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austinchimp

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  1. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from TheRenaissanceMan in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    low/no budget referred to the production value of the review itself, not to the type of productions it would be used on. As in - this review has been shot with a very low budget. They obviously don't use a big crew or have a gaffer with them, or even a proper DP. It's a run and gun review. With that knowledge, I don't expect too much. I just want to see simple demonstrations to illustrate what they're talking about.
    Maybe your expectations are different, which is fine. Maybe if you post some examples of your work we can see what kind of level you're expecting? Not trying to provoke, only to understand where you're coming from.
  2. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from TheRenaissanceMan in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    Now I haven't watched the review itself, but aren't we being a bit harsh here?
    I find this a useful - if basic - demonstration of the DR and a quick and dirty grade. It's an ugly shot, sure. It's not a Hollywood level production, but if I'm being honest this is the kind of shot I end up with in my edits frequently, and the kind of shot you want to know you can salvage something 'usable'. Not spectacular or perfect, but usable, and in that case this is a good demonstration.
    If you're expecting world-class images from both a technical and artistic standpoint then go see Dune in the cinema or watch any number of big-budget movies. This is a low/no budget camera review.
    As a content maker myself I can see what he was trying to do, and it was adequate in my view. I don't like this attitude of piling on on somebody for one shot that you personally might have done different.
    Or perhaps all of our work is beyond reproach with every shot a masterpiece?
  3. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from Marcio Kabke Pinheiro in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    Now I haven't watched the review itself, but aren't we being a bit harsh here?
    I find this a useful - if basic - demonstration of the DR and a quick and dirty grade. It's an ugly shot, sure. It's not a Hollywood level production, but if I'm being honest this is the kind of shot I end up with in my edits frequently, and the kind of shot you want to know you can salvage something 'usable'. Not spectacular or perfect, but usable, and in that case this is a good demonstration.
    If you're expecting world-class images from both a technical and artistic standpoint then go see Dune in the cinema or watch any number of big-budget movies. This is a low/no budget camera review.
    As a content maker myself I can see what he was trying to do, and it was adequate in my view. I don't like this attitude of piling on on somebody for one shot that you personally might have done different.
    Or perhaps all of our work is beyond reproach with every shot a masterpiece?
  4. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from Timotheus in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    Now I haven't watched the review itself, but aren't we being a bit harsh here?
    I find this a useful - if basic - demonstration of the DR and a quick and dirty grade. It's an ugly shot, sure. It's not a Hollywood level production, but if I'm being honest this is the kind of shot I end up with in my edits frequently, and the kind of shot you want to know you can salvage something 'usable'. Not spectacular or perfect, but usable, and in that case this is a good demonstration.
    If you're expecting world-class images from both a technical and artistic standpoint then go see Dune in the cinema or watch any number of big-budget movies. This is a low/no budget camera review.
    As a content maker myself I can see what he was trying to do, and it was adequate in my view. I don't like this attitude of piling on on somebody for one shot that you personally might have done different.
    Or perhaps all of our work is beyond reproach with every shot a masterpiece?
  5. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from The Dancing Babamef in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    low/no budget referred to the production value of the review itself, not to the type of productions it would be used on. As in - this review has been shot with a very low budget. They obviously don't use a big crew or have a gaffer with them, or even a proper DP. It's a run and gun review. With that knowledge, I don't expect too much. I just want to see simple demonstrations to illustrate what they're talking about.
    Maybe your expectations are different, which is fine. Maybe if you post some examples of your work we can see what kind of level you're expecting? Not trying to provoke, only to understand where you're coming from.
  6. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from newfoundmass in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    Now I haven't watched the review itself, but aren't we being a bit harsh here?
    I find this a useful - if basic - demonstration of the DR and a quick and dirty grade. It's an ugly shot, sure. It's not a Hollywood level production, but if I'm being honest this is the kind of shot I end up with in my edits frequently, and the kind of shot you want to know you can salvage something 'usable'. Not spectacular or perfect, but usable, and in that case this is a good demonstration.
    If you're expecting world-class images from both a technical and artistic standpoint then go see Dune in the cinema or watch any number of big-budget movies. This is a low/no budget camera review.
    As a content maker myself I can see what he was trying to do, and it was adequate in my view. I don't like this attitude of piling on on somebody for one shot that you personally might have done different.
    Or perhaps all of our work is beyond reproach with every shot a masterpiece?
  7. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from Jimmy G in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    Now I haven't watched the review itself, but aren't we being a bit harsh here?
    I find this a useful - if basic - demonstration of the DR and a quick and dirty grade. It's an ugly shot, sure. It's not a Hollywood level production, but if I'm being honest this is the kind of shot I end up with in my edits frequently, and the kind of shot you want to know you can salvage something 'usable'. Not spectacular or perfect, but usable, and in that case this is a good demonstration.
    If you're expecting world-class images from both a technical and artistic standpoint then go see Dune in the cinema or watch any number of big-budget movies. This is a low/no budget camera review.
    As a content maker myself I can see what he was trying to do, and it was adequate in my view. I don't like this attitude of piling on on somebody for one shot that you personally might have done different.
    Or perhaps all of our work is beyond reproach with every shot a masterpiece?
  8. Like
    austinchimp reacted to newfoundmass in How Jordan of DPReview showcases flexibility of RAW video (lazily)   
    It's Canada in late November. I'm not sure what you're expecting from that shot... I suppose he could've made it look unrealistic? 
    I'd be more critical of his shot choice than his grading of Alberta when everything is gray and muted. 
  9. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from deezid in P4K vs S1/S1H   
    Have you tried the GHa luts for the S1? I can tell you that they work great and elevate the colour completely. The S1 files have enough data and latitude that you can match to the Alexa pretty well. 
    Here's another lut pack that does the same thing - 
     
     
  10. Like
    austinchimp reacted to stephen in P4K vs S1/S1H   
    Have both BMPCC 4K and Panasonic S1/S5. For me both are great cameras for video/cinema.  
    Historically bought BMPCC 4K first 2-3 years ago and resisted buying Panasonic S5/S1 mainly because want to shoot in RAW. Image quality has the highest priority for me when choosing a camera. Panasonic cameras initially didn't have RAW video recording capability. Recently Panasonic added ProRes RAW and BRAW as external recording options. RAW video plus very good prices second hand tipped the scales for me.
    Didn't test them extensively side by side. From the limited tests that did can say both BMPCC 4K and Panasonic S1/S5 for me have excellent image quality in BRAW. 10bit 4:2:2 h264 internal from Panasonic is probably a notch down but very close. 10bit internal is now OK for me to use in some projects. Initially that was not the case. My plan was to use only BRAW external from Panasonic.
    When first reviews of Panasonic S1H started to appear, downloaded several clips in 10bit 4:2:2 V-Log and graded them. Was looking mostly for skin colors. Was not satisfied, they didn't look as good and as easy to grade as BMPCC 4K BRAW.
    Log picture profile that both have is like negative. Until we develop the negative, color correct/grade it in post, it is not possible to talk about color. What kind of color you get in the end is more skills in color correction / grading then camera color science. Agree with Kye on this.
    As said, I downloaded several clips shot with Panasonic S1/S5/S1H series of cameras internally in V-Log 10bit 4:2:2. Color corrected them in Davinci. Some shots and more specifically skin tones didn't look as good as they look on BMPCC 4K. It is all subjective we have to admit this, but that was my impression and assessment. For both cameras - BMPCC 4K and Panasonic S1/S1H/S5 used the same method (Color Space Transform) to convert from Log profile and their respective color spaces to REC 709. Since both BRAW and Davinci Resolve are Blackmagic products, getting great colors with simple CST is easy with BMPCC 4K. This method however does not gives always satisfying result and colors for Panasonic internal 10bit V-Log. So I tried Panasonic V-Log  to REC 709 conversion LUT and 3rd parties Color Space Conversion LUTs (55Media). They gave me better results and better starting point. Adding some simple corrections, contrast, saturation, balancing exposure etc. after the conversion LUT now gives me better colors and skin tones.
    There are some test footage from both cameras on interenet. This one has downloadable source  BRAW (BMPCC 4K) and MP4 (Panasonic S1H) files.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Al-tIFXFuY
    Among the sample footage there is one clip for checking skin tones. Lighting is quite challenging and constantly changing and shots are in different time, he shot with one camera then the other. Still it is a good exercise to try. When I tried it first almost a year ago with CST used for both cameras, didn't like the colors from Panasonic. Doing it now with conversion LUTs get better colors from Panasonic and can match closely both cameras.
    More examples and tests here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rghbaHoVRsk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB2ZkRaPWjY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4eydFl1hM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJawO5eeWr8
    While I agree with Kye that getting good colors is mostly skills in editing program of your choice, don't think that getting a good starting point, correct colors or pleasing colors is that difficult. Usually use 4-5 nodes maximum for this task. It takes a lot of time and skills to build a certain look, to finesse every take, emphasize some lighting etc. This requires a lot of knowledge and practice. But basic color grading/correction should not be that difficult. With Panasonic 10bit 4:2:2 V-log internal you have to try different methods, correction LUTS, etc. It may take some additional efforts and time. Once you have the new workflow, it will be easy to apply it and it will be more or less consistent so at the end you get colors  you like. I usually stop at this point and do not go for a specific look like teal / orange etc. One day maybe but for the moment it is OK. A good example of what am saying is Zeek. His videos shot on EOS M + ML RAW for the last 2 years have consistent and great colors. Yet his color correction / grading workflow in Resolve is very simple.
    The difference and reason why we are saying we like colors from camera brand A better that Camera brand B is mainly because our workflow to develop colors from Log profile and camera color space to REC 709 is giving us colors we like. Once we change workflow or color correction/grading  is adjusted for camera B that we didn’t like, problem is solved. We can again get colors we like. Am not saying those are correct colors.
    About LUTs mimicking Alexa. Of course, they are not 100% close and in some lighting condition may be off. It would be important only if you try to match Alexa footage with BMPCC 4K in one video for example. When we talk Alexa colors again we confront the problem how did we get those colors. Even if we download conversion LUTs from ARRI website (which I did), there are different LUTs for different Arri Camera models and color space transforms. Depending which one you use you get slightly different colors. So what are after all Alexa colors?
    For me those LUTs simply are good starting point, a reference. That's it.
    Advantages and disadvantages of BMPCC 4K over  Panasonic S1/S5/S1H is another topic. You have to try both in order to make the best decision for you. As said many times - it is personal; everybody should try himself or herself. For me Panasonic S1/S5/S1H have few advantages, so tend to use Pana S5/S1 more.
     
     
  11. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from Vintage Jimothy in P4K vs S1/S1H   
    Have you tried the GHa luts for the S1? I can tell you that they work great and elevate the colour completely. The S1 files have enough data and latitude that you can match to the Alexa pretty well. 
    Here's another lut pack that does the same thing - 
     
     
  12. Like
    austinchimp reacted to jgharding in Alexa Bargain   
    I had a think about this last year.

    End of the day an Alexa classic is a massive heavy 1080p camera which, although it produces a phenomenal image, was designed for crew work and is losing ground now.

    I now use an S1H recording externally to BRAW, plus GH Alex LUTS and it's close enough for me, plus i can shoot entirely solo and get good results.

    So TBH I think they need to come down a bit more in price.
  13. Like
    austinchimp reacted to Matins 2 in The end of EOSHD   
    Do whatever is best for your health.
  14. Like
    austinchimp reacted to D4cl00 in The end of EOSHD   
    The last 18 months have changed me completely as well.
    No more traveling because the company “is remote first”, no more creative minded colleagues, it’s all about process and numbers. All Zoom meetings are to the point, no more laughing. Dealing with 9 hour time difference (USA HQ)
    The 2 years before that was helping my wife with her rehabilitation after she suffered a stroke. Which was hard with a 1.5 year old and a 7 year old. We were back in the Netherlands coincidentally (we came back to NL for friends and family) when it happened, and so I decided to immigrate back not knowing whether she was going to recover and be able to speak and walk again. The immigration causes all kinds of financial challenges (taxes, insurance) which cost me close to $100K in the end.
     
    These events - rehabilitation, lockdown and now isolation shook me to my core. It changed me. I feel completely burned out. Life has gotten more “bare” and I have to find myself again, find what I truly care about. Connect with people, build something new.
    Add on the fact I’m 41 and probably having midlife crisis at the same time (proof: I drive a Tesla!), and the party is complete.
    Sorry for the long story - what I’m trying to say is that your personal struggle resonates with me and I want you to know that many people around me including myself have severely struggled the last 2 years. Social media didn’t help either; it has created a fake lens of the world, especially the last few years. It’s like 99% of the people are acting or presenting a version of themselves, instead of being themselves. 

    Things will get better, but as you said you may have to force change. Whatever you choose to do next, I wish you all the best. Never, ever give up the values you live by.
    Take care.
  15. Thanks
    austinchimp reacted to kye in How to edit MiniDV footage so that it looks good   
    You will struggle to get anything that looks 'great', so I would suggest a three-pronged approach:
    Content.  If ever there was a time to make the grade support the content rather than be a spectacle in itself, this is it.  One trick that often works is to go carefully shot by shot and ensure that the viewers attention is on the right thing / person, and that is often done by raising the luma of the area so it stands out.  Typically this is large and very soft oval power-windows the way that you'd simulate a vignette, and is often a combination of inside-outside effects where the subject is pulled up a bit and the outside is pulled down a bit.  If you do it softly enough then it should be imperceptible, but will put the focus on where it needs to be, distracting from the grade entirely. As there's no chance of making a 'great' grade, make one that is the least offensive.  Do this by working out the weakness of the footage and then compensating for that.  For example, in low DR 8-bit footage, often the mid-tones are stretched apart, so you could try lowering the overall contrast and essentially pulling the bits closer together.  This will raise the shadows, and maybe this will give a nice vintage look, but maybe not, and maybe you'd be better off actually pulling the levels down a bit and compressing the blacks (and whatever compression nasties are there).  You'd have to play with the footage to see where the issues are.
    It's worth experimenting with reducing saturation, which makes all footage look higher end, but may not be the aesthetic you're looking for. Degrade the footage to hide its sins.  I've shot lots of very low quality footage over the years, including SD, bad codec stuff, and have had a lot of mileage from upscaling it, blurring it and adding grain.  
    Upscaling it gives you more pixels to work with, and your timeline should absolutely be higher resolution than the original footage.
    Blurring at very small radius' is designed to soften the jagged compression artefacts.  Blurring at slightly larger radius' will smooth gradients, and much larger blurs (essentially adding diffusion in post) will smooth over the image the same way as diffusion filters do.  I'd suggest the smallest blur be at 100%, and the larger ones be semi-transparent over the image.
    Adding grain will disguise the fact you've blurred the footage, and will give an analog feel, which is far more preferable than having an early-digital feel.
    For this step I'd encourage you to grade at a standard viewing distance rather than close-up / pixel-peeping as the effects are easy to over-do.  If you're going to upload it, do a version specifically that takes into account the compression that will be applied, and you'll have to add lots more grain (for example) and probably experiment with multiple uploads to fine-tune it. Here's an example of my previous attempts at making the best of low quality footage.
    Final:
    Original:
    Best of luck - editing old footage can be fun and a trip down memory lane.  Enjoy the process!
  16. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from PannySVHS in Blackmagic Micro Cinema Super Guide and Why It Still Matters   
    Beautiful. Videos like this are the counterargument to the technical assertion that "every camera is the same, you just need to know how to process the images correctly". Yes, maybe that is technically true, but how much work and how many hours would you need to put into a Sony A7s or a GH5 to get it to have this emotional weight and texture? Something about these old Blackmagic sensors is just magical, it feels like memories. Lovely for you to have captured precious moments like this.
  17. Like
    austinchimp got a reaction from BenEricson in Blackmagic Micro Cinema Super Guide and Why It Still Matters   
    Beautiful. Videos like this are the counterargument to the technical assertion that "every camera is the same, you just need to know how to process the images correctly". Yes, maybe that is technically true, but how much work and how many hours would you need to put into a Sony A7s or a GH5 to get it to have this emotional weight and texture? Something about these old Blackmagic sensors is just magical, it feels like memories. Lovely for you to have captured precious moments like this.
  18. Like
    austinchimp reacted to newfoundmass in Why Gerald Undone is wrong about the Sigma Fp-L   
    Maybe save that criticism for the Matti Haapoja's and Peter McKinnon's of YouTube and not the guy that does rather dry long form reviews and regularly criticizes the things you think he's trying to sell?
    I say this as a very vocal critic of the YouTube filmmaking bubble. I don't always agree with Gerald but it's ridiculous to act as though he's looking to maximize clicks and affiliate sales. His videos would be under 10 minutes and feature him pouring coffee (gotta get that pouring sound!), riding a one wheel around, and otherwise pretending to have a far more exciting life than he does, all while talking about how awesome x is and that you should definitely check those affiliate links down below! 
    At least be fair if you're gonna criticize the guy. 
  19. Downvote
    austinchimp reacted to timapple in Why Gerald Undone is wrong about the Sigma Fp-L   
    Andrew, you're a smart guy.  So I guess you're just pretending not to know the real reason.  Welcome to the WOKE SOCIETY.  No one is allowed to be different anymore.  Free speech?  Not any more!   Still believe in biology?  You MUST be canceled, then. We've come full circle and Galileo is to be locked up in the tower again for daring to be a rebel....a CORRECT rebel at that.  So even though the FP and FP-L are in fact amazing cameras we live in a world of little snowflalkes.... but snowflakes that must ALL BE ALIKE.... even though everyone knows no two are alike.  Boys can be girls, girls can be boys, but don't you dare praise a camera for being unique.  It's the UNwoke camera.  Welcome to Alice in Wonderland where things are backwards and upside-down and common sense makes no sense to so many.  I ran out and purchased an FP months ago in large part due to your excellent review and praise and it's one of the coolest little cameras I've ever owned. It can be a stripped-down convertible or a laced-up high performance racer depending on how I kit it out.  Appreciate your defense of the little guy but they will never "get" it.  "They weren't listening then, they're not listening now.  Perhaps they never will."  - Don McLean
  20. Like
    austinchimp reacted to Vintage Jimothy in Firmware update turns Panasonic S1 into an S1H (albeit with record-time limit in demanding modes like 6K)   
    Just bought a used S1 with V-Log and Firmware 2.0 already installed. And I gotta say... I am really looking forward to trying this monster out when it arrives!
  21. Like
    austinchimp reacted to kye in Are Sony sensors ruining video with the 'Sony look'?   
    I've been trying to pull this apart for a long time, or maybe it just seems like a long time, it's hard to tell!
    I get the sense that the difference is a culmination of all the little things, and that the Alexa does all of the things you mention very well, and most cameras don't do these things nearly as well.
    Further to that, each of us has different sensory sensitivities, so while one person might be very bothered by rolling shutter (for example) the next person may not mind so much, etc.  Also, the "lesser" cameras, like the GH5, will do some things more poorly than others, for example the 400Mbps ALL-I 10-bit 4K mode isn't as good as an Alexa, but it's significantly better than something like the A7S2 with its 100Mbps 8-bit 4K mode.  And finally, the work you are doing will require different aspects, like dynamic range being more important in uncontrolled lighting and rolling shutter being more important in high-movement scenes and (especially) when the camera is moving a lot.
    So in this sense, camera choice is partly a matter of finding the best overlap between a cameras strengths, your own sensitivities / preferences, and the type of work you are doing.  
    Furthermore, I would imagine that some cameras exceed the Alexas capability, at least in some aspects.  These examples are rarer, and it depends on which Alexa you are talking about, but if we take the original Alexa Classic as the reference, then the new Alexa 65 exceeds it in many ways.  I believe RED has models that may meet or exceed the Alexa line in terms of Dynamic Range (it's hard to get reliable measures of this so I won't state that as fact) and I'm sure there are other examples.  
    There are other considerations beyond image though, considering that the subject of the image is critical, and I couldn't do my work at all if I had an Alexa, firstly because I couldn't carry the thing for long enough, and secondly that I'd get kicked out of the various places that I like to film, which includes out in public and also in private places like museums, temples, etc which reject "professional" shooting, which they judge by how the camera looks.
    Everything is a compromise, and the journey is long and deep.  I've explored many aspects here on the forums though, and I'm happy to discuss whichever aspects you care to discuss as I enjoy the discussions and learning more.  Many of the threads I started seem to fall off, but often I have progressed further than the contributions I have made in the thread, often because I came back to it after a break, or because I've developed a sense of something but can't prove it, so if you're curious about anything then just ask 🙂 
  22. Like
    austinchimp reacted to kye in Are Sony sensors ruining video with the 'Sony look'?   
    It would be nice to see some analysis of that.  Considering that images are just bunches of numbers, we can analyse them in almost any way that you can imagine, but we do basically no analysis whatsoever, but instead just fight about our preferred religion manufacturer online...
    It's quite sad really.
    What a fascinating thing - that BM RAW has processing on the RAW output..  that almost completely defeats the purpose of RAW!  There's a way to work out how to un-do it in post, but it's a PITA to do.
    Sharpening isn't always bad, but it can always be added more in post, so manufacturers should only add it sparingly.  I've heard that the Alexa adds a small amount of sharpening to the Prores, as the compression smooths some detail so they add a little back in to match the original look.
    In a normal camera they add sharpening, then compress the image with h264/5, which I think is the killer combo.  Sharpening and blurring are mathematical opposites, so with the right algorithm you should be able to reverse the sharpening in post with blurring, but because there is a compression in-between so the information gets lost and by the time you blur enough to get rid of the edge sharpening then the image is blurry as hell.
  23. Thanks
    austinchimp reacted to Sage in GH5 to Alexa Conversion   
    Working on it at this very moment (and a raft of updates simultaneously). Its a generational shift rolled in. I rewrote all code since the last 4.2 update; it's been a very technical winter 🙂
  24. Like
    austinchimp reacted to kye in Are Sony sensors ruining video with the 'Sony look'?   
    I understand what you're saying, but would suggest that they are only simple to deal with in post because they've had the most work put into them to achieve the in-camera profiles.  
    It is widely known that the ARRI CEO Glenn Kennel was an expert on film colour before he joined ARRI to help develop the Alexa.  Film was in development for decades with spectacular investment into its colour science prior to that, so to base the Alexa colour science on film was to stand on the shoulders of giants.
    Glenns book is highly recommended and I learned more about the colour science of film from one chapter in it than from reading everything on the topic I could find online for years prior:

    Also, Apple have put an enormous effort into the colour science of the iPhone, which has now been the most popular camera on earth for quite some time, according to Flickr stats anyway.
    I have gone on several trips where I was shooting with the XC10 or GH5 and my wife was taking still images with her iPhone, and so I have dozens of instances where my wife and I were standing side-by-side at a vantage point and shooting the exact same scene at the exact same time.  Later on in post I tried replicating the colour from her iPhone shots with my footage and only then realised what a spectacular job that Apple have done with their colour science - the images are heavily processed with lots and lots of stuff going on in there.
    and now that I have a BMMCC and my OG BMPCC is on its way, I will add that the footage from these cameras also grades absolutely beautifully straight-out-of-camera - they too (as well as Fairchild who made the sensor) did a great job on the colour science.  The P4K/P6K footage is radically different and doesn't share the same look at all.
  25. Like
    austinchimp reacted to BenEricson in Are Sony sensors ruining video with the 'Sony look'?   
    Yeah, those Rec709 grades with like 7 or 8 stops of dynamic range look so rich and vibrant. Film print style. Even 35mm film shot right now has a lot less punch than it used to. 
    I always though the baked in profiles on the C300 Mkii or maybe the 1DC or 1DX look really really nice. Yes, you have to be more intentional with your exposing but the results are really nice.
    Not all log footage is the same though. Flat film scans are incredibly easy to grade. You don't need any LUTs, just a standard correction will look really good and natural. 
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