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Gx1 Hacks
  • ibluestoneibluestone

    Hey Guys

    So having both the GX1 and a G6 i Just realised theres hack for the GX1 aswell

    Being new to this Forum and only recently developing an interest for Film Making & Grading im getting myself very confused and was wondering if you Guys could help..

    I have never hacked a Camera before and i am not to sure about the Process and how complex it is and was wondering if some one could give me a clear indication if hacking a Camera is quick or a painful process and will it make a huge difference to my picture.. so far i have been playing with magic bullet looks mojo on my G6 with a 19mm sigma lens and uploaded to after effects.. and my results are impressive but not as epic as these amazing videos of hacks i see all over youtube and vimeo..

    I'm extremely blown away by all the Videos iam seeing of the hacked GH2's GF2's.. and i have to say it has more of an Epic cinematic Effect.. Im eager to try this on both my cameras but seeing as theres no G6 hack yet the Gx1 might be a good starting point for me to check out this hole hacking business..

    Can any one point to me some instructions or find me a link to where i can download this hack for the GX1 and a simple step by step guide without to many complications.. I am really looking forward and excited to get started with Movie making especially now i am learning after effects.

    I hope i don't sound like a doughnut with these questions i mean it is 5:20am here in London so excuse me

    Thanks so much in advance!

  • 8 Replies sorted by
  • neokooneokoo

    This is a good page to start: http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/ptool/ptool-faq

    Learning how to apply hacked firmwares and settings takes some time, but it is not too hard. Mostly it is important to be sure that all precautions are followed to avoid any problems.

    Generally, most high-bitrate codec settings are all good, and extreme codec tweaking doesn't bring that much improvement unless it's some really specific case. So best way to go after applying the hack might be to test different settings with fastest SD cards you have, choose some good and reliable settings and then concentrate on creative side of things until there is some need to go back to technical.

    BTW, if your username is who you are, I must say this: if one gets too much into technical side of hacking and codec testing stuff, it can start competing for time with music-making… gotta be careful ;)

  • ibluestoneibluestone

    Neokoo haha Thank u for ur advice! I'm managing balancing my musical life and film making quite well actually! And yes u got me!;)

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    The Panasonic G6 is already a very very very good hybrid camera for filmmaking! (arguably the best even! But the GH3/D7100/D5200/D800/5DmkIII could also put up a fight and argue for that crown too, needless to say at this level you'll mostly be splitting hairs unless you've got a specific purpose/reason that you personally need/prefer one over another)

    Even in the stock variety without any hack.

    Many people on this forum regard the stock G6 as the successor to the hacked GH2.

    And I can assure you'll find it much better camera in most circumstances for your filmmaking than a hacked GX1 (I've got a GX1, but my hacked GH1 is my "A camera" for shooting films. And even if a hack never comes out for the G6 I shall most probably be getting the G6 next sometime next year as my future upgrade for my GH1 to be replaced).

  • ibluestoneibluestone

    Awesome! Thanks for your reply Ironfilm great info there! do you have any good recommendations in to getting that cinematic feel out all my videos.. i know its all about good lighting and having a good tripod / stabliser.. but what about Grading.. Movie looks i find just doesn't do its justice.. also im using a Sigma 19mm Lens.. could that also be my problem?

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Sigma 19mm f/2.8 is a good starting out lens to be using (but you'll quickly find you'll be needing more than just one lens! Personally I reckon the 3 C-mount lenses which can be found dirt cheap on eBay are an excellent first set of prime lens to get on the cheap, all three can be got for under a hundred bucks in total for the set: 25mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.7, & 50mm f/1.4).

    I found this webpage very very useful when starting out building up my kit:

    There is so so much more to getting that "movie look" than just a camera, such as lighting, lens selection, camera movement, editing, grading, etc..... plus of course sound, actors, and story! (for instance it is amazing how much more a short film can have that "movie look" when it has good sound than when it does not, even though the different sound quality obviously isn't directly improving the image quality! But it helps further improve the viewing experience and draws the viewing deeper into the "movie world")

    "Film" is massively huge field to learn all at once! :-P

    What I'd suggest is getting out a good general purpose photography book for DSLRs, as I've found everything I've learnt from photography has been directly very useful (such as shutter speed / lighting / f-stop / composition / ISO / photo editing / etc). Then after that get a few books specific to filmmaking, such as these 3:

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Five-Cs-Cinematography-Techniques/dp/187950541X/ (this is a current textbook for a film paper I'm taking at the moment)

    http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Eye-Revised-2nd-Edition/dp/1879505622/

    http://www.amazon.com/Painting-With-Light-John-Alton/dp/0520275845/

    Plus something relevant to learning the technical side of using whatever NLE you've chosen (personally I primarily use Sony Vegas Pro 12, and using HitFilm 2 Ultimate with it more and more).

  • ibluestoneibluestone

    Thanks for all your input! those Cmount lenses dont look great if im honest.. the current footage im getting out the G6 with the sigma is good.. but still not anamorphic looking if u know what i mean.. like im aiming to this get this sort of picture if put on a tripod

    Tell me what u think of this video? it has an anamorphic lens on it!

    Thanks for the books! only problem is i dont really have the time to read haha!;)

    I know theres a lot to learn but i dont have time!

  • neokooneokoo

    @ibluestone getting playlisted by famous DJs makes your name known ;)

    Are you looking to achieve the aesthetic of anamorphic look (some info here: http://www.red.com/learn/red-101/anamorphic-lenses ) or just the extra wide 2.35:1 aspect ratio? If it is the latter, marking the aspect ratio on camera's screen for composition and then cropping in post to 1920x817 or so would be easiest way to go.

    Using real anamorphic lens could of course give a more detailed image when stretched to 2538x1080 (or whatever the ratio of that particular anamorphic lens is), in addition to aesthetic effects. That would be good for future when 4K and high-DPI "retina" screens and higher-than-HD video distribution formats will be the norm.

    Anyway, there are some guys here who know a lot more about anamorphic lenses, hope they chime in…

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    @ibluestone Those set of 3 C mount lenses are not exactly top notch quality, but I recommend them because for incredibly cheap and no difficulty (easy to buy new, so no need to hunt round for ages to find special lenses second hand) a person can get a complete "set" of lenses which gets them learning with primes and using some rather fast lenses all for very little money at all in total. And they can still be very useable if that is the particular artistic look a person is seeking.

    If your budget isn't quite so extremely constraint have a read of this:

    And if your budget is even more generous then browse through this: http://hennigarts.com/micro-four-thirds-lenses.html It lists all the native mount m4/3 lenses.

    I read stuff on my Kindle/tablet/cellphone, great for in bed or whenever there is moments of downtime such as on the bus/train or while waiting for somebody.

    And that list of three books I gave is quite a minimal list too, but they're all top notch widely recommend textbooks that together cover three key essential areas of: cinematography, lighting, and editing. I should really add a sound book to that list as well, but sound is my big weakness so not so sure what is best to recommend, and as you're a DJ I expect you're already well ahead of the game for the average filmmaker when it comes to sound!

    Best way to learn is by lots of doing, but I feel there needs to be a mix of theoretical learning in there too with the practical. Otherwise it can all be a bit aimless without some structured theoretical knowledge from books/blogs/articles to give some guidance and direction, it makes your time spent doing filming then a more productive learning exercise!

    For anamorphic stuff you should probably check out EOSHD's site because he has a big emphasis on that. A problem with anamorphic from how I see (note however I have zero experience shooting anamorphic!) is that it seems to often require rather pricey and rare/old anamorphic lenses/adapters that you've hunted down from eBay. Now I do love buying from eBay, but in this case for anamorphic I just don't see the value there for myself. However SLR Magic has announced a new one and early production models are already available to a few, personally I'd wait just little longer (while still practising and learning heaps with your current setup of course) before leaping into anamorphic, just to see some more independent reviews of this pop up online and for SLR Magic to start selling this at retail. As is promising and might be the way to go! (it probably will be what will get myself trying out anamorphic sometime next year maybe?)

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