Beginners: Basic hacks questions, series 2

T2iRebelvsGH2LOUIS

what is GOP ?

Azo

Are you ready to make your head spin? Ok, now that I got that out of the way I would recommend Cake V2.3 for you. I am not going to get into specifics but will tell you that this is a very good patch that will not give you any problems. The most important thing don't use aftermarket batteries when you are loading the firmware into your camera unless you are willing to brick it.

If you really need help on updating your firmware perform a search with Google. There is a detailed video out there that will help you through the process and walk you through every step of the procedure.

Good luck....

CTK121275

Hello, Can anyone recommend a hack that runs a good line between decent (relative to as hacks go, in the middle) created file sizes and good IQ. If I had to choose a little bit one way or another I'd lean on image quality being a little more important than file size. Also, is there a way to tell what kind of file size I should expect from a hack before I install it? Thank you.

Azo

@CTK121275

I have tested and tried all of the patches. In regards to what you are requesting I would recommend Cake V2.3 it is a really good patch and extremely reliable. Trust me you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between this patch and the other patches. All of the patches are really good... IMO you really have to pixel peep to be able to tell the difference. There are some exceptions though. Anyways here are the 3 patches that I highly recommend.

Moon T5 = IMO this patch offers the best quality/reliablity in the 24p mode. Excellent ALL INTRA patch this is what I would use to shoot 24p. This patch is extremely reliable in 24p mode and offers excellent video quality whilst allowing flexibility in post.

Flowmotion V2.02 = Excellent all around patch. IMO this patch has the best 30p mode out of all of the other patches. I have performed some exhaustive tests in the 30p mode. I was specifically looking for noise patterns and overall image quality and have come to the conclusion that Flowmotion offers the best image quality in the 30p mode. This patch also has excellent quality in 24p mode and 720p mode. Personally I prefer ALL INTRA patches for the 24p mode but this patch is excellent as well.

Cake V2.3 = Excellent quality, small file sizes, and extremely reliable in all modes! Another thing to note is that this patch will allow you to play back your files in camera while some of the other patches won't. I really can't say enough about this patch it it really underrated and offers really good video quality. If you want to film something and don't want to worry about the recording failing on you this is what I would use.

Lastly try out the patches for yourself. This is the best way to figure out what you want in terms of the look that you are going for. I will give you an example of this. Some people prefer the noise pattern of Flowmotion 2.02 over something like Moon T-7. There are technical reasons why one might prefer the noise pattern of Moon T-7 over Flowmotion. However this all depends on what you will be doing with the footage in post as well as the final destination e.g (YouTube, BluRay, etc).

So if you just want to film something and don't plan on using a denoising filter then Flowmotion of Cake V2.3 will work out great. However if you plan on denoising the image and performing some CC then I would probably choose Moon T5. I am not saying that you can't denoise or CC with Flowmotion or Cake I am just stating my preference.

Hopefully this information was helpful for you.

Best Regards

CTK121275

@Azo Wow, what an answer. Thank you so much!

AVFC

Moon t8 hack isn't downloading to my mack. The file is there, but when I click on it, mac pops up with 'Your mac does not have an application to support this file. Go to the app store to find one, or choose from the list of your applications.' What application can I open it with?

matt_gh2

EDIT: Just realized you're on a Mac - I'm on windows. Can someone with Mac experience confirm the 2 links below apply to Mac. Thanks.

Read this link for specific info on how to "hack" your camera:

http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/ptool/ptool-faq

matt_gh2

Read this for general info on GH2 and also tips on using a "hacked" GH2

http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/

Preyr

Hello. I am gathering information about how to start reversing camera firmware. Are there any guides (not tutorials, more like ideas) for a beginner? Is it fine to make a new thread for questions about development?

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/categories/hacks - this page is hidden for me BTW.

reverbsoul

I've got 2 hacked GH2 cameras. One is having issues with spanning so I'm trying to install FlowMotion, as it seems like the best setup for the type of work I do.

I've blown through 10 SD cards and every single one of them give me the "No Valid Picture to Play" error. I've found about 100 different answers and not a single one has worked.

Process: Formated SD in Camera

Used PTool with increment set to '1'

Loaded to SD, put in camera, pressed green play button

Things I've also tried: 10 different SD cards, brands, sizes, age, everything

Increment, I've set it from 1, 10, 100, 100, and even 1111111111

Tried just restarting the camera multiple times

Tried 3 different batteries, all 3 fresh off the charger

Tried shooting a photo on the card first

Tried saving a copy of just the regular Panasonic firmware via PTool, and can't get it to even recognize that

I literally can't think of anything else, short of throwing the damn thing against a wall. I'd really love to use it on my shoot this week, but it's just not reliable enough for the work that I do if I can't re-patch it.

Hoping this thread, and forum are still active.

balazer

Try formatting the card in your PC. Try Menu, Setup, Reset in the camera.

caveport

@reverbsoul Make sure you are using an original Panasonic battery.

DDastardly

For those of you getting the "no valid picture to play" message, do this:

Stop using formated cards in camera, as I belive it writes the software version on the SD. Instead use a Windows formatted one, and the only file on it should be the .bin firmware one. Tried it on 3 cameras, works first time.

dfu

My newly hacked GH2 keeps recording audio at 256 kbps and then sometimes can't play these. I set PTool 3.66 beta to 192 k, but it hasn't helped... It also applies a different compression setting, i.e. uses the one chosen for 720p for 1080p recording... But now I've found a setting that way that does not stop recording... It's been running solid for 3 hours.

mee

Hey dfu, sounds like you worked it out. Been awhile since I delved into the audio settings in the patches, but yes if you up the bitrate, often the audio is not playable in camera, and with some patches videos will also not play in camera, and it can also effect viewability of photo files. It is part of the trade off for much better in camera audio, and much MUCH better video quality. I bought my GH2 something like a week before the gh2 was first patched (hacked), I think I was using a Sandisk 30mb/s card, and I could only record 10 seconds or so of video before the card speed error. It actually made me a better videographer though since I was focused on getting the best shots I could in under 10 seconds and then would stop recording. I think I was better then than now in some regards honestly.

Panasonicovich

Hi, please tell me, I bought a hacked gh2, the host does not know the firmware version, how do I know what the hack is on my gh2?

balazer

There's no way to tell what hack is on your GH2. The best thing to do is to re-flash your GH2 with whatever hack you want.

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