THE GUIDE to

Magic LanterN RAW

written and photographed
by stephen mick

VERSION 2.0.1
8.16.13
 [2]

QUICK-START GUIDE
FOR THE CANON 5D MARK III

Step One: Get the Firmware

1. Download the latest nightly ML RAW build at this link:
(http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0)

2. Format Compact Flash (CF) and SDHC cards in-camera.

FORMAT CARDS 3. Make your Compact Flash and/or SD cards “bootable” by
Always format Compact using one of the pieces of software below. If you want to, you
Flash and Secure can also format them in exFAT mode. (More on that later.) And
Digital Cards in-camera always select the “Make DSLR Bootable” box if using Macboot.
before installing Magic (Windows users see EOSCard: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard)

Lantern RAW. (Mac users see MacBoot: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html)

4. Unzip the files from the “nightly build” download, and

copy them to the main directory (root) of your CF card.

NOTE: At the end of all this, there should be 3 folders and 2

files on the SD card. The folders DCIM, MISC, and ML should be
present, and the files “5D3_113_ bootflag.fr” file and the “autio-
exec.bin” files should be present.

Step Two: Loading Magic Lantern

on Your 5d Mark III
1. Always, always, always start with a battery fully-charged.

2. Check your camera’s firmware to make sure it’s on version

1.1.3. (If not, download it here. http://proofcreative.com/user/
THE FILES canon_5d3_113.zip)
When you’re finished
3. Make sure your camera’s mode dial is set to Manual, and
loading the firmware,
that the LiveView switch is set to the Movie Camera icon.
your card directory
should look like the one 4. Insert the CF/SD cards into your camera, and power up.
in the above image.
 [3]

5. In the appropriate Canon sub-menu, select “firmware

update.”

6. Once the process is completed, power down and restart

your camera. You should see a quick internal “check” of the
internal memory cards run by the ML firmware.

*Recommended Setup: Load the ML Firmware on your

bootable SD card (which stays in-camera), and record video to
your wicked-fast CF card.

TRASH/DELETE
Step Three: Dialing-In With the Magic Lantern

The Recommended Settings firmware installed and

running, pressing the
1. Go into the Magic Lantern settings menu by pressing the
Trash button takes you
“trash/delete” button.
to the ML menu.
2. On the latest builds, the RAW module will auto-load. (But
if you’re on an older build for some reason, try using the top
dial to navigate the sub-menus, go to the “Modules” menu
(the M tab) and activate the raw recording module manually.)

3. Press the “Q” button to return to the main top menus,

then go to the Movie tab, enable RAW recording, and choose
your resolution/aspect ratio.

4. Go to the “Overlay” menu in ML and set Global Draw to

LiveView only mode. Turn all other overlay settings to OFF.

5. In the Canon menus, set your photo mode to JPEG/S3

only (turn off RAW photo shooting). This frees up memory in
the camera, allowing for more Magic Lantern mojo to happen
in video mode.


SUCCESS!
Step Four: Go Shoot! When successfully
installed the ML
firmware will show the
above message when
you press the Trash/
Delete button.
 [4]

QUICK-START GUIDE
FOR THE CANON 5D MARK II

Step One: Get the Firmware

1. Download and unzip the Magic Lantern software (currently
5D2 Alpha 1) at the link below:

https://bitbucket.org/a_d_/magic-lantern/downloads/5d2_alpha_One.zip

FIRMWARE 2. Download and unzip the latest ML RAW nightly build from
For Magic Lantern to work this link:
properly, your 5D2 will http://nanomad.magiclantern.fm/nightly/
need to be running Canon
firmware version 2.1.2.
 Step Two: Loading Magic Lantern
On Your 5d Mark II
1. Always, always, always start with a battery fully-charged.

2. Make sure your camera is running version 2.1.2 firmware

from Canon. If you need to download it, use this link:

http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d2_212.zip

3. Clear all user settings (3rd wrench) in Canon sub-menu

4. Set camera mode dial to M (Manual).

5. After formatting a CF card in-camera, copy ML software to

the root directory of your CF card.

6. Insert CF card into camera, and update firmware via canon

menu: wait for “success” screen in green text to show. Reboot by
RESOLUTION turning OFF camera then ON.
The 5D2 isn’t capable of
7. Remove CF card from camera and place in CF card reader.
recording at as high a
resolution as the Mark III, 8. Transfer the RAW nightly build into the appropriate direc-
tories in your CF card (usually an autoexec.bin and an ML folder).
so work with your setup to
find the right settings for
reliable shooting.
 [5]

9. Place CF into your camera, turn ON, press live view, press
trash bin icon to bring up ML menu, go to Modules Tab, Select
Load modules now.

10. Still in ML menu, go to Movie tab, Scroll down to RAW

video, press SET to turn ON, press Picture Style Button to go to
RAW video sub menu, Select Resolution or Aspect Ratio, exit ML
menu by pressing trash bin.

11. Shoot Raw Video by pressing SET button to start and

stop recording.
PICTURE STYLES
On the 5D2, a press of
Step Three: Dialing-In the Trash/Delete button

The Recommended Settings will take you into the ML

menu. To make a selection
1. Keep your mode dial in M (Manual Mode). in the ML menu, just press

2. In ML menu (press trash bin) Go to OVERLAY tab, and just the Picture Styles button.
have Global Draw in LiveView, the rest is recommended to be
OFF to maximize performance of the CPU.

3. In the MOVIE tab, leave the bitrate set at default, and we

recommend setting FPS override at 23.976 or less.

4. For continuous recording on the 5D2, use a 1000x CF card.

5. The following resolutions give continuous raw recording

using a recommended/ tested CF card:
1880 x 940 2:1
1872 x 936 2:1
1872 x 850 2.20:1
1856 x 928 2:1
1728 x 972 16:9
1472 x 828 4:3
FILE BROWSER
You view and delete your
Step Four: Go Shoot! RAW videos here. Since
the 5D2 uses FAT32-format
cards, files bigger than 4GB
are split into sub-clips with
.RXX extensions, which will
have to be re-combined
using a voodoo ritual in post.
 [6]

Notes for Other Cameras

CANON 6D

This is a great, entry-level full-frame camera, and the ML

firwmare seems to work very well with it. But it only records
to SD cards, and they just don’t have the ability to keep up
with the speed needed for full-HD RAW recording. That’s
not to say you can’t use it for RAW, but you’ll likely have to
step down in resolution a fair amount to accommodate the
speed of the UHS SD card bus.

Verdict: Usable.

CANON 60D

This is an APS-C camera that was a workhorse for many

shooters when it came out. But like the 6D, it relies on SD
cards for recording, and because of that it suffers from the
same limitations when recording RAW files.

Verdict: Usable.

CANON 50D

Wait…what? Yes, you read that correctly. The 50D, a

camera that had ZERO video features on release, can record
RAW video. And it’s really the best choice behind the 5D
Mark III and the 5D2. Since it records to Compact Flash
cards, it’s not subject to the speed issues of the 60D and
6D. It can’t quite match the bus speed of the 5D Mark III, so
you’ll still have to step down in resolution a little bit. And
the camera has no audio capability at all, so double-sys-
tem sound is absolutely mandatory. But with the ML RAW
firmware, it’s the cheapest reliable RAW-recording camera
on the planet.

Verdict: Good, and a great value.

 [7]

CANON 40D

This is a joke, right? A camera that just turned SIX YEARS

OLD can’t possibly record RAW, can it? Well it can, in theory.
It’s only real limitation is the speed of the elderly Digic 3 pro-
cessor inside. There hasn’t been a whole lot of testing with this
body, but it’s certainly possible that ML RAW will work on the
40D. Not bad for a body you can pick up used for $250.

Verdict: None. The jury is still out.

CANON 7D

Finally. The 7D, a dual Digic proccessing beast, has finally

gotten its hack on. Development is still in process, so check
the ML forums for the latest info.

Verdict: Stay tuned. Could be awesome.

CANON T4i / 650D

Again, this APS-C body is hampered by the slower speed

involved in recording to the SD cards. They just can’t handle
the same throughput as Compact Flash. So this one is only
good for reduced-resolution shooting, which isn’t terrible
considering the price of the body.

Verdict: Meh.

CANON T3i / 600D

See T4i above.

Verdict: Meh.

CANON T2i / 550D

See T3i above.

Verdict: Meh.
THE GUIDE to
Magic LanterN RAW
written and photographed
by stephen mick
Disclaimer and Statement of Non-Responsiblity
Magic Lantern software, while being completely awesome, is still a hack, and
as such, the authors of this Guide and the DVXUser.com management take
no responsibility if you brick your camera in the process of using this soft-
ware. The folks at Magic Lantern are also not responsible for any damage to
cameras, lenses, or other camera accessories from using this firmware. To be
fair, we haven’t heard of any cameras being bricked or otherwise rendered
useless, but there’s always an outside chance it might happen. Your Canon
warranty may also be voided by loading the Magic Lantern software. Fair
warning has been given.

Copyrights, Trademarks, and Other Legal Stuff

All rights reserved. But hey…feel free to share this book by any means nec-
essary. Just don’t charge anyone money for it. We’re providing this as a free
resource to the great filmmaking community that has given us so much over
the years. If you charge someone money for this, the karma monster will eat
your children.

All product names and services used throughout this book are used in edito-
rial fashion only, and for the benefit of such companies, with no intention of
infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any name or brand,
is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

Basically, the Canon brand name, its logo and products, the Magic Lantern
name and its logo, are used here only for editorial purposes. And we hope
the above jargon exempts us from legal action. We’re good people, doing
something good for the community. Please, don’t sue us.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction, 13

2 Getting Started, 16
complete 5D Mark III installation guide, 18
complete 5D Mark II installation guide, 26

3 Shooting With Magic Lantern, 33

setting up magic lantern for raw shooting, 38
recommended magic lantern settings, 44
recommended canon camera settings, 45

www.dvxuser.com/V6
www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 13 ]

1
INTRODUCTION
Where we examine what all this awesomeness is about

There’s just no other way to say it: the Magic Lantern RAW-video firmware for Canon
HDSLRs has changed the game for budget-minded filmmakers. (And believe me, I hate
using the phrase “game-changer,” or any variation thereof.) What has this firmware
done? Well, it took something that was already revolutionary in the Canon HDSLR
camera and turned it into something even more incredible: a filmmaking tool that
unleashes the true power inside every 5D Mark III, not to mention a host of other Canon
cameras.

The RAW-video firmware also builds on Magic Lantern’s previous work, firmware
creations that have constantly given DSLR filmmakers the tools they needed to make
working with these cameras easier in the context of cinematic shooting. Waveforms.
Zebras. Aspect ratio guides. On-screen audio meters. All of these are things filmmakers
use (and depend on) every day on-set. And even if RAW-video is not for you, or if the
project you’re working on doesn’t need the benefits that shooting RAW can provide,
your Canon DSLR should always be running the Magic Lantern software if you’re
shooting video, simply to have these features at your fingertips.

But when Magic Lantern gives you the ability to record RAW sensor data, in full-HD
resolution, at 24 frames per second (or more), with14-bit, 4:4:4 sampled color, all
wrapped in a DNG file, why wouldn’t you use it?
 [ 14 ]

So, what’s so great about RAW? To put it quite simply, we want tools that give us the
look and feel of film. Back in the day, the original Panasonic DVX gave us the ability
to shoot 24p, giving images with a much more film-like motion. But it wasn’t quite
enough. We wanted the shallow depth-of-field look that motion pictures often have.

Then the Canon 5D Mark II came along, with a “video mode” tacked on almost as
an afterthought. Shooters quickly embraced both the depth-of-field and low-light
shooting potential with the Mark II, and the revolution had arrived. We quickly tossed
aside our 35mm ground-glass adapter rigs, grabbed whichever of these cameras we
could afford, rigged it up with all sorts of accessories, and went out shooting.

But even that wasn’t enough. These cameras lacked many of the features that video
pros have come to depend on. And Magic Lantern was there, delivering the original
ML firmware that transformed these tools and what
they could do.

Still, these great cameras were all hobbled by

codecs that sometimes couldn’t keep up, bit-rates
…the original ML that made us cringe, and color space that was, to
firmware…transformed put it mildly, limiting. As amazing as the images
coming from the Canon HDSLRs were, they left
these tools and what many people with a lingering thought:
they could do.” If these cameras, with the powerful processors
inside, are capable of recording so many frames per
second in RAW-photo burst mode, could they be
“hacked” to take that data stream in LiveView mode
and record it to the memory cards as a video file?

That’s exactly what the Magic Lantern team did.

With the RAW-video firmware, Magic Lantern is allowing us to record RAW sensor data,
in the same way as we do with still photos in Camera Raw format. We get all (or at least
most) of the dynamic range, resolution, and color space that these cameras are capable
of, all laid down in a format that allows us to change and control the “look” of a clip in
post-production, rather than doing it in-camera. Decisions we would have previously
needed to make on-set (or even earlier) can be made in the edit or color suites.

More than anything, it means that this $2,800 DSLR is suddenly capable of giving us an
even more film-like image than before. And in fact, it’s giving us an image that can hold
its own against cameras ten and twenty times as expensive. Magic Lantern is a tool of
empowerment, but it is up to all of us as filmmakers to deliver on what it promises.
 [ 15 ]

about dvxuser, and a note

Before we get to the good stuff, and before you load and play around with the
powerful tools in Magic Lantern, we’d like to ask a favor. We’re providing this User
Guide as a free resource, but the ongoing development and testing of the ML team
needs your support. Take a moment, go over to the Magic Lantern site, and make a
donation, either to Magic Lantern directly, or to the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
a digital rights organization working to defend our ability to “hack” cameras like the
Canon 5D Mark III.

Special thanks go out to all of the DVXUser community involved in the Magic
Lantern project, including Ted Ramasola, Squig, Steve Kahn, OlegKalyan, bumkicho
and Samuel H, among others. And very special thanks go to A1ex and the ML team,
without whom none of this would be possible, and we’d all be very sad filmmakers.

From the beginning, the forums at DVXUser.com have helped spread the word
about the Magic Lantern software. As the RAW-video firmware has developed, our
members have been on the cutting-edge, testing nightly builds, providing feedback
on bugs, and helping the ML team refine the ongoing alpha releases. It is because of
our members that a Guide like this is even possible. And as new developments come
along, we’ll continue to update this Guide as quickly as we can.
 [ 16 ]

2
GETTING STARTED
Downloading, installing, and preparing to shoot RAW with ML

Before you get started with Magic Lantern, there are a few things you’ll want to make
sure you’ve prepared and considered.

First, you’ll want to confirm that your battery is fully-charged. If something is going to get
fubar’ed with your install of ML, it’s likely going to be due to your battery running out of
juice. There’s a reason Canon encourages you to have a full battery in the camera when
you’re updating the main camera firmware, and it’s because bad things can happen if
you don’t. In fact, I prefer to take in another step, and to only use a fully-charged genuine
Canon battery when I’m running firmware updates. If your battery fails in the middle of a
firmware update, whether it’s Canon firmware or Magic Lantern, your camera is probably
going to be toast. So take every precaution you can to avoid a failure.

Next, there are certain Canon firmware versions that are Magic Lantern-friendly. So, if
you’re using the 5D Mark III, you’ll want your camera’s firmware to be set on version 1.1.3.
For those of you using the 5D Mark II, you’ll want version 2.1.2. These are the most/only
stable versions currently playing “nice” with the Magic Lantern firmware. If you don’t have
these, check the Quick-Start section at the beginning of this Guide for download links.
 [ 17 ]

Next, be sure to do a full format of both your CF and SD cards in the camera. This
ensures that the correct directories and folders are in place for your install of Magic
Lantern. But about those cards…

Recommended CF Cards

Given the sheer amount of data being written from the camera to the CompactFlash
card, not just any memory card will work with ML RAW. And to make it more
complicated, cards that say they’re a certain speed may not actually write AT that
speed. For example, a few of the larger-capacity cards (128GB or so) actually write
slightly slower than the same model card with a lower capacity.

Below is a list of CF cards that have been tested and are verified working with full-HD
(1920x1080) resolution at 24/25p from the ML RAW Canon 5D Mark III. Keep in mind
that card speeds and capacities are constantly
getting better (and bigger), so there may be other
cards out there that shooters are using with ML
RAW. This list includes only the cards we’ve actually
been able to test and verify as working with the …not just any memory
Mark III: card will work with
- Lexar 1000x
Magic Lantern RAW.”
- Toshiba 1066x
- Komputerbay 1000x (with reservations)

Many people have had success with Komputerbay

brand 1000x CF cards, but others have had some
issues with them. Even though they may be branded the same, with the same speed,
there may be variations in quality from card to card. Buyers have had good luck getting
problem cards replaced with new ones. We’ll leave it up to you to make the decision as
to which cards to use, but to us the possibility of losing a single shot (or an entire card’s
worth of footage) isn’t worth the savings to buy anything but the best memory cards
possible.

As always, be sure to get your cards from a reputable dealer. There are counterfeit
cards out there, and there’s a decent chance you might get one if you buy from places
like eBay, or from discount online stores. In the era of e-commerce, we prefer to buy
memory cards from (gasp) our local retail camera stores. If something goes wrong,
they always stand behind what they sell, and by supporting them, we know they’ll be
around when we need them.
 [ 18 ]

Installation: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide

For the 5D Mark III

1. Preparing Your Camera

Before you can even begin to load the ML firmware and start playing with RAW, follow
these steps to get your 5D Mark III ready. (And remember, make sure your battery is
fully-charged before you start.)

a. Check the firmware version that your camera is running. If it’s not running 1.1.3,
you’ll need to get it. Keep in mind, it doesn’t matter if you’re running an older OR a
newer version than 1.1.3. ONLY genuine Canon firmware version 1.1.3 will work with
Magic Lantern software.

b. You can download the correct Canon firmware version at this link:

http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d3_113.zip

c. Unzip the package and load the .fir file onto your memory card.

d. Select the “firmware ver.” item in the Canon SETUP 4 submenu, and confirm that you
want to update your firmware.

e. Once the process is complete, power off and re-start your camera, and navigate to
the firmware submenu to confirm that the update was completed.

2. Formatting Your Cards

Now that you’ve got the right firmware on your camera, the next step is to re-format
your memory cards. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again (and again): always first
format your cards in-camera, using the Canon menus to do it.

a. Insert both a recommended CompactFlash card and an SDHC card in your camera.

b. Power up your camera.

c. From the Canon SETUP 1 sub-menu, select each of your memory cards, and format
them using the commands shown.

d. Your cards are now ready to be Magic Lantern’ed.

[ 19 ]

CANON FIRMWARE VERSION

At the time this Guide was created,
only Canon 5D Mark III firmware
version 1.1.3 is verified to be work-
ing with Magic Lantern software. If
you don’t have this version, get it.

UPDATING YOUR FIRMWARE

Selecting the “firmware ver.” item
in Canon SETUP 4 menu will allow
you to re-flash your camera with
the correct firmware 1.1.3 version
loaded on your memory card.

FORMATTING YOUR CARDS

Always format your memory cards
in-camera before you proceed with
any of the installation of Magic Lan-
tern. This ensures that the correct
files and directories are in place so
you can work with ML.

WHY FORMAT IN-CAMERA?

Using the camera to format your
cards at the very beginning en-
sures you’ll have the correct file and
folder structure for installing Magic
Lantern in the steps ahead.
 [ 20 ]

To make your life easier, you can use software to create a bootflag that will allow the
Magic Lantern firmware to auto-load when you restart your camera.

NOTE: USE A CARD READER

When you’re copying files to and from your memory cards, always use a card reader. I
like the Lexar combo CF and SD card reader, with a USB 3.0 connection.

3a. Making Your Cards Bootable (Mac)

a. Download and unzip MacBoot from the link below:

MacBoot: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html

b. Double-click the MacBoot icon to launch the application.

NOTE: If you’re on the Mac and running OS X 10.8 or later, you’ll need to make sure
you’ve downloaded the macboot.command file from the MacBoot page (linked above).
Before you open MacBoot, double-click this file in your finder (which will launch
MacBoot), or you won’t be able to successfully make your card(s) bootable.

c. From the dialog box, select “Make DSLR Bootable,” and click the “Prepare Card”
button.

d. A process will run on-screen and confirm that everything is complete.

3b. Making Your Cards Bootable (Win)

a. Download and install the EOSCard application from the link below:

EOSCard: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard

b. Run the EOSCard application, and choose your Compact Flash card from the drop-
down selection box.

c. Click the Magic Lantern Logo, then click Save.

NOTE: Be aware that EOSCard might install one of the older 5D Mark II Magic Lantern
releases on your card. If so, delete those files manually.
[ 21 ]

MACBOOT

EOSCARD

www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 22 ]

4. Formatting Your Cards in exFAT Mode

exFat is a file system created by Microsoft originally for use in flash drives. It allows for
unlimited file sizes, up to (obviously) the limitation of the storage media.

Why bother formatting your cards in exFAT mode? Canon HDSLRs are designed to
format media cards in the FAT32 format, which limits file sizes to 4GB. Files larger than
4GB are split up into multiple pieces by the operating system. By reformatting your
cards in exFAT mode, your camera will be able to record files larger than 4GB, saving
you a lot of hassle in post.

How do you do it on the Mac? It’s easy…

a. In your Utilities folder, find and launch Disk Utility.

b. Insert your Compact Flash card in a card reader, connected to your Mac. (If you’ve
followed our recommendations and installed ML software on your SDHC card, then
you’ll be saving yourself some headaches right now.)

c. Select your “EOS_DIGITAL” Compact Flash card from the left window, then click the
“Erase” tab at the top.

d. From the “Format” drop-down menu, select exFat, and click Erase. Be sure that you
leave the card name the same as it was when you loaded it in the card reader. Your
Canon camera will thank you for it.

5. Copying the Firmware to the Cards

Now that you’ve gone through all the steps to get your camera and cards ready, it’s
time to load up the Magic Lantern firmware, and it couldn’t be easier.

a. If the card you want to load the Magic Lantern software on isn’t in your card reader,
put it there. (Ideally this will be your SDHC card.)

b. Get the latest “nightly build” of the Magic Lantern software at the link below:

http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0

c. Unzip the file, and drag the contents of the folder (all of them), to the ROOT level of
your memory card. There should be 3 folders and 2 files on the card. The folders DCIM,
MISC, and ML should be present, and the “5D3_113_ bootflag.fr” file and the “autoexec.
bin” files should be present.
 [ 23 ]

exFAT FORMATTING
If you want to shoot longer clips in RAW with Magic Lantern, you’ll want to format
your cards in exFAT format. It’s quick and easy to do with Disk Utility on the Mac.

SUCCESS!
If you’ve done everything right, you
should see this screen when you
start up your camera. (If you don’t
see it, double-check your work, and
perhaps start over again.)
 [ 24 ]

6. Verifying and Accessing the Magic Lantern Firmware

It takes some time to accomplish, and there’s a bunch of steps to get it done, but when
you install Magic Lantern, you’ve essentially created a completely new filmmaking tool.

A quick way to verify that the software is installed and working is at camera start-up.
When you start up your 5D Mark III, you should see indications of the Magic Lantern
software at work. The first of these is the “card check” function, which will go through a
complete check of the setup and speeds of both of your memory cards. You might also
see audio meters at the bottom of your LCD, another indication that Magic Lantern is
installed and working properly.

Once startup is complete, you can access the Magic Lantern menu by pressing the
Trash/Delete button on the lower left side of the camera. The first press will bring up
the “Enjoy!” message seen on the right. A second press of the button will take you into
the main Magic Lantern menus, which we’ll go into in the next section.

One last method you’ll want to know about to verify that Magic Lantern is installed is
found in the Canon SETUP menu. Here, your Canon firmware version should no longer
read “1.1.3,” but it should look like the image on the bottom of the next page.

If you don’t see these indications of success, backtrack through the installation guide
to make sure you didn’t miss a step, or check the “Troubleshooting” section that follows
below.

www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 25 ]

SMELLS LIKE VICTORY

Once you’ve installed everything
and restarted your camera,
all you have to do is press the
Trash/Delete button to bring up
the Magic Lantern menu.

ENABLE BOOTDISK MESSAGE

Below is an image that shows the “EnableBootDisk” message that you should see if you go into
the Canon SETUP 4 sub-menu. This is a good thing, and it means you have been chosen.
 [ 26 ]

Installation: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide

For the 5D Mark II

NOTE: For the most part, the steps needed to install Magic Lantern on the 5D2 are very similar
to the ones for the 5D Mark III. But be sure to follow the specific steps for your camera model to
ensure the ML firmware “takes” to your camera.

1. Preparing Your Camera

Follow these steps to get your 5D2 ready. (And make sure your battery is fully-charged.)

a. Remove all external accessories from your camera (grip, flash, etc.), and set your
camera’s mode dial to M (Manual) mode.

b. Check the firmware your camera is running. If it’s not version 2.1.2, you need to get
it. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you’re running an older OR a newer version than 2.1.2.
ONLY genuine Canon firmware version 2.1.2 will work with Magic Lantern software.

c. You can download the correct Canon firmware version at this link:

http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d2_212.zip

d. Unzip the package and load the .fir file onto your CF card.

NOTE: Only CF cards of 64GB or less will work for updating firmware on the 5D2. You
can RECORD RAW video to a 128GB card, but cannot use it for firmware updates.

e. Clear all User Settings off your 5D2 (use the function in the camera’s SETUP menu.

f. Select the “firmware ver.” item in the Canon submenu, and confirm that you want to
update your firmware.

g. Once the process is complete, power off and re-start your camera, and navigate to
the firmware submenu to confirm that the update was completed.

2. Formatting Your Cards

The next step is to format your memory cards. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again
(and again): always first format your cards in-camera, using the Canon menus to do it.

a. Insert a recommended CompactFlash card card in your camera.

b. Power up your camera.

c. From the Canon SETUP sub-menu format your CF card using the commands shown.
[ 27 ]

CANON FIRMWARE VERSION

At the time this Guide was created,
only Canon 5D2 firmware version
2.1.2 is verified to be working with
Magic Lantern software. If you
don’t have this version, get it at the
link provided on the previous page.

UPDATING YOUR FIRMWARE

Selecting the “firmware ver.” item
in Canon SETUP menu will allow
you to re-flash your camera with
the correct firmware 2.1.2 version
loaded on your memory card.

FORMATTING YOUR CARDS

Always format your memory cards
in-camera before you proceed with
any of the installation of Magic Lan-
tern. This ensures that the correct
files and directories are in place so
you can work with ML.

PRO TIP: AUTO POWER-OFF

Many Canon shooters will keep the
Auto Power-Off function turned on
to save battery life. With Magic Lan-

EOSCARD
tern running, you want to disable
this, so that your camera doesn’t
shut off in the middle of a shot.

www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 28 ]

3a. Making Your Cards Bootable (Mac)

a. Download and unzip MacBoot from the link below:

MacBoot: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html

b. Double-click the MacBoot icon to launch the application.

NOTE: If you’re on the Mac and running OS X 10.8 or later, you’ll need to make sure
you’ve downloaded the macboot.command file from the MacBoot page (linked above).
Before you open MacBoot, double-click this file in your finder (which will launch
MacBoot), or you won’t be able to successfully make your card bootable.

c. From the dialog box, select “Make DSLR Bootable,” and click the “Prepare Card”
button.

d. A process will run on-screen and confirm that everything is complete.

3b. Making Your Cards Bootable (Windows)

a. Download and install the EOSCard application from the link below:

EOSCard: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard

b. Run the EOSCard application, and choose your Compact Flash card from the drop-
down selection box.

c. Click the Magic Lantern Logo, then click Save.

4. Copying the Firmware to the Cards

Now that you’ve gone through all the steps to get your camera and cards ready, it’s
time to load up the Magic Lantern firmware, and it couldn’t be easier.

a. If the card you want to load the Magic Lantern software on isn’t in your card reader,
put it there.

b. Get the latest “nightly build” of the Magic Lantern software at the link below:

http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0

c. Unzip the file, and drag the contents of the folder (all of them), to the ROOT level of
your memory card. There should be 3 folders and 2 files on the card. The folders DCIM,
MISC, and ML should be present, and the “5D2_212_ bootflag.fr” file and the “autoexec.
bin” files should be present.
[ 29 ]

MACBOOT

EOSCARD

www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 30 ]

5. Verifying and Accessing the Magic Lantern Firmware

It takes some time to accomplish, and there’s a bunch of steps to get it done, but when
you install Magic Lantern, you’ve essentially created a completely new filmmaking tool.

A quick way to verify that the software is installed and working is at camera start-up.
When you start up your 5D2, you should see indications of the Magic Lantern software
at work. The first of these is the “card check” function, which will go through a complete
check of the setup and speeds of both of your memory cards. You might also see audio
meters at the bottom of your LCD, another indication that Magic Lantern is installed
and working properly.

Once startup is complete, you can access the Magic Lantern menu by pressing the
Trash/Delete button on the lower left side of the camera. This will bring up the “Enjoy!”
message seen on the right. Then press the Picture Styles button (the one that looks
like some kind of weird digital flower.) This will take you into the main Magic Lantern
menus, which we’ll go into in the next section.

One last method you’ll want to know about to verify that Magic Lantern is installed is
found in the Canon SETUP menu. Here, your Canon firmware version should no longer
read “2.1.2,” but it should look like the image on the bottom of the next page.

If you don’t see these indications of success, backtrack through the installation guide
to make sure you didn’t miss a step, or check the “Troubleshooting” section that follows
below.

THE RED LIGHT

You see that little light that
flashes when you open the CF
card door? It tells you that the
camera is accessing the card.
Well, with Magic Lantern loaded,
when you open the card door
and the light goes off, there
still may be stuff going on. So al-
ways wait three or five seconds
before you pull the card. Other-
wise, you might lose some clips.

www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 31 ]

THE LIMITATIONS OF CF CARDS

One reason the 5D Mark III may
be able to provide higher reli-
able resolutions than the 5D2 is
because the Mark III can use the
SD card slot for the firmware
while recording to CF, where the
5D2 has to use the CF for both.

SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION
Below is an image showing what the Canon firmware version readout should look like if you’ve
succesfully installed the Magic Lantern firmware.
 [ 32 ]

Magic Lantern Features

When you first load up Magic Lantern and pull up the menu, what you see can be a bit
overwhelming. There are so many settings and features, it can be hard to know where
to start, or even which settings to mess with. Here are a few key features that you’ll
want to familiarize yourself with, just so you know what’s going on with your camera.

- Card test at startup

- Histogram and waveform moved to bottom

- New experimental display for focus peaking (extreme sharpness)

- 16:9 bars for anamorphic preview

- Saturation boost when adjusting white balance

- Warnings for bad settings (e.g. if you set picture quality to JPEG instead of RAW by
mistake)

- Dim the red LED while recording (make it less distracting)

- Magic Zoom (zoom while recording), experimental focus peaking modes, ghost
image, display presets

- Movie indicators, movie logging, rec/standby notification, force LiveView for manual
lenses

- Gradual exposure in movie mode

- HDR video
- Brightness, contrast, saturation, display gain, color schemes, UniWB correction,
upside-down mode

- Clean HDMI with pillarboxes

- Anamorphic and fisheye correction

- Image review tweaks (exposure adjust, remember zoom position...)

- Task and CPU usage info

- zebras, focus peaking, cropmarks, spotmeter, histogram, waveform, vectorscope,

audio meters.

- card benchmark, debug info, stability tests.

 [ 33 ]

Links to Firmware and Applications

Magic Lantern Nightly Builds
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6362.0
Canon EOS Firmware Version 1.1.3 for 5D Mark III
http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d3_113.zip
Canon EOS Firmware Version 2.2.1 for 5D Mark II
http://proofcreative.com/user/canon_5d2_212.zip
MacBoot
http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/macboot/macboot.html
EOSCard for Windows
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/eOScard

Tips and “Best Practices”

What follows is a list of tips and techniques that we use to help get the most out of
Magic Lantern, with as little teeth-gnashing and cursing as possible. Think of these as
the “commandments” for working with ML RAW firmware.

- Always format your cards (CF and SD) in-camera.

- Remove the battery from your camera if you’re not

going to be shooting for an extended period of time.

- Always use a card reader to move files to and from Magic Lantern opened up
your computer to the CF and SD cards.
a world of possibilities for
- Don’t pull your card too fast. When you open the
door, the camera may take a second or so to access filmmakers. RAW changes
the cards. Pulling them during this process may force that world yet again.
the camera to continue “working,” and can drain the
battery.

- If you want to remove ML from your cards, be sure

to format them in-camera. Don’t try to remove the files through your computer.
 [ 34 ]

Troubleshooting
Okay, let’s face it. Sometimes things go wrong. And when they do, all you want is to get
back to shooting as quickly as you can. So here are a few common-ish problems that
ML RAW users talk about, and what you can try to fix them should they happen to you.

The main thing to keep in mind is…don’t panic. Formatting your cards will (almost)
always get you back to at least being able to shoot with you camera in an “unhacked”
state.

1. When I start up my camera, why won’t the ML firmware load?

First, make sure the folders and directories on your cards match the ones at the end
of the step-by-step install guide above. If that doesn’t work, double-check that your
camera’s Canon firmware version matches the recommended versions from earlier in
this Guide. Finally, if neither of those are the issue, try completely removing all User
Settings from your Canon camera, re-installing
the recommended firmware version, and then
There’s not a whole lot go step-by-step through the installation guide
above.
you can really do to get
If you’re using the 5D Mark II, you might also try
in big trouble with Magic turning off the “Auto Sensor Cleaning” function
in the Canon menus. This feature can mess with
Lantern. Remember, you
Magic Lantern’s ability to auto-boot the software.
can always start over. If you still have problems, check out the Magic
Lantern forums. Someone there can probably
answer your question.

2. I can’t bring up the Magic Lantern menu. What’s up with that?

Remember, the Magic Lantern menus exist in a completely different location than the
normal Canon menus. On the 5D Mark III, you bring up the ML menu by pressing the
“trash can” or delete button., and then you navigate the menus using the two scroll
wheels (one on the top next to the shutter button, and the other on the rear of the
camera). On the 5D Mark II, you bring up the ML menu by going into LiveView mode,
and pressing the Picture Styles button. Then you can navigate your way through the
menus using the joystick.

3. My camera is freaking out, locking up, and giving me corrupt files.

Chances are, if you’re having these problems, you didn’t format your cards in-camera.
You’ll need to re-format them in your camera, then repeat the installation process. If
you did format them in-camera, try running the “stability tests” in the Magic Lantern
 [ 35 ]

debug sub-menu. Again, if this doesn’t solve your problems, check out the online
Magic Lantern forums for additional help.

4. When I remove the CF card from the camera to copy my files, the camera won’t
start up after I put the card back in. What’s up with that?

When you open the card door to remove a card, there’s a moment of time when the
camera is actually interacting with the cards. If you pull the card immediately, the
camera can get stuck in a kind of “loop,” where it’s trying to access the card, but the
card isn’t there. If this happens, you’ll likely have to remove the battery, re-insert it, and
restart your camera. And to avoid this in the future, just wait a moment or two before
pulling your card once you’ve opened the card door.

The online community

is your friend. If you’re
struggling, visit the
Magic Lantern forums
for more help.

www.dvxuser.com/V6
www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 37 ]

3
SHOOTING RAW WITH MAGIC LANTERN
This is the good stuff you’ve been waiting for

If you’ve loaded the ML firmware on your camera (and by this point I hope you have),
it can be overwhelming to see the sheer number of options and menus that pop up
when you hit the trash can button. Honestly, there are more options and choices in
the menus than we have time to cover here. So we’re choosing to focus on the key
settings and features that you’re likely to want to use most often in the Magic Lantern
world.

Don’t let that deter you from experimenting with the various options in the ML
software. There’s nothing wrong with trying different things out, and seeing what
they do and how they work. Best of all, there’s not a whole lot you can do to get
yourself in trouble. If you get lost, or if you’re having issues with your camera after
you change some settings, you can always reformat your cards and start over with a
fresh install of the ML software.
 [ 38 ]

What Is RAW, and Why Does It Really Matter?

There’s a surprisingly large amount of misunderstanding about what RAW is. Put very
simply, the RAW video that Magic Lantern lays down on your memory card is raw
sensor data (just as you would get from a RAW still), recorded at whatever resolution
and frame rate you set in the Magic Lantern menu. The resulting images offer 14-bit,
4:4:4 color, providing a range and flexibility in post that is only matched by the highest-
end professional digital cinema cameras.

But as great as it is to be able to shoot RAW video with these cameras, remember, it isn’t
likely going to be the difference between your film project being lauded at festivals or
not. RAW can get you extra resolution. It can get you another stop or two of dynamic
range. But it can’t make up for bad dialogue. It can’t replace an amazing location that
oozes character. And it’s never going to help your actors deliver better performances.

Love RAW for what it is, and for what it can give you. But remember it’s only one of a
long list of things that give a project that “film look.”

Should You Shoot RAW?

Before we go any further here, let’s start with a simple question: should you even
bother shooting RAW? (Let’s be honest here…the answer is generally going to be “yes,”
for many reasons.) Shooting RAW, whether with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, the
RED Epic, or the Canon 5D Mark III running Magic Lantern, means you’re going to have
to deal with a few things. One, you’ll generally need a lot of fast, high-capacity media.
Two, you’ll need a computer with enough space to store all that media. And three,
you’ll need the time (and skills) to take the RAW goodness and make post-production
magic with it.

Now, you’re here, reading this Guide, so you probably already know these things, right?
So let’s move along.
 [ 39 ]

CINEMA-RIGGED CANON 5D MARK III

With the RAW ML firmware running, the Canon HDSLRs suddenly
become digital cinema beasts. Feel free to kit them out appropriately.

CINEMA EOS LENSES CINE ACCESSORIES

Great cine glass will help get Mattebox, follow focus, and ND
the most out of your images. filters are a must with the 5D.
 [ 40 ]

The Cinema DNG Format

At the heart of the ML RAW phenomenon is the ability for the software to create files
in the Cinema DNG format, an industry-standard, open-source format made for digital
cinema files. Cinema DNG files are basically an image sequence comprised of individual
frames. When you record on the 5D Mark III (or other Canon camera) using ML RAW,
the camera is taking a stream of RAW images and creating a Cinema DNG sequence,
embedded in a special file wrapper. Later in this Guide, we’ll look at in-depth workflows
for ML RAW, including how to take these files and prepare them for editing and post-
production.

In 2008, Adobe introduced Cinema DNG, a new open standard imaging file format.
CinemaDNG stores raw, uncompressed image data. Since 2009, more than a dozen
companies have developed products utilizing the new file format, and a dozen others
support the format. The format is unencrypted and free from intellectual property
encumbrances or license requirements.

There are several advantages to using raw image data for cinema. The ability to store
images as a DNG-sequence provides extra flexibility.
An additional benefit of using DNG is that there can be
interchange between a CinemaDNG workflow and a
still camera workflow.
…you’ll need time (and
skills) to take the RAW
Understanding Color Sampling, Or Why 4:4:4
goodness and make post- Color Makes A Huge Difference

production magic with it.” Color sampling can be a difficult concept to grasp.
Put simply, it’s a form of compression. The concept is
based on the way our eyes work, with rods and cones
to sense light. There are lots of rods (which sense
brightness, but not so much color. The cones allow
us to see color, but there’s not nearly as many of them as there are rods. So, engineers
decided that they’d create a system that mimics the way we see, putting emphasis on
brightness over color.

In the color sampling system, the number 4 represents the maximum value given to
one Luma (brightness) channel (Y), and two Chroma (or color) channels, (Cb and Cr).
Stock Canon HDSLRs operate in video mode in a 4:2:0 color space, offering full resolution
luma, and half resolution in the horizontal direction and vertical direction for the chroma
components.
 [ 41 ]

CINEMA DNG FILES

Cinema DNG stores raw, uncompressed image data in an unencrypted
format and free from license requirements. It also plays well in a
professional cinema workflow, including programs like Blackmagic Resolve.

4:2:0 Color Space (Stock 5D) 4:4:4 Color Space (ML RAW 5D)
As you can see, there are lots of In the graphic above, you can
pretty colored squares here. I’ve clearly see that there are more
worked hard to make this graphic squares. And as we were all taught
look nice. Hopefully someone else in elementary school, more squares
can tell you what it means. equals better color.
 [ 42 ]

With the Magic Lantern firmware installed, and the RAW module active, images are
recorded in full 4:4:4 color space, where the Luma channel and both of the Chroma
channels are seeing full resolution.

For reference, the Arri Alexa also has the ability to record images in 4:4:4 color space,
and the camera is priced in the mid-five figures. The fact that the ML RAW firmware
allows us to bypass the built-in 4:2:0 color sampling in favor of the same 4:4:4 sampling
of the RAW stills is nothing short of revolutionary. The fact that it’s free, and runs on our
$2,800 (and under) camera bodies is mind-boggling.

Bit-Depth Explained
My apologies in advance. There is more math involved.

Digital SLRs use the binary number system. Binary

numbers are constructed from two digits: 1 and 0
(the decimal system by contrast has ten numerals).
A single digit in a binary number is called a bit
These are 14-bit color (shortened from ‘binary digit’).

files, which…translates Each of the millions of pixels in a digital photo

corresponds to a photosite (also called a pixel)
into over 68 billion on the camera’s sensor. Photosites generate a
small electric current when hit by light, which is
shades of color.”
measured by the camera and recorded in a JPEG or
RAW file.

The factory Canon HDSLRs (in video mode) record

the color and brightness information for each pixel with three 8-bit numbers, one for
each of the red, green and blue channels (these color channels are the same as the
ones you see in programs like Photoshop or in your camera’s color histogram display).

Each 8-bit channel records color on a scale of 0-255, which means that 8-bit color is
delivering over 16 million individual shades. Not too shabby.

The Magic Lantern RAW firmware allows us to record a stream of RAW files, just as we
might shoot stills in “burst” mode. These are 14-bit color files, which when you do the
math, translates into over 68 billion shades of color.

Now think about this: the RED Epic records .R3D files with 16-bit color. Do the math,
and that gets you over 281 trillion shades of color. Of course there’s a price for that
power, and for anything not set in Middle Earth, 14 bits is probably enough.
 [ 43 ]

To illustrate how bit-depth affects

color and how we see it, take
a look at the two bars on the
right. The first one represents
8-bit color, and as you can
see, the transitions between
shades are rougher and more
abrupt. There just aren’t
enough shades to create a
smooth gradient.

On the far right is a bar that rep-

resents 16-bit color. There are
so many more subtle shades,
it’s hard to even tell where the
transitions are happening. It’s
a perfectly smooth gradient
from top to bottom.

Now, where might this matter?

Think of the blue sky, for ex-
ample. To our eyes, it registers
as blue, maybe a handful of
different shades, but it looks
blue. But in reality, the sky is
made up of millions of differ-
ent shades and hues. An 8-bit
camera is likely going to suf-
fer from the same “transition”
(banding) artifacts as the 8-bit
bar shows. But the ML RAW
camera, with 14-bit color, is
going to do a much better job
of reproducing a wider range
of colors, showing less (if any)
banding, and providing a bet-
ter color palette for grading.

8-Bit 16-Bit
 [ 44 ]

Setting Up ML Firmware For RAW Shooting

Once you’ve got Magic Lantern loaded and booting on your camera, you’ll need to
go through the menus and set up a number of features before you can get started
shooting. As we said before, there are a metric ton of different settings available to you
in Magic Lantern. But we’re focusing on the handful that you’re most likely to use in
your pursuit of digital cinema greatness. And it starts with the RAW recording module.

THE RAW MODULE

This is the big addition to the Magic Lantern landscape: the RAW Module. It’s what
makes shooting RAW possible, but there are quite a few other settings and features
hidden inside.

As of the writing of this sentence, if you have the ML RAW correctly installed, the RAW
module should auto-load at startup. (Earlier builds required you to manually load the
RAW module, which you can do via the Modules submenu, if needed.) With the RAW
module loaded, you can activate RAW shooting
by going into the Movie submenu (with the video
camera icon) and selecting RAW Recording.

This is the big addition

to the Magic Lantern Resolution and Aspect Ratio
One of the beautiful things about Magic Lantern
landscape. It’s what makes
RAW is that it takes a tool that once could only
shooting RAW possible.” shoot video at either 1920x1080 or 1280x720
resolutions, and allows the user to choose
whatever resolution they want (within the
limitations of the card speed/processing pipeline,
of course). If you want to shoot full-HD, go ahead. If you need to drop your resolution
down to accommodate a slower card, or a faster frame rate, do it. If you want to shoot
“squeezed” for anamorphic lenses, knock yourself out. It’s all up to you.

In the ML Movie menu, when you select RAW recording, you can press the “Q” button
to enter the resolution/aspect ratio settings. Here, you can change your vertical AND
horizontal resolution independent of each other, and when you do, Magic Lantern
automatically calculates the aspect ratio based on the settings you’ve entered. This
allows you to prioritize any of these settings depending on your needs, and Magic
Lantern will help you “do the math” to set up the rest.
[ 45 ]

THE ML MOVIE MENU

When you first boot up your camera
after installing ML RAW, you won’t
actually see anything different in
your Movie menu. Relax, everything
is fine, there’s just one thing to do.

THE MODULES MENU

Go into the ML Modules menu, and
select the item that says “Load
modules now…”. This will activate
any modules that you installed with
Magic Lantern, including RAW.

RAW VIDEO
Now if you go back into the ML
Movie menu, you’ll see RAW video
listed. Scroll down to it and hit the
SET button to turn it on. You’ll see a
little “Q” icon on the right. Press the
Q button on your camera and…

THE RAW VIDEO SUBMENU

Now you’re in the RAW video
submenu. This is where you’ll set
your resolution, aspect ratio, frame
skipping options, and a few other
things like the Digital Dolly function.
 [ 46 ]

Preview
This is where you tell Magic Lantern how you’d like to see the image you’re shooting
on your LCD screen. AUTO will let Magic Lantern decide for you, this is what we
recommend using. Selecting CANON will get you the normal LiveView look, but your
framing may not be accurate.

Digital Dolly
This feature allows you to simulate a dolly move using a cropped area of the sensor.
Think of it as a window over your sensor, and you can “move” it digitally to create
the effect of a slider or dolly. Using the software, your camera joystick becomes the
controller. You can set your start and end point and create the dolly move you want.
Cool, eh? We talk more about it later in the Advanced section.

Frame Skipping
The idea behind this function is simple: if you’re using a slower card, and you drop
a frame, frame skipping set to “allow” means your camera will continue recording,
dropped frames and all. If this is set to “OFF,” the camera will stop recording when
dropped frames are encountered. We’d encourage you to always leave this set to “OFF,”
provided, of course that you’re using one of the recommended Compact Flash cards.

Card Warm-Up
Due to some internal card-related mojo, some cards don’t like to have a bunch of RAW
files dumped to them when they’re still cold. They want you to buy them dinner, tell
them they’re pretty, and THEN record RAW files. The “Card Warm-Up” function simply
records one long file to the card at startup, giving the card a chance to warm up and be
ready for future recordings.

Memory Hack / Small Hacks

At the moment, these “hack” functions seem to allow slight improvements related to
memory usage, and the speed of the Canon GUI. Beyond that, I have no idea what they
do. (I’ll try to find out and get back to you.)
[ 47 ]

PRO TIP - PREVIEW

If you’ve got an HDMI monitor
connected to the 5D2, and you’re
seeing buggy or glitchy video, you
might try setting your Preview
mode to “ML Grayscale.”

DIGITAL DOLLY
With the full-frame of the 5D Mark
III sensor, there are lots of possibil-
ities that can be unlocked. “Digital
Dolly” is one of them, helping you
get shots that simulate a dolly, even
if you don’t have one.

FRAME SKIPPING
With Magic Lantern RAW, your
memory cards need to be up to
speed (at least 1000x). But if they
aren’t, and if you don’t mind drop-
ping frames, use this function to
continue recording.

PLAYBACK
To play back clips shot in ML RAW,
simply go to the RAW Video menu,
and select the “Playback” function.
Clips won’t play back using the nor-
mal Canon system, so you have to
do it in the ML menus for it to work.
 [ 48 ]

KEY SETTINGS IN OTHER MODULES

FPS Override
(MENU:MOVIE:FPS OVERRIDE)
With the stock Canon HDSLRs, your choice of frame rates was limited to 30p, 24p, and
60p, depending on which camera and which firmware you were running. But Magic
Lantern does away with that limitation. In the Movie menu, the “FPS Override” function
will allow you to set whatever frame rate you want, and the setting will “override”
whatever is set in the Canon camera menu. The frame rates available for real-world
shooting will still be limited by the speed of your memory cards, and you’ll have to find
that “balance point” between resolution and frame rate. Our recommendation is to
ALWAYS use this function to set the exact frame rate you want to shoot with.

Audio Settings
(MENU:AUDIO:BEEP, TEST TONES)
Sound with Magic Lantern RAW is a bit of a train-wreck at the moment. But hey…audio
was never that great on these cameras to start with. There’s just too much processing
going on to reliably record in-camera sound. But you still have some tools to work with.
The main one you’ll want to enable is the “Beeps.” Basically, this generates an audible
beep whenever you start recording. This gives you an easy sync point for matching up
your picture with sound (recorded by someone else, preferably) in post.

Global Draw Settings

(MENU:OVERLAY:GLOBAL DRAW)
These settings might seem pretty harmless. After all, they simply dictate when the ML
graphics are overlaid on your LCD screen. But remember, there’s a lot of processing that
goes into recording RAW files, and drawing histograms, waveforms, peaking, all adds to
the processing load. If your card is having a hard time keeping up, try turning this OFF.
Otherwise, I always leave mine set to LiveView, so it’s available when shooting video,
but off when I want to shoot stills.

Histogram
(MENU:OVERLAY:HISTOGRAM)
The one exposure tool that should be available to you on-screen at all times is the
Histogram. In ML RAW, the histogram reflects the RAW data, and learning how to use it
means you won’t ever have to worry about overexposure or clipping again.
[ 49 ]

FPS OVERRIDE
Since ML RAW is recording unpro-
cessed stills without compression,
you are no longer limited to the
frame rates the camera was de-
signed to record. ALWAYS set this
to the exact frame rate you want.

THE SYNC BEEP

For as long as there have been
“talkies,” people have been syncing
picture and sound recorded and
shot separately. The “sync beep”
gives a nice, loud reference tone for
syncing your footage in post.

GLOBAL DRAW
Think about what Magic Lantern is
doing. It’s recording RAW video, on
top of the existing Canon firm-
ware. All the while the Global Draw
feature gives you on-screen data to
help you shoot better video. Damn.

THE HISTOGRAM IS YOUR FRIEND

Magic Lantern’s histogram is an
amazing tool that can really help
you expose correctly when shoot-
ing RAW. (The standard Canon
histogram is pretty useless by com-
parison.)
 [ 50 ]
Recommended Magic Lantern Settings

After extensive testing and in-the-field use, below are the settings we recommend
when shooting with Magic Lantern RAW. These settings reflect 24p shooting for 1080p
delivery. (Next to each setting is the menu path to get there in Magic Lantern.)

Resolution: 1920x1080 (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:RESOLUTION)

Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:ASPECT RATIO)

FPS Override: 23.976p (MENU:MOVIE:FPS OVERRIDE)

Preview: Auto (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:PREVIEW)

Small Hacks: OFF (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:SMALL HACKS)

Global Draw: ON, LiveView Only (MENU:OVERLAY:GLOBAL DRAW)

Frame Skipping: Off (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:FRAME SKIPPING)

REC Indicator: Elapsed Time (MENU:MOVIE:REC INDICATOR)

Sound: Sync Beep (MENU:AUDIO:BEEP, TEST TONES)

Enable Beeps: ON (Square Wave 880 Hz) (MENU:AUDIO:BEEP, TEST TONES)

Color Scheme: Dark Green (Retro stylin’) (MENU:MOVIE:RAW VIDEO:RESOLUTION)

PRO TIP PRO TIP

Be sure to Under the RAW
double-check video menu
your Global you’ll find this
Draw settings. feature. The
These can “card warm-up”
impact the max function writes
speed at which a big file to the
your RAW files card when you
can be written boot up, which
to the cards. some cards
seem to enjoy.
 [ 51 ]
Recommended Canon Menu Settings

Since we’re shooting RAW now, most of the normal settings you’d worry about in the
Canon menus no longer affect the images coming out of the camera. But how they’re set
WILL affect how the camera performs, and the frame rates and resolutions that are able
to be recorded to the CF card.
Here’s a handful of settings you’ll want to make sure and double-check before you start
shooting with Magic Lantern RAW:
Auto Lighting Optimizer: OFF
Long Exposure Noise Reduction: OFF
High ISO Noise Reduction: OFF
Higthlight Tone Priority: OFF
Multiple Exposure: Disable
HDR Mode: Disable
Auto Power Off: Disable
Image quality: Set RAW stills to OFF, and JPEG quality to S3

IMPORTANT NOTE!
One of the most important settings you’ll need to set in the Canon menus is to choose
the destination card for your recordings. A lot of people overlook this setting, and they
wonder why they can’t get sustained RAW recordings out of their cameras. If the camera
is trying to record to the SD card INSTEAD of the CF card, you’re going to have problems.
So be sure to go into the Canon settings and choose the Compact Flash card as your
recording location.

The settings
PRO TIP in your Canon PRO TIP
On the 5D2,
menus may not Hit the Magnify
you can set it any effect
have button once to get
to providing
on how your into 3x crop mode.
framing guides
images look, but Pressing it twice
with blackthey can affect gives you normal
bars, making
how it
your camera 10x magnification
easier to performs
focus in you can use to aid
on composing
RAW. Set them in focusing. Press
your shot.accordingly. it a third time to
get back to the 1x
normal view.
 [ 52 ]

EXPOSURE AND FOCUS TOOLS EXPLAINED

THE RAW HISTOGRAM (MENU:OVERLAY:HISTOGRAM)

For those coming to RAW video from a photography background, or if you’ve
been shooting video on HDSLRs for a while now, the histogram is like an old
friend. But in Magic Lantern, the histogram is a super-charged exposure tool
with all sorts of bells and whistles. First, it reflects the RAW sensor data when
you’re in LiveView mode. Second, you can set it to alert you when individual
color channels may be clipping. Third, and perhaps the coolest feature, is that it
can give you an exposure “hint” using the ETTR (Expose To The Right) approach.
(We’ll talk more about ETTR a bit later in the Advanced section.)
 [ 53 ]

THE WAVEFORM (MENU:OVERLAY:WAVEFORM)

If you’re coming to RAW shooting from a video background, the Waveform may
be familiar to you. It plots exposure from 0-100 IRE levels, with 0 being black
and 100 being pure white (or overexposed).

FOCUS PEAKING (MENU:OVERLAY:FOCUS PEAK)

Anything that can help you nail critical focus is a good thing. Try playing around
with the Focus Peaking function, which draws colored edges on objects in the
frame that are in sharp focus.
www.dvxuser.com/V6
 [ 65 ]

5
WORKFLOW AND EDITING WITH ML RAW FILES
You’ve got beautiful RAW files, now what do you do with them?

We want RAW for one very simple reason: we want to preserve as much information
as possible in the original image file. It is this information, which we call dynamic
range, detail, and color accuracy, that RAW is designed to capture. But once we have
that information captured digitally, we need to have the right tools to turn that
information into beautiful images, and we need to know how to use them.

How you use those tools, and the process that takes you from footage to finished
product is called workflow, and it’s the key to getting the most from RAW.

Figuring Out Your Workflow

With almost every other camera format, the question of workflow is one that can
generally be left to the post-production team. And increasingly, NLEs are supporting
more and more native camera formats, making life easier (in most respects) for
editors everywhere. But with RAW, the workflow is something you really need to
think about in advance.

And it starts with where you put those files.

 [ 66 ]

Storing Your .RAW Files

The first thing you’ll learn when you load up your memory card to copy your RAW files
for the first time, is that they’re huge. RAW files are big. Really big. Each file is basically
a collection of RAW still images, recorded at a certain resolution and frame rate. There’s
no compression, H.264, JPG or otherwise. It’s RAW sensor information, and it eats up
digital storage space like crazy. So you have to come up with a storage solution that
will accommodate shooting RAW, preparing and/or transcoding your files, editing, and
finishing. Not a task to be taken lightly.

Exactly how you build your storage is up to you, and if you’re shooting RAW, chances
are you’ve already got this sorted. But if you don’t, you’d be well-served to put some
thought into just how you’re going to store and work with your RAW files. There are a
number of great, low-cost RAID-enabled storage systems (from companies like G-Tech,
CalDigit, and OtherWorldComputing) that are perfect for working with RAW files.

Media Management and Secure Backup

If it matters enough to you to shoot it in RAW, it should be important enough to be
backed up securely and redundantly. At the very least, you’re going to want to back
up your RAW media files to two locations, one of which should go somewhere that’s
safe and climate-controlled. I recommend copying your media files to a “storage” drive,
and copying them again to a dual-drive or RAID-enabled editing setup. This way, if
something happens to my “storage” drive (like a deadly Sharknado), I’ll still have my
“working” files on the RAID setup. And if one of my RAID drives fails, I can easily replace
it and rebuild the RAID. That’s how I work, but you’re free to find a workflow that works
for you.

There are also a number of tools that will copy and verify your files to multiple locations
or drives. One of the ones we like in particular is ShotPut Pro, which does exactly this,
but also provides highest-level data checksums and verification, so you always know
that what’s on your drives is exactly what was on your memory cards.

It comes down to this: make sure your files are safely backed up somewhere, and you
can avoid the heartache and near-death experience that comes with having a hard
drive failure.
 [ 67 ]

STORAGE AND BACKUP SOLUTIONS

With the RAW ML firmware running, the Canon HDSLRs suddenly
become digital cinema beasts. Feel free to kit them out appropriately.

TOOLS FOR COLOR WORK

If you’re serious about your work as a colorist, look into the Resolve-
ready panels made to properly interface and control your color apps.
 [ 68 ]

Preparing to Edit
The next thing you have to realize is that RAW files from Magic Lantern need to be
“processed,” just like RAW stills, or even actual film. (You remember that stuff, right?

Now that your footage is backed up and safe, you have to prep your footage for editing.
Depending on what environment you’re editing in, your choices may already be made for
you. For example, if you edit in FCP X, you’ll have to transcode your RAW files to ProRes to
make them edit-friendly. If you’re editing in Premiere, you might also want to transcode,
but you can also work natively with the RAW files from ML by using a plug-in called
GingerHDR. If you’re comfortable in AfterEffects, you can make adjustments to color,
contrast, and even apply a basic grade before running your transcodes. Or you could work
with the Cinema DNG files in Blackmagic Resolve, the industry-leading professional color-
correction software that’s free to download. This is the workflow I prefer to use, starting
and finishing in Resolve, and using XML to “round-trip” to and from the NLE program of
choice.

A promising new tool that can automate a lot of this work for you is Red Giant’s software
package called BulletProof. It automates a number of the copy and secure backup
functions in one single program, and it also enables
you to apply LUTs (more on that shortly), generate
proxies, and even apply some basic color grading.
(BulletProof is brand new, and it’s yet to be seen how
…RAW files from Magic or if it will handle Cinema DNG files, but it’s worth
keeping an eye on.)
Lantern need to be
“processed” just like RAW
What’s A LUT, and Why Should You Care?
stills, or even actual film.” If you (or more importantly, your client) don’t know
what to expect when you look at RAW files, you
might be in for an unpleasant experience. Why?
Simply put, RAW files don’t generally look very
good, because, well…they’re RAW. There’s no “look” baked-in, so saturation, contrast, and
color balance are likely to be off. If you’re using the ETTR (Expose To The Right) exposure
method, then your footage is also going to look overexposed and just generally gross.

You can fix this by using a LUT (or Lookup Table).

A LUT applies a pre-set recipe of image adjustments to your clips, creating a look that
can be easier on the eyes (and clients) during the editing process. The most common
LUT you’ll want to apply uses the REC709 color space, which uses a standard color and
contrast curve to “de-log” your RAW footage.
 [ 69 ]

SHOOTING
|
PROCESSING/TRANSCODING
|
EDITING
|
MASTERING

THE WORKFLOW
Every person’s workflow should be their own. And how yours will “flow” is
likely going to be determined by what NLE you’re using, how you like to
finish or “master” your materials, and even who you’re working with.

RAW/LOG COLOR (NO LUT) WITH VIIEWING/EDITING LUT

The first thing you’ll notice with For viewing on-set, or for editing,
RAW files is that they seem washed you might find a LUT useful. It gives
out and dull. They’re supposed to, the footage more normal-looking
because there’s no “baked-in” look contrast and saturation, making for
cooked into the footage. easier viewing and editing.
 [ 70 ]

If you’re working in a solo environment, and don’t have to worry about how your
footage looks as you work with it, applying a LUT may not be something you want
to mess with. But my feeling is that, if you’ve chosen a RAW workflow, you should
understand and embrace the industry-standard practices used by professionals in post
houses around the world. They’re using LUTs, so you should know how to do it too.

Soon, we’ll be sharing a few LUTs (in .CUBE format) that you can use in Resolve to
quickly apply a look to your footage. To install, simply drag to the “LUT” folder tucked
away in the Resolve Application Support folder. (Look for links to LUTS soon!)

Getting Your Files Ready To Edit

Before we go any further here, let’s start with a simple question: should you even
bother shooting RAW? (Let’s be honest here…the answer is generally going to be “yes,”
for many reasons.) Shooting RAW, whether with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, the
RED Epic, or the Canon 5D Mark III running Magic Lantern, means you’re going to have
to deal with a few things. One, you’ll generally need a lot of fast, high-capacity media.
Two, you’ll need a computer with enough space to store all that media. And three,
you’ll need the time (and skills) to take the RAW goodness and make post-production
magic with it.

Now, you’re here, reading this Guide, so you probably already know these things, right?
So let’s move along.

RAW2DNG (Mac and PC)

https://bitbucket.org/600dplus/magic-lantern-things/downloads/raw2dngOSX.zip

http://acoutts.com/a1ex/raw2dng.exe

One of the great advantages of RAW2DNG is its ability to create ProRes files during the
conversion process. This means you can quickly sift through your footage

RAWMagic by Rarevision (Mac Only)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rawmagic/id658860973?mt=12

Rarevision’s RAWMagic is a clean and simple drag-and-drop app that takes your ML
RAW files and quickly converts them to Cinema DNG format.
 [ 71 ]

BUILDING YOUR EDITING

SYSTEM
As much as we’d like to devote an entire chap-
ter to setting up an editing and post system,
it’s just not a topic that we can cover in the
Guide. So much of it depends on what your
budget is, what platform you prefer to work
on, and how much of the process you’ll be
handling on your own.

But there are a few things that we think are as

universal as you can get, regardless of your
needs and budget.

At the moment, it’s not really practical to work

with RAW files natively. Even with plug-
ins that make it possible, it’s not the best
way to work with RAW. So you don’t need
a computer that is fast enough to playback
and edit RAW files. If you’re working with
R3D files, your needs might be different, of
course.

I think the most important consideration in set-

ting up your system is understanding HOW
you like to work, and creating a system
that is built around that paradigm. What I
mean is that if you’re a solo-shooter who’s
fiishing your own projects, a high-pow-
ered Mac laptop might be your best bet. If
you prefer a more traditional two-monitor
setup, or if you’re uncomfortable with the
smaller screen of a laptop, you might want
to custom-build a Windows PC, with beastly
graphics cards and plenty of internal stor-
age.

But keep in mind many workflows are based

around editing proxy files, which are less
taxing on hardware. If you’ve got a system
that works, but it’s a bit under-powered, just
choose a workflow that allows you to edit
with proxy files. You’ll save time, money, and
headaches.
 [ 72 ]

Son Of Batch (Mac Only)

http://tshit.de/Son_of_Batch_OSX-68.zip

This Mac-only app is another great little tool for converting ML RAW files to Cinema
DNG. Son of Batch will also allow you to preview your RAW files, create backups and
proxies, and you can even set in and out points for your clips, which is a great way to
save some space.

RAWanizer (PC Only)

https://bitbucket.org/bjurhulta/rawanizer-release/downloads/RAWanizerSetup.0.6.0.exe

Developed for Windows users, RAWanizer is a great little utility that offers RAW to DNG
conversion, along with the ability to create proxy files in ProRes, DNxHD, and other
formats.

Cineform Studio
http://cineform.com/products/gopro-cineform-studio-premium

This one is a different animal altogether. Cineform

Studio is more than just a tool to transcode or
Cineform Studio is prepare your clips. Cineform is also a cross-platform
more than just a tool to compression format, providing 12-bit, 4:4:4 color
space in a file that is ready-to-edit, but still allows you
transcode or prepare to adjust and manipluate many of the RAW image
characteristics. Basically, if you go to Cineform, you’ve
your clips.”
got as good a file as you could ever want for editing
and post-production.

It’s not free, but the ability to transcode to Cineform RAW, with all the benefits that
brings, is certainly worth paying for, if you need what it offers.

Adobe Lightroom
With the rise of HDSLRs, quite a few photographers have embraced the filmmaking
world, using their cameras to deliver both still and motion images. And many of them
are much more familiar with tools based in the world of photography, including the
leading image library and development application, Adobe Lightroom 5. The great
news for them is that RAW shooters can actually use Lightroom to process their files.
 [ 73 ]

Here’s how you can use Lightroom to “develop” clips, with help from QuickTime
Pro 7:
1. Load your DNG files into Lightroom 5.
2. Verify that the correct number of files have been loaded, matching the
number of DNG files in the folder you converted the RAW files into.
3. Create a new library, and import the files.
4. Develop your grade for a single frame, and use Lightroom to copy the grade/
look to each frame in the clip sequence.
(NOTE: When developing and grading your images, remember you can
make automatic lens adjustments to correct for distortion, vignetting, and
aberrations.)
5. Export TIFF files from Lightroom.
6. Open QuickTime 7, and open your TIFF files as an image sequence.
7. Export your image sequence in the ProRes flavor of your choice.

ADOBE LIGHTROOM
Anyone coming from a still photography background is likely familiar with Adobe’s killer photo
library and processing app, Lightroom. If you’re more comfortable making your initial (and
even final) color work in a photo-focused application, this is the one to use. (Nice fish, eh?)
 [ 74 ]

Adobe PremierePro and AfterEffects

Adobe’s PremierePro and AfterEffects have always been known for their ability to work
with all sorts of different footage formats. And now, with the addition of a plug-in
called GingerHDR, you can work with Magic Lantern RAW footage natively in both of
these applications.

At $149, it’s not cheap, but if you’re more comfortable staying in Premiere for your
editing and finishing, this plug-in can help make that possible. Below is a link to the
GingerHDR site, and some information on how to use it.
GingerHDR Plug-In
http://19lights.com/wp/

Once installed, you’ll want to verify that it’s working properly. If you go to File -> Import
you can check supported file types, and GNR files should show up in the menu.

Resolve, and Why You Should Know It

When Blackmagic Design purchased Davinci Resolve in 2009, there was some
scratching of heads. Blackmagic was a hardware company, making interface I/O
products for video pros. The video community was curious to see what would happen
to one of the industry-leading color correction programs, a workhorse in post-
production houses around the world.

What did Blackmagic do? They took a tool that previously cost in the six-figure range,
and decided to sell a software-only version for $995. Oh, and they came up with
Resolve Lite, which packaged up almost all of the features of the full version, and gave
it away for free.

If you don’t have a copy of Resolve Lite, go to the Blackmagic website and get it now.

Resolve is a beast. There’s a reason professional colorists are paid a lot of money to sit in
a darkened suite all day, color-correcting films and commercials with Resolve. The sheer
number of controls, options, and adjustments you can make with it are overwhelming.
And to get the most out of it, you really need to have a good grasp on color theory and
the basics of digital color-correction.

That said, it’s way, way beyond the scope of this Guide to teach you how to use Resolve.
But there are a number of resources on the web that can help, and many of them are
free, like Resolve Lite itself. And remember, if you’ve backed up your footage properly,
you can play around with Resolve all you want without fear.
 [ 75 ]

BLACKMAGIC RESOLVE LITE

The name says “lite,” but there’s nothing light about this application. Resolve is the perfect
starting and finishing point for working with RAW files. The workflow takes some practice,
and the app itself is a beast, but knowing it will make your work better. Period.

PROJECT SETTINGS
See that little gear icon down
there in the lower left corner of the
screen? Clicking that little button
will bring up the Project Settings
panel, where you can customize
most of your Resolve settings.

BMD FILM COLOR SPACE

Magic Lantern’s histogram is an
amazing tool that can really help
you expose correctly when shoot-
ing RAW. (The standard Canon
histogram is pretty useless by com-
parison.)
 [ 76 ]

THE COLOR ROOM

Yes, there are a lot of controls. There are so many tabs and buttons that it’s easy to get over-
whelmed in the Color Room. That’s why we recommend you learn the basics of digital color
correction first, grasping key concepts before moving full-bore into Resolve.

THE CONFORM TAB

When working with XML and EDL
files, you’ll want to get to know this
window well. Here is where you
confirm that your timeline has im-
ported correctly, and that the clips
you need are loaded and ready.

THE DELIVERY TAB

This is where you tell Resolve what
you want exported, where it should
go, and how it should get there.
Remember, if you’re doing initial
exporting for round-tripping, proxy
files will be plenty good enough.
 [ 77 ]

What follows is our recommended workflow for getting the most out
of RAW files. Why? Well, if you’re shooting RAW, you want the absolute
best image quality you can get, with the maximum amount of range
and “gradability” in post. Blackmagic Resolve is one of the leading color-
correction tools available to video professionals, and knowing how to
use it will no doubt make your work better.
This workflow is also NLE-independent. What that means is that if your
NLE supports XML import and export, it will work with Resolve. Avid
Media Composer 7. Final Cut Pro X. Adobe Premiere Creative Cloud. All of
these (and more) are ready to go with the following workflow.

Recommended Round-Trip Resolve Workflow

1. Launch Resolve and create a New Project.
2. Import DNG files by dragging them to your Media Pool.
3. Go to the Color Tab, where your clips should show up in your Timeline.
4. In the Camera Raw window, select Decode Using -> Clip -> BMD Film.
5. In the same window, click the “Highlight Recovery” box.
6. Shift-click in the Timeline to select ALL of your clips.
7. Click the “Apply Settings To All Selected Clips” button (bottom center window).
(NOTE: All clips should now be in “Log Gamma,” thanks to the BMD Film setting.)
8. Shift-click to select ALL of your clips in the Timeline, and mouse down to the 3D LUT
selection.
9. Choose the REC709 LUT you want to apply.
10. In the Conform Tab, click the Project Settings (the gear icon) button at the bottom
left of the screen.
11. From the Master Project Settings Tab, select the “Assist Using Reel Names…” radio
button and click Apply.
12. Go to the Deliver Tab.
13. Export your clips for editing in the format of your choice. (If you’re going to “round-
trip” back to Resolve, select a proxy format for easy editing. If not, choose a Master-
quality format to preserve as much information in each clip as possible.)
(NOTE: Be sure to select “Render Clips with Unique File Name” from the Output Options
menu before exporting your clips.)
 [ 78 ]

14. When the clips are finished exporting, go to the File menu and select “Export AAF/
XML,” setting it to export into the same folder as your media.
15. Import your .XML file into the NLE of your choice, and edit to your heart’s content.
16. Export an .XML file from your NLE.
17. Launch Resolve, open your previous project, and from the File menu, select “Import
XML,” and select the XML file from your NLE.
18. In the dialog box that opens, be sure to DE-select the “Automatically import source
clips into Media Pool” checkbox.
19. When the XML imports, all of your edited clips should show up in the Conform Tab.
20. In the Color Tab, make any corrections and perform any grading you want.
21. When you’re ready to export a colored master (which we call the “submaster”), go
to the Deliver Tab. Choose your export format, and select the “Single Clip” box so that it
exports as one long, master-quality clip.
22. In your NLE, import your “submaster,” apply your finishing elements and audio mix,
and export your final master.

23. Drink copious amounts of alcohol, preferably of the grain variety. You’ve earned it.

DECODE WITH CLIP SETTINGS

When you’re adjusting the master
settings for your clips in Resolve,
you want to be sure to select “de-
code using clip settings.” This will
allow you to adjust the color space
and gamma independently.

HIGHLIGHT RECOVERY
Check this box to have Resolve
recover your highlights where nec-
essary. Just remember to uncheck
it if you don’t want your highlights
recovered for some reason.
[ 79 ]