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Beginners: Basic hacks questions
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  • ok, thx.

    I guess I just wasn't too sure overall exactly what the hacks changed, but I think I've got a grip on it now... basically just changing the bitrate and type of frames, etc within the established codec for each of the various record modes (hbr, etc). As I think through the implications of that, it answers a few other questions I've had.

    Will run a test later to see if my output is matching what I think it should now be for sanity 5. Will also do some more spanning tests before I commit to it for my shoot since there were spanning warnings. Seems to be doing fine on hbr with my extreme pro 95/64 card, though.

  • Just got my GH2 running Sedna. Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread :)

  • Can anyone suggest any of the experienced testers - Panasonic has done a really high quality (native) 1080p/25 (30)fps in the original 1.1 firmware, or it a post-processing from hardware 50i/60i mode? Which mode - 1080p/24p or 1080p/30p actually gives more quality for frame at the same bitrate for each frame? In other words - is a 1024p/30fps picture quality equal 1024p/24p (for each frame), except for the frame rate?

    I only have cards class-10 (Transcend, real speed - 16Mbyte to write and 16Mbyte to read). I almost do not do postproductions, but only store the original recorded video, as it is. Can you recommend the best settings to PTools? I would like to have the following stable options with Transcend Class 10 card: 1. 720p/50fps c B-Frames with bitrate 28-34Mpbs with the best quality. 2. 1080p/24fps with the best possible quality with two options - 24Mbps (24L) and 32Mpbs (24H) 3. 1080p/25fps with the best possible quality with bitrate 28-34Mpbs (HBR) 4. 1080p/30fps = 1080p/24fps on the quality of each frame, but just with more frame rate and bit rate - (HBR) 28-34Mpbs.

    Thank you in advance of experienced testers who respond to my request and post INI file meets my request!

    p.s.Sorry for the my awful English.

    p.s.s. 1080p/50(60)fps is unreal with 1.1 hack?

  • HBR 25p and 30p configure the sensor to output a high quality progressive image, just the same as 24p mode does. But HBR uses the same interlaced encoding that 25i and 30i use, and that interlaced encoding is not able to support the same high hacked bit rates that 24p can. So HBR can look quite good, but 24p can look better, especially on demanding scenes. (high detail plus motion, or high noise)

  • Thx, balazer! This mean that with original firmware 1.1 - 1080p/24fps (21Mpbs) = 1080p/30fps(24Mpbs) in quality terms? And not possible set bitrate >24Mpbs in Ptools for 1080p/30fps?

    Ok. A 1080p/30fps remain as is.

    Pls, post INI with:

    1. 720p/50fps c B-Frames with bitrate 28-34Mpbs with the best quality.

    2. 1080p/24fps with the best possible quality with two options - 24Mbps (24L) and 32Mpbs (24H)

    I tried, but have small skill for tunning ptools settings. :( Help me with ideal INI for Transcend SHDC Class-10!

  • There are HBR mode hacks going up to 60 Mbps or so, and 24p hacks up to 140 Mbps. The quality will depend on a lot of factors, including the bit rate, what you are shooting, and how the settings are constructed.

    There are settings available from several guys on personal-view. One of them will meet your needs. Look around and try some different things. http://personal-view.com/talks/categories/hacks

  • Sorry if this has been asked or answered somewhere, but I couldn't find an answer. Anyways, I tried using multiple patches for anamorphic shooting in mjpeg and did not accomplish what I thought I would. Essentially, I want to be able to shoot in the anamorphic aspect ratio, preferably 2.35:1, but 2.66:1 works also. I want to be able to do this without buying anything. Is it possible, and if so, what do I need to do to get what essentially would be an in camera anamorphic crop?

  • There are no hack settings that can do an in-camera crop. 'Anamorphic' means something different from what you're thinking.

  • So just to clarify, there is no way to shoot in the 2.35:1 or 2.66:1 aspect ratio directly in camera without an anamorphic lens, and the mjpeg settings altered settings are for using with anamorphic lenses/converters?

  • Has anyone else been able to use the Extreme Pro 64GB Sandisk card with any GH2 hack???

    I just upgraded to a Sandisk 64GB card today after long using the Sandisk 32GB 30MB/s.

    But for some reason, the SDXC 64GB card doesn't allow me to copy or modify ANYTHING. I can't rename the disk from "Untitled" to anything. And I can't drag and drop any GH2 hack onto the SDXC card. The card behaves like it's locked even though the lock/unlock switch is in the unlock position.

    Is the SDXC card not compatible with the GH2???

  • Hello

    This question appears to have been asked a couple of times without a real reply, so I'm asking again....

    Is it possible to completely disable audio recording?

  • Plug something into the mic port.

  • How do I get the least sharpening possible?

    I've just bought a 14mm f2.5, and I think I've Driftwood Quantum X (v3b Rocket) RC VBR 'Settings' installed.

    I'm getting aliasing because the image is so sharp! Is there another hack setting or a filter I can use to lessen the digital sharpness? Thanks a lot

  • I just put only the .bin hack files on a slow and cheap 512MB SD card. I just wanted to make sure that it would be ok to install the new hack firmware with that SD card. It dosen't have to be a Class 6 or 10, correct?

  • I've been using Sanity (now 5) but have been reading up a little on Cake. Can anyone sumarize the difference. Both seem to go for the "rock stable" kind of viewpoint (Cake seems to emphasize spanning and Sanity emphasizing "no write errors"). Any comment appreciated.

    Thanks

  • Sanity has higher efficiency and lower bit rates. Cake has lower efficiency and higher bit rates. Cake spans in all modes and spans with high ISOs and ETC mode. Both have high reliability.

  • @balazer Thanks. I think that Cake is also lower GOP if I remember correctly. I have been impressed with the footage and think I'll give it a try.

  • I've wondered a bit about bitrates.

    In MJPEG modes I get extremely high bitrates, (+60mbit/s) but in AVCHD modes even though I am using the MAX Lattitude patch, I only get typically 15 - 20mbit/s some clips even under 10mbit/s. (I am not confusing bits and bytes here....) why is that? Is it that the footage doesn't require higher bitrates? Or is it the camera that cannot encode them high enough? Or is it that I haven't hacked the cameras correctly?

    I own the GF1 and the GH1 btw... :)

  • What's the difference between Driftwood, Cake, Sanity, and EOSHD hacks?

  • @Jon2323

    The sharpness isn't a function of the hack setting used, but processing that the camera is doing. Make sure, first of all, that you've got sharpness set to -2 at all times -- this is one setting you really never want to change. If that was already done, you may want to look into filters -- such as Tiffen Black Diffusion. Don't know who makes your lens, but the Lumixes in particular are very sharp, and to many eyes, require some kind of filtering, otherwise the footage has too much of a processed video look. There are also post-production software filters, but by eliminating some of the artifacts before the image gets compressed in-camera, you may get better overall image quality.

    @DeShonDixon

    Most (but not all) of the Driftwood hacks are "intra-frame" compression (Sedna, Mysteron, etc.). In this scheme, every frame is independent; frames don't rely on information in a prior frame to reconstruct themselves during playback. Cake, Sanity and others use various "GOP" structures ("group of pictures"). In this scheme, there's a constantly repeated sequence of high data and lower data frames, where the lower-data frames get information from the higher-data frames for playback. For example, if you have a static shot running 5 seconds, there's no need for every frame in that sequence to have same redundant information, as would occur with an intra-frame scheme. So the GOP-type compression schemes are generally more efficient than ultra-frame compression (in terms of storage requirements), but may not provide the highest quality under all conditions. The problem here is, you really can't evaluate the footage by eye alone. You need to see how well it stands up to color correction, to assess any particular hack.

    Edit: And there are, of course, differences in the way the various patches/settings compress images -- "AQ". Some use the stock settings, others take other approaches. For that, you'll need to talk to the experts.

  • All Driftwood hacks bar Cluster are high bitrate/hi quality GOP1 on the whole, Cake and Sanity are Longer GOP hacks which are very well put together to offer lower bitrate recordings with v good quality. EOSHD settings are plaguerised settings.

  • @driftwood thanks for the info

  • This probably has been asked many times but I can't find a definite answer: will "old" patches such as 176M Quant Me Baby designed for firmware v1.0E work in the latest version of the PTool and new firmware v1.1 ? The ini files seem to load but is it safe to load those patches using the current PTool v.3.65d ? Thanks.

  • could you guys please tell me how to embed a vimeo video in the topics?

  • Sorry if this was already asked but can someone tell me why my GH2 hacked files show much lower bitrates than original Panasonic FW?

    I've hacked with Flowmotion and Sanity (camera shows no 30min limit and I did get my country language so I assume the hack was well done), but both hacks can't surpass files over 13MB/sec in complex scenarios whereas in the same situations the original FW could retrieve around 23MB/sec (seen in FCP Browser window).

    Every bit of information would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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