot more latitude in post. I'm using the free DJI LUT with my Mavic 3 Classic for videos. But since 68% of all internet traffic is now on mobile devices (phones) does it really matter? I suppose if you're a film maker it does, but probably not. I'm editing in CapCut, after fighting and failing with Davinci for months. I know it's 'the best' but I just never got it. Meh.

 

[akdrone]

I mainly shoot stills so "what they said" lol. The way I look at it the same as the difference between RAW and JPEG. They're both great but RAW gives you a lot more latitude in post. I'm using the free DJI LUT with my Mavic 3 Classic for videos. But since 68% of all internet traffic is now on mobile devices (phones) does it really matter? I suppose if you're a film maker it does, but probably not. I'm editing in CapCut, after fighting and failing with Davinci for months. I know it's 'the best' but I just never got it. Meh.

It all depends on what you want from your final product. If you're just shooting for instagram then no...not much reason to use DLog. But if you're shooting 4K to create a nice video then in many instances it's a huge help particularly if you have cloud, snow or deep shadows that you want to "save".

 

[moldorf]

another episode of D-Log + LUTs + my ignorance + my bumbling around

I decided to have a 'normal' control video of a flight path similar to a D-Log flight...so I could compare normal to my efforts. Flights were about 3 minutes that I whittled down to about 2 minutes using AVIDemux. Easy Peasy

with VSDC, the only Luts that work are the ones they pre-loaded in the app; 10 of them. No other Lut I downloaded worked, and that includes the Mavic3.709 Lut from DJI. And only 1 of the 10 seems worthwhile, and it still takes a lot of post-Lut editing to get any video close to the quality of the camera in normal mode

so then, I decided to try CapCut and it's much better and more versatile. It does accept 3rd party Luts. And it does accept the DJI LUT. That DJI Lut is the best so far but it does mean a little post-lut editing. One thing I found is that the Filter catalog for Cap-Cut Pro can add filters post-lut that really enhance the video. It sure doesn't have the steep learning curve of Resolve

but after all this I've only been able to create a couple of DLog-->MP4 clips that had quality about equal to the normal clip. I guess there's still most of the learning curve ahead of me

 

[akdrone]

And you'll find..eventually...that if you have a nice sunny day with few or no clouds or deep shadows that you can shoot normal with no problem and it will be all good....but, as has been mentioned, if you have bright clouds or snow or deep shadow you'll be super glad you have figured out a workflow for using DLog, otherwise you'll find that instead of a cloud you'll have a sheet of bright white floating in the sky with no shading to it at all. Same for snow. Even with DLog there are times when you have to give up shadows. It's always best to give up shadow to pure black than have blow out clouds.