Did some Card Span Tests with Cluster V6 and I thought Someone may find the results useful. I Tested sandisk 16gb 30mb and 45mb cards and a sandisk 128gb 45mb cards with some intresting results.

Both the 30mb and 45mb Cards Recorded fine and Both Spanned fine using HBR Pal but Both Stopped with no Span using 24H now the intresting thing is the 128Gb 45mb card Spanned fine with HBR for 2 hours and Spanned Fine using 24H for 2 hours Also.

I dont understand why the 128Gb 45mb spans with 24H but the 16Gb 45mb does not.

Last Card I tested just for fun and did not think It would work on 24H a Kingstone 16Gb Class 4 ?Mb Recorded fine in HBR and 24H but No Span but I did not expect it to.

All Tests with a Standard 14-42mm lens set at 42mm

@feha actually for this on it was A priority at 4, 160 ISO and exposure +1/3 @driftwood - ok will do one tomorrow.

@driftwood It says on page one "ALL Settings require Panasonic firmware v1.11 & ptools 3.64D '200212' OR 3.65d required". How do I know which settings require ptools 3.64d and which ones 3.65d?. Does that still matter or have they been redone so they work with either version of ptools?

@janis Could you do me a favour - record a similar scene to the one above using 'Nebular' which is defo better at HBR/1080i and then send me a small mts file where any/if any macroblocking happens? We will be improving the 12/15 variation as we go along and I do need to change a few things on that setting for version 7 which I am aware of.

Also @janis can you edit your thread comment with the video in to state its the 12/15 GOP variation. Thanks

@janis Now thats a test! Which version of Cluster v6 was it? 12/15 or the 6GOP variation? Thanks for showing me this. We'll be looking into HBR mode much much more in version 7 in a few weeks time.

@moseslee35 That's bloody lovely! Good job. :-)

Did a test video with Cluster V6 12/15 GOP variation and HBR 25fps.

This was also first real practice with Wondlan carbon stabiliser. Looks like environment and movement stretched compression to its limits.

5.1 Has been my favorite so far.

@driftwood

Thanks!

First broadcast credit for a hacked GH2 -- not my first broadcast credit. A decade ago I was an on-air guy (weekly business program that I hosted and then later became the producer), and after that I produced all sorts of crappy political TV ads.

Although I've got a number of projects in production, below is the first actual TV broadcast credit I can offer for a hacked GH2 -- filmed weeks back with Cluster V4...

This was a challenging project on a range of levels. The subject matter can be difficult for audiences, the lighting at the facility was a disaster, and space was cramped.

On the positive side -- they knew exactly what they wanted -- a general "name ID" piece -- and that's exactly what it is.

It won't win any awards for beauty -- but it is, perhaps, the essence of a hacked GH2 "guerilla" production. Equipment used was a hacked GH2, one thirty-two year old Nikkor lens, and a tripod. Graphics done in After Effects, audio added in Premiere Pro. That's it. And, the good news is that it's not the worst thing on American television.

I haven't worked with local cable systems in about four years -- and was shocked to discover that dinosaur Comcast -- who was the same from 1988 up until about four years ago -- actually accepts FTP of HD content. Wow -- no beta tapes involved!

The ad was produced in 720/60p. In theory -- in theory -- 720p looks better on 1080i sets than 1080i looks on 720p sets.

So -- there's the first broadcast credit I can present from a hacked GH2. The ad isn't beautiful -- but it is for a good cause. In about two weeks I'll be producing another spot for another charity -- this one should offer happy looking volunteers with cute animals -- so yeah -- I'll try to win a beauty contest with that production.

@ShoMo I've enjoyed playing with these clusters of GOPs. Both the v6's are excellent - 12/15 'DREWnet' gives you a bit more room on the card, 6 GOP variation (Nebular) takes it 25% more bitrate further with qualative improvements - and will eat your sdcards a tad more - but not much more - 10Mbps more on average :-)

The new Canis Majoris Intra settings though at 24p just kill anything out there... COMING SOON!

My CLUSTER v6 'Nebular' test:

This is with color correction. 14-140mm lumix lens 24H -2-1-2-2

@bencorwin Its getting the right matrix and weight sorted... we'll be working extremely hard to achieve the best HBR we can in version 7. But its pretty darn good on mid to tight shots. For the time being I'm back on Intra working on some new settings with Chris Brandin.

Hello everyone,

Just installed Cluster V.6 "Nebular"

I have a very simple question. I downloaded this patch because I would like to shoot using HBR mode (NTSC 29.97) and shoot highly detailed images (ex. wide shots in wooded areas) without having the god awful compression artifacts (micro blocking) destroying the image beyond use. I've installed several hacks and all of them seem to perform the same including this Cluster V.6 Nebular hack. I realize that there is going to be a certain amount of micro blocking in a highly detailed image, but the footage I took is usable. So my question is, are my expectations just too high for a 4:2:0 camera? Or is there a patch out there that handles high detail much better in HBR mode than other hacks? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Ben