I'm making a 4:4:4/4:2:2 16/14/12/10-bit codec for Canon DSLR's

[neuroanatomist]

I personally expect that sometime before NAB 2018 something BIG is going to be leaked and it won't be just that 4K Powershot camera!

You mean the 'leaked' images of a 4K PowerShot camera that someone went to great lengths to fabricate for "No Gain"?

Yeah, that's what I thought. : : :

 

[unfocused]

Could this be the same person?

https://youtu.be/SyJRgth88rg

 

[HarryFilm]

Could this be the same person?

https://youtu.be/SyJRgth88rg

---

While I get your POINT (i.e. the youtube video link above!) as your skepticism as to "My Supposed Qualifications" in terms of information gathering ability, let's just say I've had a long term PERSONAL INTEREST in areas of technology and science oversight and that some of my "aquaintances" have significant credentials in that area of inquiry.

My specific area of credentialed expertise is Television Production and Computer Graphics, specifically a Diploma from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (CTSR TV-Option B Graphics). I have HOWEVER, also LOOOOONG personal experience in computer systems development in various modalities. My THIRD area of personal experience expertise is within information gathering techniques specifically "Being a Newshound" which means I have a pretty good idea of HOW and WHERE to get HOT AND SPICY INFORMATION from.

This allows me, in my personal opinion, to interpret data given to me by others and OBJECTIVELY obtain a "Mostly Likely Situation" interpretation of that data.
It also MEANS that I personally think that I am CORRECT in the probability that within 18 months that Canon WILL introduce a Medium Format Mirrorless camera that is greater than 50 megapixels with a MUCH LARGER sensor size and frame rate than the current 5Ds/r cameras!

Accusing me of being delusional about my qualifications is certainly a viable response from you but that does not NEGATE the likelihood, based upon personal observations and 3rd party obtained data, that my statements about Canon's real-soon-now MF introduction is PROBABLY CORRECT! If the espoused specifications aren't fully dead-on they will be darn close!

Arguing this further is pointless since we cannot look DIRECTLY into Canon's books and find out the TRUE truths. We can only make EDUCATED guesses and assumptions which in time MAY be proven correct or ABSOLUTELY proven FALSE!
We shall see WHICH is the final result!

Until then, So Long and Thanks For All The Fish!

 

[Mariandvd]

"And this is how you know that it isn't real..... A decent programmer would have converted it to COBOL......"

===

As the OP, I actually DO know Cobol, IBM JCL and the VAX VMS command languages so just having THOSE on my resume should tell you how long I've been doing this!

And on a technical basis, I like using BOTH Lazarus Pascal AND Delphi Pascal which are fully object-oriented and they both FORCE you to write good (readable!) code. I could write in C++ or pure assembler too BUT that would make my code unreadable for almost everyone! I could do this C++ or Basic or even Python but for now it's a platform independent language.

CURRENT STATUS OF PROJECT:

The codec itself is DONE and because of MPEG-LA group licencing issues, I've had to make some modifications to NOT use any patents and algorithms used in the MPEG-4 or H.265 specification. The USA is getting especially NASTY on the legal front regarding enforcement of software patents --- Soooooo, the container format and algorithms I actually use are TRULY and FULLY open source and NOT subject to ANY USA or European video encoding patents and WILL be readable by Adobe Original and CC products, Windows AVI-format compatible systems, BM Resolve, and hopefully soon after Apple FCP.

Output Video Quality-wise, I have done EXTENSIVE image quality analysis(i.e. using hardware-based video signals DSP and analysis) to ensure that while the algorithm itself is NOT MP4/H264/H265/HVEC, it's final image quality WILL be nearly identical and at higher bitrates BETTER! It supports Short and Long GOP, I-frame-only, full 4:4:4 RAW and 3:1 and 6:1 RAW encoding.

An installable Direct-X/Windows Media codec for Windows is the first thing I will be releasing in the next three weeks and the 7Dmk2 version soon after. This allows you to DIRECTLY read (import) AND write (export) my 4:4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0, 4:1:1 color format pixels at 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16-bits per colour channel (RGBA or YCbCrA formats) and one-bit Black/white and 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16-bit Greyscale pixels. These more esoteric colour formats I included for you scientific personnel who need such formats.

Frame rates are user selectable for North America and Europe/Asia so you get hard coded integer frames per second rates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60, 72, 100, 120, 240, 300, 480, 500, 1000, 2000 fps and fractional pro-level 23.976, 29.97, 59.94, 119.88, etc. I put this in there for EXPORT and IMPORT so as my codec gets added to more hardware, the frame rates supported will be essentially unlimited.

There is also a user-selectable CUSTOM frame rate selector which ALLOWS ANY frame rate up to quadrillions of fps (i.e. 32 or 64-bit floating point number depending upon system) for those of you in the scientific community who need such high frame rates.

For those of you in Astrophotography and time-lapse projects, there is built-in support for user definable frames per minute, per hour, per day, per week, per month and per year!

It ALSO supports VARIABLE frame sizes and VARIABLE FRAME RATES on output so this means the codec can output multiple versions of the output/compressed video to multiple files.

Example: Output a 4k DCI 4096x2160 video at 59.94 fps, a 1920x1080p 59.94 fps and a 960x540 24 fps file for web use AT THE SAME TIME. There are frame size presets for export and import of 80x60, 160x120, 320x240, 360x240, 480x270 for ultra-high frame rates at 300+ fps and 640x480, NTSC 720x480, PAL/SECAM 720x540, 852x480, 960x540, DCI 2048x1080, 1920x1080, 3840x2160, 4096x2160, 7680x4320, 8192x4320 and even 16k pixel frame size formats at hardware-checked frame rates!

Custom frame sizes of ANY SIZE are available for BOTH crop-sensor sampling (i.e. take from middle of sensor) and the sample frames can also be downsampled or supersampled from the sensor depending upon available camera's CPU horsepower. Resize algorithms are user-selectable, Bilinear, Bicubic, Lanczos3 and Lanczos-5 for BEST image quality and you can ADD an UNSHARP MASK after downsampling or upsampling on import and on output to a file!

In-codec Zebra-stripes, selectable 75 to 100% IRE luma peaking in 1% increments, black-level 0.0%, 7.5% to 20% luma dipping indicators will show your video levels as you record. There is a histrogram and RGB parade display for other monitoring. All Output to file(s) is usually CLEAN from those monitoring and any metadata overlays unless you select otherwise.

AND finally, there is BUILT-IN support for advanced Lens information, Date, Clock Time, Time Code, Scene Number, Shot Number, Frame Number, GPS location, 3D-XYZ Depth map and user-defined text-based metadata saved for EVERY FRAME or saved on a user-defined every Nth frame basis. Metadata can be exported to XML or CSV MS Excel Spreadsheet formats or BOTH at the same time. AND for the kicker, the Metadata can be STREAMED live out the USB port OR via wifi (if equipped!) or via the Ethernet port of the higher end cameras AND be saved into the output files ALL AT THE SAME TIME during recording OR playback on metadata tracks separate from the video tracks OR actually have them BURNED into the video!

Sound is high-end features with 4 khz to 192 khz up to 10 Mhz selectable sample rate at 8, 16, 20, 24 and 32-bits audio sampling and supports from one to 256 tracks of audio! (i wanted PRO-LEVEL audio features!)

Of course the higher-end the camera you have, the MORE of these features will auto-activate. For higher frame sizes, you may have to live with 24fps rather than 60 fps. For multiple file outputs at the same time, you may have to buy FASTER storage cards...the system will TELL YOU what your camera can support based upon auto-calculated CPU speed and bandwidth measurements.

I DO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT the "Thermal Budget" of the Canon (or other brand!) cameras so I do a hardware/memory card check first before I activate specific features. I do however, allow the end-user to OVERRIDE what I suggest!

It will be THEIR responsibility warranty-wise and on a LEGAL basis because my open source licence will SPECIFICALLY mention the possible or even LIKELY risk of your camera catching on fire or literally exploding -- i.e. batteries or motherboards overheating/exploding due to software usage!) and ME NOT being responsible because use of the new software on yours or other cameras is "FULLY AT YOUR OWN RISK OF INJURY/DEATH TO LIFE AND LIMB"! No claims of fitness will be made and no warrantees will be expressed or implied! If you use it then Too Bad! So Sad! It will be Your LEGAL and HEALTH Problems and Issues to deal with if you use the software! NOT MINE!

Hooking into the Canon BIOS of course has been an ABSOLUTE ROYAL bachoooeeey of thankless programming frustration BUT I am testing a Canon 7D Mark2 as my initial test bed so I don't accidentally BRICK our $6000+ Canon 1Dc's or $40,000+ (30 000 Euros) C700!

The 7Dmk2 is first, then the 6D series, then 5D Mk2/Mk3/Mk4, the 1DX mk1/mk2
and THEN the C100 mk1/mk2, C200, C300 mk1/mk2, C500 and C700 cameras.
I ==POSSIBLY== might be able to port codec to the Olympus, Pentax,
Sony a7/a9 series and anything ELSE that has an ARM-based CPU chip in it!

So far so good, will know how the 7Dmk2 holds up by later next week!
We shall see! I will release the Windows Direct-X/WinMedia codec within three weeks!

WISH ME LUCK on getting the Canon Camera BIOS hook-in correct!

Any progress? It's been over one month since the last update. I love this technical explaining updates. Thank you. Also i am waiting for the upcoming cinema camera release in april from Canon.

 

[HarryFilm]

Any progress? It's been over one month since the last update. I love this technical explaining updates. Thank you. Also i am waiting for the upcoming cinema camera release in april from Canon.

I have a working 16-bit, 14-bit, 12-bit, 10-bit and 8-bit CODEC that allows 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:1:1 and 4:2:0 colour sampling NOW RUNNING on a Canon 7D Mk2 running at 1080p at 24 fps. I will be able to get 25 fps, 30 fps, 50 fps to 60 fps this week simply because I don't use floating-point math which saved me precious microseconds on each pixel operation. I'm working on the Save-4K-video-file issue for the Canon 7D Mk2 probably next week.

The key problematic issue, which was the same as what Magic Lantern went through, was the hooking-into the Canon Camera's BIOS (Basic Input Output System) that is the low-level control chip which stores the Camera's operating system. When I uploaded my codec into the camera I bricked the 7D a few times which means it had to be taken apart again, go back on the test-bench, use a direct-shorting of the chip leads in order to do a FORCED re-upload of a new bios and then put the camera back together. That takes up to 4 hours to do each time! What a Pain!

Once I am confident within the next 14 days that the 7D won't be bricked upon upload of the codec, I will do the MUCH CHEAPER TO DESTROY Canon 6D/mk1/mk2, 5Dmk3 and mk4 and then the 1Dx mk1/2 series. The C200 is a $10,000+ system and the C300/C500/C700 are $15,000+ systems, so I am loathe to upload it to those ones until I KNOW FOR SURE that the 7D/6D/5D/1D series won't be bricked by my codec upload!

I am also in the midst of completing a Windows DirectShow/Media Manager format codec so you can load the footage into Resolve, Adobe, Vegas, Corel Vdieo Studio, etc and stills into any compatible paint application. The Android/MacOS versions come later this spring. YES! This codec WILL WORK ON ANY Android, iOS, Windows Mobile SMARTPHONE !!!

 

[unfocused]

...When I uploaded my codec into the camera I bricked the 7D a few times which means it had to be taken apart again, go back on the test-bench, use a direct-shorting of the chip leads in order to do a FORCED re-upload of a new bios and then put the camera back together. That takes up to 4 hours to do each time!...

Not giving me a lot of confidence.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

"And this is how you know that it isn't real..... A decent programmer would have converted it to COBOL......"

===

As the OP, I actually DO know Cobol, IBM JCL and the VAX VMS command languages so just having THOSE on my resume should tell you how long I've been doing this!

You forgot FAP! When the turn of the century programming came around, FAP programmers could write their own checks. We were still using it for some of our large legacy systems where I worked, and had programmers who could make the fixes. We used a IBM 7090 when I hired in to the company in 1966, and were still using some FAP programs when I retired in 1998.

 

[gsealy]

"The first cameras tested will be for 7Dmk2, 6Dmk2, 5DMk3/5Dmk4, 1DxMk2, C100, C200 and C300...in that order!"

This is an interesting thread to be sure. Magic Lantern is already doing a good job of pushing the DSLR's. So, IMO a good thing would be to get 4K on the C100s. Nobody is touching that. The Cinema cameras are, well, for video. They have ND filters built in for example, and they are great in low light. They have DPAF. Just "unlocking" 4K would be pretty huge.

 

[Mariandvd]

Any progress? It's been over one month since the last update. I love this technical explaining updates. Thank you. Also i am waiting for the upcoming cinema camera release in april from Canon.

I have a working 16-bit, 14-bit, 12-bit, 10-bit and 8-bit CODEC that allows 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:1:1 and 4:2:0 colour sampling NOW RUNNING on a Canon 7D Mk2 running at 1080p at 24 fps. I will be able to get 25 fps, 30 fps, 50 fps to 60 fps this week simply because I don't use floating-point math which saved me precious microseconds on each pixel operation. I'm working on the Save-4K-video-file issue for the Canon 7D Mk2 probably next week.

The key problematic issue, which was the same as what Magic Lantern went through, was the hooking-into the Canon Camera's BIOS (Basic Input Output System) that is the low-level control chip which stores the Camera's operating system. When I uploaded my codec into the camera I bricked the 7D a few times which means it had to be taken apart again, go back on the test-bench, use a direct-shorting of the chip leads in order to do a FORCED re-upload of a new bios and then put the camera back together. That takes up to 4 hours to do each time! What a Pain!

Once I am confident within the next 14 days that the 7D won't be bricked upon upload of the codec, I will do the MUCH CHEAPER TO DESTROY Canon 6D/mk1/mk2, 5Dmk3 and mk4 and then the 1Dx mk1/2 series. The C200 is a $10,000+ system and the C300/C500/C700 are $15,000+ systems, so I am loathe to upload it to those ones until I KNOW FOR SURE that the 7D/6D/5D/1D series won't be bricked by my codec upload!

I am also in the midst of completing a Windows DirectShow/Media Manager format codec so you can load the footage into Resolve, Adobe, Vegas, Corel Vdieo Studio, etc and stills into any compatible paint application. The Android/MacOS versions come later this spring. YES! This codec WILL WORK ON ANY Android, iOS, Windows Mobile SMARTPHONE !!!

Thanks again for answering. I understand now. Love that i see you are making progress. I'm in the market for a new camera and considering C100 Mkii, 1 DX Mkii, C200. Maybe in april Canon is releasing C100 Mkiii and i will buy that instead. Next year i want to buy a C200 to be able to shoot multicam. Also i love the 1DX Mkii form factor for video much than C-line. Also i have worked at a project with C300 Mkii and love doing color grading on that camera, the image and the codec are great. Maybe in the future i will be buying C300 Mkiii because i love C300 Mkii now. Unlocking C200 with a better codec is something that Canon can make in the future. I see it happening because technology is moving forward. I hope you succeed in what you are planning to do.

 

[HarryFilm]

Also do note that the Canon DIGIC chip cores are reformatted ARM-base Cortex-R4 cores (or higher) with clock speeds ranging from as little as 25 or 32 MHz to as much as 1.4 GHz and making a codec work along such a wide breadth of clock speeds is complex.

It's all about the math....It's just pure math!

I'm All About Keeping the Math Clean Big Mama!

 

[uncontrollable_cbr]

Is there a possibility of this coming the original EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc)?

I'm very excited by the prospect of your custom codec - 4:4:4 combined with the EOSHD CLog picture profile would be the Canon cinema dream come true for any colorist (such as myself!)

 

[HarryFilm]

Is there a possibility of this coming the original EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc)?

I'm very excited by the prospect of your custom codec - 4:4:4 combined with the EOSHD CLog picture profile would be the Canon cinema dream come true for any colorist (such as myself!)

---

I have generically coded the codec for ARM-based and Intel/AMD/NVIDIA CPU and GPU processors and it works FINE on those. If those EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc) have ARM-based DIGIC processors or x86 cores (some Canon cameras do!) then my codec will work on them! I don't have those particular cameras you mentioned so I can't test on them.

We have here available for testing, multiple Canon 1Dc's, multiple 1Dx mk1 and mk2's, some 5D's mk 2/3/4's, multiple 7D's and 6D's Mk1/2's, some C100's and C200's, Some XC-10's and XC-15's, some C300's, a C500 and some C700's, some Powershot G-series and other pro-level Sony F55/F65/FS7, JVC, Panasonic, Arri and various Red cameras up to the Monstro, so there is no shortage of gear to try my codec on. Of course Android, iOS and Windows mobile will ALSO be supported in the codec because it is coded to be platform agnostic.

If the Rebels are Arm or x86-based CPU cores the CODEC WILL WORK on them!

 

[3dit0r]

Is there a possibility of this coming the original EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc)?

I'm very excited by the prospect of your custom codec - 4:4:4 combined with the EOSHD CLog picture profile would be the Canon cinema dream come true for any colorist (such as myself!)

---

I have generically coded the codec for ARM-based and Intel/AMD/NVIDIA CPU and GPU processors and it works FINE on those. If those EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc) have ARM-based DIGIC processors or x86 cores (some Canon cameras do!) then my codec will work on them! I don't have those particular cameras you mentioned so I can't test on them.

We have here available for testing, multiple Canon 1Dc's, multiple 1Dx mk1 and mk2's, some 5D's mk 2/3/4's, multiple 7D's and 6D's Mk1/2's, some C100's and C200's, Some XC-10's and XC-15's, some C300's, a C500 and some C700's, some Powershot G-series and other pro-level Sony F55/F65/FS7, JVC, Panasonic, Arri and various Red cameras up to the Monstro, so there is no shortage of gear to try my codec on. Of course Android, iOS and Windows mobile will ALSO be supported in the codec because it is coded to be platform agnostic.

If the Rebels are Arm or x86-based CPU cores the CODEC WILL WORK on them!

Watching this with great interest as I'm ordering a 5D Mark IV for a short film I'm making. I can make the movie with it as-is, and it'll be fine, or I wouldn't order one, but if I suddenly had a much more robust codec, it would be the icing on the cake for sure. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I wonder which will come first:

[list type=decimal]
[*]The magic codec
[*]The mythical Canon medium format camera
[*]The total destruction of the earth when the sun becomes a red giant
[/list]

Given that the first two are supported only by HarryFilm, my money is on #3.

 

[Orangutan]

I wonder which will come first:

• The magic codec
• The mythical Canon medium format camera
• The total destruction of the earth when the sun becomes a red giant

Given that the first two are supported only by HarryFilm, my money is on #3.

His posts are just good-natured trolling (story-telling), in contrast to the mean-spirited trolling that's so common on the Internet. Have a few chuckles and move on to the next post.

 

[HarryFilm]

I wonder which will come first:

[list type=decimal]
[*]The magic codec
[*]The mythical Canon medium format camera
[*]The total destruction of the earth when the sun becomes a red giant
[/list]

Given that the first two are supported only by HarryFilm, my money is on #3.

===

Get ready.....cuz it's done....6Dmk2, 7Dmk2, 5Dmk2/3/4....4:4:4 and 4:2:2 wavelet video and stills which DO NOT infringe ON ANY MPEG-LA patents at 16, 14, 12, 10 and 8 bits per colour channel...it will be hosted on GitHub but announced here and linked for download when I have tested it enough to know it won't brick your cameras....

Using an analogy, would YOU WANT Bosch to release the anti-like braking system software that is in nearly EVERY car on the planet BEFORE it is fully tested?

I Didn't think so....!!! Let me complete testing....

 

[Orangutan]

I wonder which will come first:

• The magic codec
• The mythical Canon medium format camera
• The total destruction of the earth when the sun becomes a red giant

Given that the first two are supported only by HarryFilm, my money is on #3.

===

Get ready.....cuz it's done....6Dmk2, 7Dmk2, 5Dmk2/3/4....4:4:4 and 4:2:2 wavelet video and stills which DO NOT infringe ON ANY MPEG-LA patents at 16, 14, 12, 10 and 8 bits per colour channel...it will be hosted on GitHub but announced here and linked for download when I have tested it enough to know it won't brick your cameras....

Using an analogy, would YOU WANT Bosch to release the anti-like braking system software that is in nearly EVERY car on the planet BEFORE it is fully tested?

I Didn't think so....!!! Let me complete testing....

You could probably get some testing help from the Magic Lantern folks.

 

[3dit0r]

Is there a possibility of this coming the original EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc)?

I'm very excited by the prospect of your custom codec - 4:4:4 combined with the EOSHD CLog picture profile would be the Canon cinema dream come true for any colorist (such as myself!)

---

I have generically coded the codec for ARM-based and Intel/AMD/NVIDIA CPU and GPU processors and it works FINE on those. If those EOS Rebel series (600d, 650d, 700d etc) have ARM-based DIGIC processors or x86 cores (some Canon cameras do!) then my codec will work on them! I don't have those particular cameras you mentioned so I can't test on them.

We have here available for testing, multiple Canon 1Dc's, multiple 1Dx mk1 and mk2's, some 5D's mk 2/3/4's, multiple 7D's and 6D's Mk1/2's, some C100's and C200's, Some XC-10's and XC-15's, some C300's, a C500 and some C700's, some Powershot G-series and other pro-level Sony F55/F65/FS7, JVC, Panasonic, Arri and various Red cameras up to the Monstro, so there is no shortage of gear to try my codec on. Of course Android, iOS and Windows mobile will ALSO be supported in the codec because it is coded to be platform agnostic.

If the Rebels are Arm or x86-based CPU cores the CODEC WILL WORK on them!

Watching this with great interest as I'm ordering a 5D Mark IV for a short film I'm making. I can make the movie with it as-is, and it'll be fine, or I wouldn't order one, but if I suddenly had a much more robust codec, it would be the icing on the cake for sure. Thanks for your efforts.

Until you see a public working copy of ANY software, for all practical purposes, it does not exist. Do not make decisions based on random strangers making claims on a website.

Oh come on, could I possibly have been any clearer that I was already buying the 5D4 for the features/specs it already has?

'I'm ordering a 5D Mark IV for a short film I'm making. I can make the movie with it as-is, and it'll be fine, or I wouldn't order one.'

I don't know how that could be phrased much more robustly to indicate that I'm not buying the camera based on potential vaporware.

 

[zim]

You could probably get some testing help from the Magic Lantern folks.

+ 1
It would also give much needed credence to all this

 

[bhf3737]

===

Get ready.....cuz it's done....6Dmk2, 7Dmk2, 5Dmk2/3/4....4:4:4 and 4:2:2 wavelet video and stills which DO NOT infringe ON ANY MPEG-LA patents at 16, 14, 12, 10 and 8 bits per colour channel...it will be hosted on GitHub but announced here and linked for download when I have tested it enough to know it won't brick your cameras....

Using an analogy, would YOU WANT Bosch to release the anti-like braking system software that is in nearly EVERY car on the planet BEFORE it is fully tested?

I Didn't think so....!!! Let me complete testing....

With all respect for the attempts you may have put into this, the messages you provide as evidence of your work seems to be randomly generated pseudo-scientific text, something similar to what SciGen https://github.com/strib/scigen or similar tools can generate. Inserting a few keywords and it can generate a whole 4-pages paper that seems to be legit to the eyes of uninformed readers. As you are familiar with the GitHub, it is on the GitHub, too.
Please accept my apology if I am wrong and too skeptic of the work. A strong evidence of your work would be an actual working software that can be beta-tested by the community.