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GoPro Hero3 , 4K is here in Baby Steps for $399.99!
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  • Finally got a chance to mess with my suction cup car mount. Shot 2.7k 23.98. Also did a .5 sec stop motion at 12MP. Found that it was best when mounted to the windshield from the outside. Haven't tried it on the inside yet.

  • Thanks BBT.

  • If the wireless feature is on, will it drain more battery power even if the smartphone is in idle mode? What if the GoPro app is running in the background job mode?

  • A screen capture from today's take.

    1. QuickTime screen capture from playing 1080p24 protune raw file in logarithm format. No curve applied. It looks flat.

    2. 5DtoRGB transcoded. 601 and full range and gamma 1.0 settings. It still looks flat. This step might have been unnecessary.

    3. Imported the transcoded file into After Effects. Adjusted master curve. It seems red channel is boosted and blue channel is suppressed by default.

    Screen Shot 2012-12-18 at 11.34.07 PM-barebone.png
    1790 x 1058 - 3M
    Screen Shot 2012-12-19 at 12.46.22 AM-barebone-5dtorgb.png
    1790 x 1058 - 3M
    GOPR0007-5dtorgb.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
  • @5thwall Great, music from?

  • @stonebat From my post above "WiFi is an additional 45ma" which is around 10% of the total battery drain, even in idle.

  • @trevmar Thanks. Darn...

    BTW the protune enabled files have lots of shadow data and some of highlight data clipping. What has been the most popular way to bring back the details? GoPro Cineform Studio Premium/Pro? 5DtoRGB?

    I've played with the free version of GoPro Cineform Studio. By default it exports with gamma 2.2. I changed the gamma to inverse 1.8, but it had no effect. Is this a bug?

  • @BlueBomberTurbo The 1080/24T/Narrow mode has a LOT of noise compared with 1080/24T/Medium. Maybe two f-stops of noise, making the narrow mode not useful indoors, IMO. Similar to the noise in the 4K mode. But thanks for finding it for us, in any case :)

    The Touch LCD gives a 'beep' in disgust when you select mode change when the camera is in narrow :)

  • @stonebat You have to use Cineform studio or the Pro cineform products to convert the Protune to Cineform AVI. There should be a red "C" down bottom right in your Windows display (Cineform Status). Changes made in this will be reflected by metadata in the Cineform handling in real time. But I don't see gamma there. Are you sure it is 2.2 by default? It seems pretty linear (1.0) here... I haven't shot any test wedges with it yet, though...

  • Has anyone gotten a look at Hero3 footage on the big screen, yet? I am trying to decide whether it will be enough for a few aerial shots for a little indie feature, or whether to step up to something that will take a GH2. I've had commercials projected in movie theaters that used moments of the first HD Hero footage and it was OK for that purpose but not good enough for what I'm looking to do now.

  • @trevmar Yeah, it's kinda rough indoors. Probably better off using 2.7K and cropping for that. But with decent lighting and light NR, it should be fine. I'll be doing outdoor tests at lunch today with 1080 and 720 Narrow, Protune vs standard.

    Also, I've found that converting to Cineform doesn't improve quality like 5DtoRGB does. It's pretty much just a direct conversion (minus any color/exposure tweaks). I'll be posting up a comparison shortly. For pixel peepers, it's a significant difference.

    @kellar42 You can get great detail and color out of 2.7K Protune in decent light. The biggest drawback would be the inability to control exposure.

  • @trevmar I'm using OSX version of Cineform Studio. The gamma change setting isn't accessible from the app's preferences menu. I had to open the Mac's System Preferences. Then click Cineform settings icon. Then change the gamma setting. Tedious...

    Anyways the default gamma 2.2 made more contrast and more saturation for sure. Maybe that's not a bad starting point, but I'd like to carry the logarithmic curve all the way to tools like PP, FCPX, AFX. I presume gamma 1.0 wouldn't alter the logarithmic curve . Yes gotta retain 10 bit 4:2:2. Then do some color grading in 16bit or 32bit color space. Then apply gamma when exporting to final artifact. Well that's the idea.

    BTW I did see the GoPro Cineform encoder. Do they provide decoder, too? It would be nice if the decoder can read metadata and display source content in realtime on PP, FCPX, or AFX. If this is possible, I guess I don't need to transcode the source file into Cineform AVI (in my case MOV prores). That is importing the source files directly from my favorite editor.

  • @Kihlian Chateau Crone - Album, Agent Ribbons - Song, "I'm Alright".

  • @stonebat The OSX version seems very different from the Windoze version I am using. In Windows the integration of cineform with AVI is extensive. I can be doing my edits of the cineform files in Sony Vegas, for example, yet I can change the exposure in Cineform studio and those metadata changes are reflected in real time into the Sony Vegas preview and edits. With the Windoze Cineform chain, I haven't seen anything problematic while working with Protune. Admittedly, I have used the cineform AVI format as in editing intermediate for years, because it previews so quickly in Vegas and is essentially lossless.

  • @trevmar Did you import the original sources clips out of the camera into Vegas? Also are you using the free version or paid version of Cineform Studio?

    If Vegas uses Cineform 422 codec as edit/preview codec, it must be interpreting non-destructive metadata that Cineform Studio modifies. I'd try it out on PP & CS on OSX later.

  • I used Cineform Studio to create an AVI Cineform file (which has embedded metadata). While editing that AVI file in Vegas I can use Cineform Studio (or the "C" widget) to change the metadata interpretation in the decoder, and thus alter in real time alter what Vegas is working with... The AVI file contains metadata for the full Protune logarithmic range and Cinema Raw white balance, and it can be tweaked at any time in the processing chain.

  • IMAGE NOISE .. as far as I can tell, there are two modes where the image noise in low light is least obtrusive, and most easily filtered. These are 2.7Kcine Wide 24T and 1080 Medium 24T. I think the issue is that these resolutions match up closely with the native sensor resolution. Other shutter speeds should be equally good at these resolutions, but I haven't tested anything except 24T indoors. Am I right? Do you have a mode which exhibits lower noise than these two? Please let me know :)

  • I'll be doing some definitive side by side tests soon with all modes, Protune and regular, so we'll get an idea of what kind of noise each resolution and frame rate combo offers. Might also do some noise reduction if I have time.

  • @BlueBomberTurbo That would be grate as Im waiting for mine too long now and when I get it, then may have no time for low light tests. Noise reduction is other story if we know best setting first. Thanks in advance :)

  • When Protune is enabled... I guess here's what's going on based on feedback from this thread and googling.

    Playing MP4 source files in H.264 format in 8bit would have washed out flat color. More likely highlight and shadow clipping, too. This is because the MP4 file is in log curve but a movie player app would assume that the content is in gamma curve and RGB color space.

    CineForm Studio installs CineForm 422 codec that FCPX/PP/Vegas/AFX can use. Use it to transcode to the intermediate codec in MOV or AVI. It's nondestructive so that no original information is lost. I guess gamma 2.2 is saved as a metadata embedded in MOV or AVI. More contrast and saturation shown when playing the output file. BTW I wish 5DtoRGB has GUI interface like CineForm Studio.

    Then open editors like FCPX/PP/Vegas/AFX. Import, edit, export. Optionally keep Cineform Studio app open and edit the transcoded files on the fly and see if the changes get propagated through another editor.

  • @BlueBomberTurbo The two modes which I think are 'native' (2.7K wide 24T and 1080 medium 24T), lose their noise very quickly when you use the 'Dynamic Noise Reduction' filter of Virtualdub (also available for Vegas).

    http://www.mikecrash.com/index.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=6

  • Sounds similar to Neat Video: a temporal NR filter.

  • Except that I first used DNR a decade ago... Neat Video is a "johnny come lately" by comparison... :)

  • Neat Video's copyright started in '99. ;)

  • Hmmm.. 1999 was when DNR was first released as Open Source Freeware for VirtualDub...