Thanks BBT.

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.

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

@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 :)

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 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.

@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.

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.

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.

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.

Sounds similar to Neat Video: a temporal NR filter.

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