Comments on: Dark Energy: Lightning in a Bottle for the HDSLR Revolution

By: Save $250 Until March 15th on the Noise/Grain Removal Tool Used on Shane Hurlbut’s ‘Act of Valor’ - NoFilmSchool

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:07:00 +0000

[...] has talked quite a bit about the software, and while it’s a little more expensive than some other noise reduction tools out there, this [...]

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:24:40 +0000

Hi Joseph. I prefer to grade first because the added contrast and grading can bring out some of the noise/artifacts which then can be pulled out easier with Dark Energy.

By: Joseph Birch

Joseph Birch — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 22:12:20 +0000

Hi Shane,

First off a big thanks and my respect to you for this blog. It is a invaluable resource for a young aspiring cinematographer like myself.

The question I have is regarding workflow order. I read Vashi’s article on color grading where he suggest first to remove artifacts and de-noise and after that start correcting and grading but in this article you say basically the opposite.
My own experience says to de-noise later because grading usually comes with added contrast and added contrast brings up the noise in blacks, especially when grading flat material.

So whats your final take on it, denoise first, grade later or the other way around. Eight bits does not allow mistakes, I had to find it the hard way and I’d like to do it right for my next DSLR project.

All the best,
J.

By: Johnny Hernandez

Johnny Hernandez — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:21:23 +0000

How does this compare to plugins such as Magic Bullet Denoiser for removing the grain and noise out of footage. Also would running your footage through Cineform’s Neoscene be helpful in creating better looking footage?

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:02:48 +0000

Lance M., Hi Lance, that is great news. After Act of Valor’s success in the texture process, we are using it on all of our commercials as well now. Yeah Baby!!!!. When I am coming to Santa Fe to hang with you guys?

By: Lance M.

Lance M. — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:59:46 +0000

Actually, the price has dropped a lot since its first launch several years ago. We now sell Dark Energy Texture Manager (just noise/grain tools) for around $15,000 without the PC. Figure for a loaded Z800 around $10k tops with great local RAID, and you are looking at a system around $25,000 (with Teslas).

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:51:44 +0000

Huey, $80,000.00

By: Huey

Huey — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:39:20 +0000

I’m wondering how much does it cost to buy Dark Energy?

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:06:33 +0000

Peter Mozingo, Thank you so much for your support. Act of Valor will change the way people view movies. There is nothing like it out there. It is the most 3D movie shot in 2D that you have ever seen. 2/17/12.

By: Peter Mozingo

Peter Mozingo — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 01:28:38 +0000

I’m with Jake on the Neat Video plugin. It’s really amazing and has saved many shots from being too “noisy”. On the other hand…it’s controls are a little in depth and the auto features don’t always work on every frame. It has to find a certain square that has uniform color to sample from. Hope this Dark Energy is the wave of the future. Being a former Marine, I’m extremely excited to see Act of Valor. Congrats Shane on all your success!

By: Ryan Rambach

Ryan Rambach — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:40:32 +0000

Hey Shane,

Just found your blog via the B&H website and it is blowing my mind! Love your work! A few questions I am having a hard time answering about the HDSLR platform. For reduced noise, do you always use your listed ISO values 160, 320, 640, 800, 1250, 1600? Does an ISO of 160 have less noise than 100? Or does 480 have more noise than 640?

Also, would I ever want to set the color space to sRGB if I am trying to shoot the image as flat as possible because I know I am going to be doing a fair amount of post-production color grading? Is Adobe RGB the best to use for those skin tones regardless?

Lastly, I understand that the H.264 codec is very compressed in an 8 bit, 4:2:0 color space. Even though the footage is no longer considered RAW, is it still possible to readjust the white balance and ISO in editing using the H.264′s active metadata or is all that information permanently baked into the file? Do you know if you can use a program like CineForm’s First Light to adjust active metadata information on 5D/7D files?

Thanks!

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:36:30 +0000

James, Thank you so much for the kind words and support. I am going to do some test with this filter very soon. I have tried these filters in the past and they soften the image way too much, but in Phillip’s test it looked pretty good. Would have to see it on a big screen. I will get back with you once we get it in.

By: James

James — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:23:41 +0000

Hi Shane,

I’ve a big fan of yours and would like to first, thank you for all of the education you’ve immersed all of us inspiring filmmakers with. I recently just picked up a new 5DmII and am stoked to put it to use. I come from a videography background, making mostly corporate videos and whatnot. My first taste of HDSLR came from this years 48hr Film Festival that I shot with the 7D and was blown away with the DSLR format. From that point, I was sold and eager to pick up a 5DmII.

I do have one question. I recently read about a new optical filter designed specifically for the 5DmII to combat moire and aliasing.

Here’s the link: http://nofilmschool.com/2011/08/r-i-p-aliasing-problems-dslrs-filter-eliminates/

Not sure if you’ve had the chance to test one of these, but I’d be curious to hear what you have to say!

Thanks again!

-James

By: Didier Clermont

Didier Clermont — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:08:05 +0000

Wow!!! this is amazing Shane you did it again, and for Lance @ Cinnafilm we would love this as a plugin for Premiere Pro CS5

By: Draganche

Draganche — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:27:16 +0000

Thanks Lance.
I can not wait to see DE in a form of plugin for AE.

By: Lance

Lance — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:21:38 +0000

Thanks for the terrific write-up, and positive support, Shane. It is really interesting to see the variety of responses here to our endeavor. To clarify a few items and (common) tech questions that have come us since this blog aired:
1) We are not actually out of Los Alamos Labs exactly – though we have worked with the Labs in the past; actually I come out of aerospace, but you know, I like Shane’s variation much better I think, so let’s go with that. ;)
2) Dark Energy is “Texture Management” and format/framerate/cadence correcting in its finest form. We harness motion data at unrivaled (and secret) speeds to be able to create magnificent solutions and improved imagery that are unparalleled in the industry right now. Today we offer DE as a standalone software. Think of Texture Management as a vital step in the post process much like Color Correction is – and you get out what you put into it. Right now it works on powerful machines by expert users to get theatrical-grade images. For the past two years Dark Energy also sold under the name “ARRI Relativity” (no longer), as it is used equally as well on film scans – that is, degrain->color->regrain.
3) We do offer DE in plug-in form, but right now only with Quantel’s Pablo and a couple high grade transcoding systems for broadcasters. We are a ways from migrating this into a simple, affordable plugin – but this feedback helps us gauge where to migrate next.
4) I can tell you simply that other noise reduction solutions do not compare with what we are doing. There is no other tool like this – and it started out as a 7 year research project to make digital video look like film – so this film simulation thing is well understood by us.
5) If you want to transform your HDSLR images into theatrical grade images, we can get you there; but it takes patience to detail and method like Shane discusses in his blogs and classes, meticulous planning, and additional technology like Cinnafilm to make it happen. If you want to run your footage, let us know we will connect you with service providers in your area that have DE installed.

Please visit us at http://www.cinnafilm.com for more information. Thank you again, all, and Shane I can’t wait to see AOV!!
-Lance (CEO, Cinnafilm)

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:20:56 +0000

Rob Walker, thank you so much for your kind words and all of your support. Great info for everyone, thanks for sharing.

By: Rob Walker

Rob Walker — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:50:12 +0000

I’m sure the no-NR/Cinnafilm comparison is more dramatic on a monitor than is apparent in these webshots. The big-screen filmmaker universe, small as it is, may or may not achieve the critical mass needed to bring the cost down. Meanwhile, h264-artifact demons remain a fact of life for filmmakers whose work is destined for the “rest” of the current viewing devices, and Red Giant Magic Bullet Denoiser is our absolutely indispensable secret weapon at resolutions up to HD broadcast. It is versatile, usefully tweakable, fast, and easily affordable for almost any working professional. I have no affiliation with Red Giant; just offering this as a point of information.

Shane, the knowledge and inspiration you provide here are admirable and priceless. Thank you!

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:45:46 +0000

Ron, thanks Ron for the support.

By: Steve M.

Steve M. — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:49:15 +0000

I agree with Jake. Neat video does an excellent job of removing noise and can be tweaked to achieve to best noise removal. Also the developer has some great in depth video tutorials showing you exactly how to get the most out of the plugin. Hopefully Cinnafilms product can be offered to all of us operating on shoestring budgets.