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Cameraman india

Ci Studios

We have seen digital negative .DNG ever since the first time we used adobe photoshop but never used it because we have been shooting in .JPEG and processed them in 8bit color depth and printing them or using them in displays in the same 8bit color depth and never even thought about more than that in terms of color depth. It is later on that we started shooting in RAW formats but with each and every new model of camera a new format emerged and this made the workflow ever more difficult and although camera raw could handle 16bit color depth, printing was done only in .JPEG which means back to 8bit color. If you are a film maker RAW is the way to go and digital negatives can be a part of your workflow and if you are a VFX artist you can also look into a more highly technical format such as Open EXR.

Camera RAW

Camera RAW was able to hold 16bit color depth and digital negative .DNG is able to hold the same amount of 10bit, 12bit, 14bit or 16bit color and not let down the color to 8bit which is a big advantage, colors could be enhanced without blowing up the details in the highlights and the shadows.

The only downside is that while monitoring the displays during shoots we could only see very little color or no color at all and a soft image. Color correction can enhance your images and give results far much better than the regular method of shooting in .mov, .mp4, etc with best settings while shooting with the intention of no post process on your images and your camera does not need much power to capture your video.

Color Correction

When we shoot video in RAW although the image was soft and colorless but with good dynamic range where it has picked up details in the shadows and highlights as best as possible depending on your camera settings. After shooting in RAW there are two ways of converting your image and preserving your colors. You can either convert it to ProRes video file or as digital negative where each and every frame comes as individual photos.

Previously the limitation was, you needed a Mac and Final Cut Pro to edit ProRes files but now adobe premeire or after effects can load your files as good. If you are a VFX Artist then after effects and DNG will work well for you.

Color Grading

Color grading is the next and final step in the post process where you add more color to bring an overall look depening on the scene and the mood according the director's ideas. All of these can be done without any damage to the pixels.

You can add more brightness and sharpness as well bringing out the details far more better than an unprofessional way of shooting where you set your camera for maximum quality and do nothing more in post process like enhacing your colors or altering your image size for different size of screens. You only need more space on your hard disc and a poweful processor with a good graphic card to support your workflow.

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