Hi @bassquake,
First of all thank you for your kind words.
This thread corresponds to version 20221130 of the DSuper8 software.
I’ve released a more recent version 20230430, which features several important improvements, mainly the use of the new picamera2 library, instead of the deprecated picamera.
I don’t know the version you have installed on your system.
I am going to answer your questions.
This issue is already discussed in the forum.
In response to a suggestion by @Moevi.nl I have done tests using RPi4 running both the client and server software on the same machine.
The results of the tests confirm that it is a viable option.
The bottleneck is the HDR blending algorithm. While on a PC it runs in a fraction of a second, on the RPi4 it takes several seconds. The capture speed slows down, but it is a perfectly usable option, especially if we take into account other advantages of the RPi4 compared to a PC, for example the consumption that in the case of the RPi4 is really derisory.
On the other hand, the Raspberry Pi OS, still in its latest version Bullseye, is based on the Debian distribution of Linux.
This is an excellent distribution, although it has always been characterized as quite conservative, in the sense that it uses software packages that are highly tested and stable, and therefore somewhat old.
DSuper8 is based on PyQt6 and Python 3.10, which are currently not in the Raspberry Pi OS repositories.
In my case, to carry out the aforementioned tests, I had to compile both PyQt6 and Python 3.10.
The build process takes several hours and is somewhat problematic if we do not have the necessary dependencies installed on the RPi4.
If we manage to successfully finish the compilation, the DSuper8 software runs normally without problems.
Definitely. It is highly recommended to use a hard disk with USB3 interface instead of using the RPi’s microSD memory. These flash memories tend to degrade fairly quickly with frequent write and erase operations.
In my case I have a conventional portable hard drive (not SSD) of 2 TB with USB3 interface, powered by the same USB3 interface. I have had it running for several years with very good results. On the drive is both the Bullseye software and my own data files. The improvement is very noticeable in terms of speed, security and reliability.
Just these days I’m doing tests capturing dng files.
It certainly is an option. The picamera2 library can directly generate dng files.
What I have observed so far is the following:
With the DSuper8 software, properly configured, good results are obtained in my opinion. Each frame is digitized into a jpg file of about 500 KB, which requires virtually no retouching. The software itself adjusts the white balance, brightness, contrast, saturation, HDR blending, image rotation, trimming unwanted edges…
With dng files, we get an 18MB file for each frame of the movie.
These files must be processed one by one with a suitable software, (in my case I am using RawTherapee).
At the moment I am in a very early phase of the tests.
I’m thinking of posting my results on the forum.
If I see that it is worth it, I will try to develop a new version of the software that includes the possibility of capturing dng files.
In my case I have always used white light LED lamps. I have never considered the option of using colored LEDs.
In my opinion, with a good quality white LED lamp and a color temperature similar to the halogen lamps in older projectors, good results can be achieved without complicating our lives.
With the DSuper8 software, the blue and red gains can be fine-tuned to obtain a good white balance.
Best regards