@jhonnyskulls Thanks for posting. This image quality/texture/look is just phenomenal here.

@driftwood Thanks again for your work on all the Apocalypse Now settings. I like Boom for a current project I'm working on. I think Apoc Now Intravenus 1 looks nice in shots done in the style seen by @shian. I also think Intravenus II looks great as seen here with the test done by @jhonnyskulls. Just amazing work you've done on this Apocalypse Now group of settings. All are pro level cinematic image types. Thank you

Aashay January 24 @crowbar, Although I don't use FCPX I can tell you one thing- It ain't Mr Driftwood's patches. Just look around threads to see different complex scenes shot beautifully with them patches. I have however read that FCPX does have some issues like the one you are describing.

Thanks for setting me straight Aashay! I am sorry I ever thought twice about this Apocalypse Now patch - all problems that I described a few posts previously were inside FCPX when hitting the play button even after fully rendered. The lesson here is that one should never judge these patches while playing inside FCPX if that is what you are using. Instead, judge your grading when in still/stop mode, export out and the play - everything will be fine. Today I went out and did some shooting with that patch at a bird sanctuary here on Maui. I had my GH3 but didn't even pull it out. I just viewed the MTS files from GH2 Apocalypse and man do they look fantastic! I am sold! Can't wait to post some links with sample footage from this patch. I just joined Vimeo Plus - seems to take forever for them to upload and process. By the way, I am curious, should I output as ProRes and let Vimeo handle the file or should I output with one of the preset options for social networks such as H.264 1080P for Vimeo. Which will yield the best results?

Adobe has some transcoding issues too, check about "digital rain" with some settings. Currently they both don't have their act together with all of the flavors of H.264. But I agree that the need to transcode is very annoying with an up-to-date computer.

You can edit the mts file natively with FCP (I don't have FCPx to try) just by installing Panasonic's AVCCAM QuickTIme Codec. They have an installer on the Panasonic pro video site.

Now, it's not going to edit like ProRes footage because the NLE has to constantly build a frame from the entire GoP. But you don't have to waste any time transcoding and possibly change the character of the source footage.

@rajamalik Check your workflow. Also send me a small test file from this session.

@brudney Thanks. I used the 14-140mm and the 20mm 1.7. GoPro for timelapses.

@kraqman, road trip footage looks great. I wish I had the Panny lenses, together with the my legacy sets.

@BurnetRhoades What artifacts are you getting? Is that from rendering in Prem Pro or After Effects...or both? I'm assuming the normal rendering while editing is fine, but you're getting problems with the File> Export> Media when you want a final file? I'm curious also what Export settings are giving you trouble (H.264, QuickTime Uncompressed, etc. )? Also what hack setting are you using with GH2?

I'm on Windows Adobe CS6. When I was using an unhacked GH2 with just stock firmware I occasionally got some "diagonal rain" which was visible on some monitors. I'm presently using Apocalypse Now Boom v1, without any issues. Real curious to here your experience with all this. Thank you

@BurnetRhoades Will check my Apoc Now Boom footage this weekend. If I see diagonal rain, I'll PM to discuss further and get quick workflow advice. Thanks

@BurnetRhoades Good Bill and Teds pull there!

@BURNETTrhoades I'm sure we'll get yelled at for off topic. But I can render from 5dtorgb to prores, but only 422HQ. That plays back perfectly in quicktime and in Media player classic. If prores 422(not HQ) then it converts but won't play back properly.

How on earth can I convert to prores hq??

on Win 7 x64

@Aashay That's interesting about update because I'm on creative cloud and they also push out updates to users, and I do the updates. My footage is better now too...but at the same time i've also switched from unhacked GH2 to using Apoaclypse now Boom v1. After reviewing a few threads on this site along with some comments made on other sites I think it's 3-4 things:

1) Certain settings (like Flowmotion) are more prone than others to display the diagonal digital rain. (Usually seen in underexposed shots) A decent number of people have fixed it by switching to other settings. 2) these settings that have problems, usually see the problems when using Adobe CS6 (both windows and mac), with some in CS5 and FCP.Mostly in CS6 however. 3) Various solutions have arisen that all involve transcoding of footage (and some have good luck combing that with transferring Prem Pro projects to After Effects for final render/export)(read the various threads for specifics).That is the good news: EVERYONE CAN KEEP USING THEIR FAVORITE SETTINGS...SOME JUST REQUIRE TRANSCODING. 4) and now your idea is worth checking out by those whose favorite settings have caused them to need to transcode. Hopefully you're correct, because a single update to CS6 is easiser than transcoding all footage.

I mention all this as summary for everyone, but also to you because it may NOT be the CS6 update that solved it for you...it could possibly be that you switched to a different setting that wasnt affceted by this issue. Therefore, until the cause is definitley known, I would check your footage, particularly when switching to new settings and particulal with underexposed shots.

I will be reviewing my Boom footage to check for diagonal rain this weekend and report results. Although I noticed nothing while editing I didn't really take a good look(everything looked good and I forgot about the issue). I will do this now, because it's also possible that instead of some settings being immune...it may be true that it affects all settings...but in some settings like Boom it may merely just be less noticeable. So I will look closely at my Boom footage and I suggest others do the same.

Bottom line: problem is definitely fixable.

I'll have to give that a looksee. To be honest, it was at least two or three weeks since my last render where I passed non-transcoded MTS through the Adobe pipe. If they fixed the problem, halleluja! No more 10X tedium passes to make!