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GH2 Questions from Canon user
  • Hello everyone this is my first post here, I use canons alot so i know exposure, iso, apture My main problem i was told this camera shot 24p but i took a few videos with it and loaded it up in preimere and see its interlaced. Is there some mode that im missing seems like all the modes seem foreign to me. Ive shot with hbr mode and a few others. I got the drewnet patch Im hearing all this talk of GOP im going to be researching this group of pictures.

    I also noticed when I get the colors how i like them and hit record the whole camera color changes a little to a green tent to it.

    Those are my main problems. also what was your first impressions of the camera if your a nikon or canon that came over to the gh2. or just anyone really. Im going to be looking more into these topics after this post I looked into the color problem but found nothing. and the progresive and interlaced. I know in premiere i can change it to P but is this really shotting a Progressive Just seems strange to me. just never had this problem im just confused. I see all these great videos with nice colors and when seeing mine with its green tint is just a let down.

    also if you can suggest the most used patch that has the best quality as in being more reliable and has good quality also

  • 18 Replies sorted by
  • interlacing: HBR is 1080p 29.97fps 'malignant' PsF - ie it will not be recognized as progressive by most software unless you force it. Also, HBR is encoded to h.264 as if it were interlaced, so there are interlacing-like artifacts in the footage - which is due to I think a lazy implementation by Panasonic engineers. I never use HBR because it just looks bad.

    I use 24H or 24L for 1080p24. If i want 29.97fps 1080p and dont need to record sound, i use 24H or 24L in 80% speed mode, which is actually just 29.97fps 1080p with no sound and a header or something that claims it's 24fps.

    The 24fps modes are indeed beautiful, crisp progressive footage. Just don't use HBR. It doesn't 'span' on many of the hack settings anyway.

    If you want 60fps progressive, use H/SH (the 720p modes).

    settings: i use Sanity 5 - low bitrates (not more than 2x stock), very good quality considering bitrate, and very reliable: http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2642/sanity-4-and-5/p1

    green tint: there are various discussions on this. not sure what the consensus is - might be that its not actually affecting the final video recording? I'm not up to date on that. It's never been a serious problem for me, but then again i'm not a serious filmmaker :)

  • @Shawnthefilmguy

    When you hit record and the image on the camera's monitor shifts to green, it's called "green shift," and there are about forty-two separate explanations for why it happens. Take your pick. It's a display issue and is not recorded to the video files.

    That said -- the GH2 display is a consumer display, not a pro calibrated anything -- so it'll take some time for you to get a feel for the difference between what you see and what you get. Assuming you have a calibrated production monitor in post.

    Switch your GH2 to "Cinema" mode -- and you'll have a choice between 24H (higher quality) and 24L (lower quality). This records in 1080 at 23.976 fps. It's true progressive, and that is what the hacked GH2 is all about. All other modes (HBR, MJPEG, etc.) are compromised on some level.

    I think your problem is that you didn't switch the camera to movie mode -- you just hit the record button in some photo mode. There are two functions on the dial with "M" -- select the one with a little movie camera just left of the "M."

    The overall image quality and reliability and efficiency patch I use and recommend is Driftwood's Cluster V6.

  • so 24h and 24l looks better then the hbr mode. are you able to get the high bitrates like in hbr mode on the 24h mode.

  • im goingto go do a test

  • @arvidtp

    There is nothing wrong with HBR. It is true 1080p embedded in 1080i. Just force the editor to see it as progressive and works perfectly if you need 30 FPS.

    There is so much misinformation being spread about the modes. If you really need to render to 30p then the HBR mode is the way to go.

    If you need 60 FPS for slow motion then the 720p mode works best. You can always render 60 FPS to 40% 24 FPS and you will be hard pressed to know that it is 720p and not 1080p.

  • @Shawnthefilmguy

    Do you truly need 24p or are you just looking for that based on everyone saying that 24p is the best.

    The best mode to use on the GH2 is the one that matches what frame rate your final product will be. If you are shooting video with lot’s of motion then the 720p @ 60 FPS mode will produce much better results.

    If you truly are making a movie and you know that you have to render to 24p then by all means use that mode.

    It just seems like so many people think that 24p is a MAGICAL frame rate that makes everything suddenly look mystically better. For the right types of scenes it offers the most data per frame for a given bit rate. For the wrong type of scenes(Fast motion) it is simply insufficient.

  • @Shawnthefilmguy

    It sounds like you just need some tips on how to use the GH2. These videos can help you in setting the GH2 up. Watch them in the order they are in below. Then I would recommend either installing Lpowell's Flow Motion settings if you are doing 24p or the no adverse affects settings if you just want stable settings to start with.

  • He said 24P.. And got interlaced.. Sound like he's in FSH mode, not Cinema 24H..

  • @mpgxsvcd, based on your above post; so I am shooting that something that's gonna need a little fast motion shots. Do I do 24p then combine my 720p 60FPS sense. I play with HBR much mostly because of what I read here about it, but how do you force the editor to see HBR as progressive?

  • @hilltop1 in premiere i know how to do it. what software are you using.

  • im doing some test now to see what it comes up with

  • @HillTop1

    If your final product needs to be a 24p file but you also need some of the clips to have slow motion then I would shoot in the 24p mode for the low motion stuff and then shoot 720p @ 60 FPS for the higher speed stuff. Then just pull the 720p @ 60 FPS material down to 40% speed and it will cut into the 24p material perfectly.

  • @mpgxsvcd According to my tests (which may very well be flawed :) ), I still get weird horizontal line artifacts in HBR footage, even when i tell editors to treat it as progressive. The original image is not interlaced, that is true, but it seems that the compression is applied at a place in the signal chain where the camera treats the video as if it were indeed interlaced - so that macroblocks in the footage don't necessarily line up in the two (albeit fictitious) "fields" on each frame and I get weird fringing effects on edges.

    Maybe it's better at higher bitrates or Intra settings (?), but i have not played around with those much as I very often need spanning.

    But i'll have to test again! Its been a while since i did the tests i'm basing this post on. Maybe FCPX was doing something wrong importing the footage? I would love to believe what you are saying because that would certainly make life easier in certain situations.

  • omg i just did a test and from what ive got from you guys and im so amazed right now. im blown away. by the quality! yes lol Im flipping out right now

  • when reviewing the video footage in premiere cs 6 when going frame by frame im noticing some interlaced artafacts. even after i convert it to progressive they only go away if i keep it on interlaced and pick upper field first

  • do i just edit with it in upper and when i get ready to render do i switch it over to progresive the files that is. along with the export settings or what would u do in this situation anyone?

  • You shouldn't be getting interlaced artifacts, I have done loads of tests but it was a while back so its difficult to remember. I think you have to set up the project and seq settings to progressive with the same frame rate size etc.. (this is from memory) do this before you drop it in the timeline, then when you drop the clip into the timeline if Premiere says something "change seq settings?" then you should say no. Again this is from memory so its not going to be spot on, you are going to have to fiddle with it a little.

    Also you did not mention, are the artifacts on the final render? or in the timeline when you are editing? Are you on the Mac? I am on the PC so its a little different there maybe.

    The other thing is you could use an app like 5D to RGB if you are on the Mac, or maybe Aunsoft Video convertor and convert it to MP4 before editing, you can go into settings and set up Video converter so it uses a similar bit-rate, same frame rate etc...and it will render it out as progressive...you may have to go to Settings/Effect and turn of de-interlacing. Check the final result with "MediaInfo" and it will confirm it is progressive. You may have to do this cause anyway Premiere does not read the audio on .mts files. You don't lose any quality...and if you are in doubt use the .mp4 files as a proxy setup and the replace them with the .mts files later, that way you will still have the audio and the timeline and project etc...in Premiere will see it all as progressive.

    Finally if you are used to Canon colors you may want to try shooting in Vibrant, that's a good setting actually.

    Cheers