VueScan: best settings for raw scans
Tom Harrison
I want to find the best settings for collecting raw scans that "archive" an
entire roll of film, by which I mean scans that 1) capture pretty much
exactly what the scanner has read, but 2) settings that make the scanner set
the proper exposure. Put in other words, I would like to defer all possible
adjustments to later when I process the raw file that I earlier scanned to
the disk. I am not a studio photographer so camera exposure and lighting
conditions may be different from one frame to the next.
I thought I had this worked out before, thinking raw scans were simply a
file containing the raw output of the scanner saved as a TIFF file. But of
course that's not exactly true, since I know that you can do some operations
like cropping, size reduction and perhaps others that will affect the output
of a raw scan.
But then I read, for the fifth time, the Advanced Workflow Suggestions page
of the help, it dawned on me that I was missing some critical points.
Clearly, the software needs to tell the scanner what exposure to use --
without locking exposure, I gather this is done in the preview scan on a
frame-by-frame basis. Next, I had assumed that the film type (negative
vendor/brand/type) was not used for the raw scan. And I had assumed that
other color settings (black and white point, brightness) were not evaluated
at the raw scan. But I am not sure now.
If I first scan an unexposed section of the film (the leader, for example)
and use this as a basis for my locked exposure and film base color for the
rest of the roll, am I doing a good or bad thing? I assume you would lock
film base color based on the assumption that for a given film, how it is
actually developed can make a difference that applies to the whole roll.
But what about exposure? Does setting exposure at the least dense (most
transparent) part of the film do the right thing?
And when I come back to process my raw scans, has the adjustment for the
film color mask already been made? I set Media Type to Color Negative in
the initial scan phase -- does this affect the output of the raw scan file?
My assumption is that I will subsequently process the scanned images using
VueScan, and apply frame-by-frame corrections and adjustments that refine
the processing.
Am I on the right track?
Thanks --
Tom
Tom Harrison
original post above, should I be using the "Image" media type at raw scan
time and Color Negative in the second processing run?
Tom Harrison
Ed Hamrick
> Clearly, the software needs to tell the scanner what exposure to use --
> without locking exposure, I gather this is done in the preview scan on a
> frame-by-frame basis.
Yes, it's sometimes useful to scan the whole roll with the same CCD
exposure, especially if you're using negative film and you want to
later lock the film color (orange mask color).
> Next, I had assumed that the film type (negative
> vendor/brand/type) was not used for the raw scan.
That's correct - it has no effect on the raw scan.
> And I had assumed that
> other color settings (black and white point, brightness) were not
evaluated
> at the raw scan. But I am not sure now.
That's correct - none of these things have the slightest effect on
the raw scan.
> If I first scan an unexposed section of the film (the leader, for example)
> and use this as a basis for my locked exposure and film base color for the
> rest of the roll, am I doing a good or bad thing?
The film base color has no effect on the raw scan either.
> Does setting exposure at the least dense (most
> transparent) part of the film do the right thing?
Yes.
> And when I come back to process my raw scans, has the adjustment for the
> film color mask already been made?
No.
> I set Media Type to Color Negative in
> the initial scan phase -- does this affect the output of the raw scan
file?
Yes, setting "Device|Media type" affects the raw scan. If it's set to
"Color negative", the green ccd exposure is 2.5 times the rgb exposure
and the blue ccd exposure is 3.5 times the rgb exposure.
Regards,
Ed Hamrick
Bob Shomler
>... setting "Device|Media type" affects the raw scan. If it's set to
>"Color negative", the green ccd exposure is 2.5 times the rgb exposure
>and the blue ccd exposure is 3.5 times the rgb exposure.
Is this for all scanners or do these values vary by scanner model?
Bob Shomler
www.shomler.com
Tom Harrison
"Ed Hamrick" <use...@hamrick.com> wrote in message
news:a30f7d$ker$1...@suaar1ac.prod.compuserve.com...
> "Tom Harrison" <thar...@mediaone.net> wrote:
[snip]
Ed --
Thanks for all of the great information -- locking the exposure on a clear
section of the film has made a tremendous difference in the intermediate and
final product (and speeded things up a lot, too).
Thanks!
Tom
Ed Hamrick
> >... setting "Device|Media type" affects the raw scan. If it's set to
> >"Color negative", the green ccd exposure is 2.5 times the rgb exposure
> >and the blue ccd exposure is 3.5 times the rgb exposure.
>
> Is this for all scanners or do these values vary by scanner model?
They vary by scanner model. Here's the snippet of code from VueScan:
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // sRGB
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // FS2700
{ 1.000000, 2.300000, 4.000000}, // FS2710
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // FS4000
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // HP 6100C
{ 1.000000, 1.920000, 2.920000}, // PhotoSmart
{ 1.000000, 2.320000, 3.490000}, // HP S20
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Dual
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Dual II
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Multi
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Multi Pro
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Speed
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Elite
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // Scan Elite II
{ 1.000000, 1.920000, 2.920000}, // LS-20/LS-1000
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // LS-30/LS-2000
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // LS-40/LS-4000
{ 1.000000, 2.600000, 3.700000}, // SS 4000
{ 1.000000, 2.600000, 3.700000}, // SS 120
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // SS 35/ES
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // SS 35+
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // SS 35/LE
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // ScanWit
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // ScanMaker 5
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // UMAX
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // FilmScan 200
{ 1.000000, 1.200000, 1.660000}, // QuickScan 35
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // HP 7400
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // LeafScan
{ 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // SS 45
{ 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // LS-8000
Regards,
Ed Hamrick
Gerhard Fuernkranz
> They vary by scanner model. Here's the snippet of code from VueScan:
>
> { 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000}, // sRGB
...
> { 1.000000, 2.500000, 3.500000}, // LS-8000
Ed,
I miss "Epson" in this list?
(And BTW I also miss an Epson setting when
I scan not from a device, but from a file)
Gerhard