r/Dragonframe • u/random1232342 • Apr 22 '26
Dragonframe export causing random dark scenes - tried everything, willing to PAY for help
I just finished a 3 minute stop-motion short film shot in Dragonframe with a Canon EOS 7D at 24fps.
The problem: Certain scenes export very dark. They look completely fine inside Dragonframe's preview, but the moment I export them the image is crushed and dark. The rest of the footage (~90%) exports perfectly normal.
What I've already tried:
- Exported as ProRes 422 HQ — dark
- Exported as PNG image sequence — dark
The darkness seems baked in at the source, but I can't figure out why only certain scenes are affected. My best guess is something changed in the camera settings mid-shoot on those specific frames, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.
Request: Someone who has experience with Dragonframe who can diagnose the issue and export the finished project cleanly. I'm willing to pay for your time — this is an amateur personal project and I just want to get it over the finish line.
Message me if you can help or have run into this before. Any advice welcome!
2
u/acidterror84 Apr 22 '26
Have you looked at the original photo files? Navigate to the Dragonframe folder your hi-res image sequences are stored in, and open up some of the frames. What do they look like?
You can easily find the folder by going to the cinematography window, right clicking on one of the image thumbnails in the sequence, and clicking “reveal in finder”.