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Beginners: Basic hacks questions, series 2
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  • 1/60 s would be the standard shutter speed for 30p. VMM scales the frame rate, not the shutter period. You get what you set.

  • I have a question!

    First, thank you so much for the hack and patches -- great work!

    I just installed the mpgxsvcd "all stable" patch with the hack and am wondering what movie settings I should use.

    Thank you!

  • @SilverPepper

    There are many long, (and detailed) threads on P-V regarding movie settings. Suffice to say that 2 have become popular:

    Nostalgic - high dynamic range (more detail in shadows, but also a bit yellow and will need some grading)

    Smooth - does the job and looks good.

    Mostly I try to use -2,-2,-2,-2 for everything on both settings (that is for saturation etc settings)- however you may find that different subjects work better with different levels.

    What i have found is that -2 for de-noise is very important- as the noise grain will be finer with it at -2 and look less like cotton wool.

    However it is totally up to you!

  • thank you @matthere!

  • Thanks @alcomposer for the quick reply!

  • @SilverPepper There are different opinions regarding your question. I'm assuming, like alcomposer, that you're asking about "film modes". I would also add that Standard and Vibrant (and Cinema) are legitimate choices as well. I stay away from Nostaligc except in circumstances when I want the specialized look it provides.

    Also, @cbrandin has a particularly insightful breakdown of some things related to filmmodes related to the gh2 from this thread: http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/737/gh2-hack-myths-and-realities#Item_45

    Here's the relevant passage, which I'm quoting:

    "Setting noise reduction in the camera is bad. Not necessarily true. If you are shooting at high ISO’s more noise will be produced. The codec has to work hard reproducing this noise, and you’ll end up just crushing the blacks or doing noise reduction in post anyway. Applying some noise reduction in camera under these circumstances can be very helpful because the NR is applied before video is encoded and you are not consuming codec bandwidth reproducing noise.

    The camera should always be set with Contrast at -2. Not true, the camera’s contrast should be set so the histogram shows the entire range being used. If you always set Contrast to -2 low contrast scenes will have poor gradations because you have set the dynamic range artificially low thus limiting the number of bits being used for the image.

    In camera saturation should always be set to -2. Not true, for the same reason given above.

    In camera sharpness should always be set to -2. Absolutely correct! Sharpening produces fake detail which the codec will have to work hard to encode. Sharpening is always done better in post."

    I think Chris is right about all of this (the point about noise reduction in particular is way overlooked in my view). In the end, though, it's going to be your personal tastes that dictate what you use. Happy shooting!!!

  • Hi guys, I need your advices on a problem : I'm currently using the stock firmware on a project, but I'm disappointed by crazy banding (after "heavy" grading) on dark out of focus parts. I noticed that the banding issue only appears after AE H264 compression, no problem with the original 5DtoRGB footage, so the problem may come from my compression settings... ( H264, High Profile, VBR 1pass, 5.1, 24mb/s) If not, is there a patch that allows better grading capabilities ? In-cam playback is an important feature I would like to have.

    Thanks

  • Hi, I use my gh2 with flow motion 2.02. When I want to shoot photos with burst I occasionally have a crash: after the last photo of the series, the shutter blocks, I must shut down the camera to open it again. Can you help me?

  • Sorry if this is not the place... However I've googled and searched all over in hopes of discovering the supported resolution modes under the iA setting and have come up empty. Q: Is there a method of enabling HBR (1080 30p) recording in the iA mode? All I'm getting is some gawd awful 1080i and I gotta believe there is a way to enable 1080p... BTW:720p works as expected.

  • krotal, I don't understand your question. You say that the footage looks fine with 5DtoRGB, which means the hack is doing what you want. There shouldn't be any reason that you can't grade that footage. If the problem appears after using After Effects, then it is an After Effects problem, and nothing to do with hacking.

    palmiuga, try menu, setup, reset. If that doesn't fix it, I'd guess you have a defective camera.

  • Can someone help me clarify...

    This is my understanding, is it correct?


    Driftwood Cluster v6/Drewnet Thread... - These patches are a balance of reliable spanning ability, bitrate vs quality (smaller filesizes, a bit less quality)

    Driftwood Canis Majoris - The quest for the ultimate highest quality reliable recording (95mb cards only, no spanning)

    Timebuster - Best for high quality time lapse

    Flowmotion - Another attempt for balance of reliable spanning ability, bitrate vs quality (smaller filesizes, a bit less quality)


    Am I missing any major patches or releases? or am I behind the times on the status of any of these? I think a lot of people have the same questions and if someone who is familiar with this can update the faq or post here, i think it will be really useful!

  • A question about log and transfer into Final Cut for hacked footage. I've been looking for answers on this forum, but it's hard to find anything completely clear.

    I'm using FCP 7.0.3 and shooting with @cbrandin's 44M/32M AQ4. Is the best way to work with the footage in FCP to transcode to ProRes 422 using Clipwrap?

    I've seen some people say that FCP recognizes their hacked .mts footage, but this doesn't happen for me. Before I hacked the camera, I could log and transfer in FCP with no problem.

    I prefer to keep using Final Cut. What do others in the same position do?

  • I cannot find the settings for 1080p25.

    If you select AVCHD Compression, you only can find "Video Bitrate 24H", it meens 1080p24, not 1080p25. Therefore the HD GOP Length, you can only find "1080i50 and 1080p24 GOP Size". But where is the settings for 1080p25?

    The default for 1080p25 is 24Mbit/s (firmware 1.1). The default for Video Bitrate 24H is 22Mbit/s, and for FSH/SH 16Mbit. What is my mistake in my head?

    Thank you for helping.

  • I've been told to post here, so here it goes.

    I've produced a new GF3 firmware with a hacked bitrate. I saved the file as GF3__V13.bin (it's GF3__V12.bin at the moment) into the root of the SD. When I power on and press the play button the update progress does not start.

    Battery is full. Any ideas?

  • @jfrank am reading that most recommend using 5dtorgb to convert mts to Prores, then import the resulting .mov files into FCP. there are threads here on this. There is a free version (non-batchable) of 5dtorgb on the Rarevision site and in the Apple App store.

  • Just back to PV after a long absence and looking for a place to begin again (though not a beginner).

    •PT v3.66d? As this is the new PTool, should I use this for my GH2 hacks or stick with 3.65? Vitaly has set in 'BOLD' step #7 which is to read the faq's, yet v3.66 is not even listed (as of this post).

    •Why is GH1 is still the name of the link for the firmware manipulation tool? (confusing)

    •Why is the link to the firmware update download still unnecessarily convoluted?

    •The "Simple "Instructions" still list GH1__V13.zip rather than a generic camera setting file which adds to uncertainty as to it's applicability to current camera models, wasn't that written months ago?

    •The Hack Vault is three months stale even though there seems to be a plethora of ongoing hack settings, and all recent efforts seem to be towards the GX1 hack. Is there a comprehensive up to date hack chart that I am missing?

    •Are there established procedures for mixing and matching settings that are widely accepted? Any other basic concerns for non newbie users that aren't on the faq page and should be?

    p.s. thanks Vitaly for your instantaneous response, deleting my original post and sending me to the correct topic heading where I am sure all the experienced pro's in charge of administering and editing PV will be eager to explain the current entropic state of the Hacks topic and faq's and quickly answer all my queries!

    cheers- J

  • Funkytown, HBR mode uses the same encoder settings as 1080i.

    Jeffryalan, if you look at the PTool changelog you'll see that there are no GH2 changes in version 3.66d, so it doesn't matter which version you use. PTool 3.66d is not listed in the FAQ because it has only been released as a beta version. Forget the "simple instructions" and any references to the GH1. Just read the PTool FAQ and do what it says. It clearly indicates which camera firmware images can be modified. http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/ptool/ptool-faq There is no comprehensive hacks chart. Just look in the hacks section for the different topics. http://www.personal-view.com/talks/categories/hacks You'll find quite a number of GH2 hacks, some with ongoing development, and some beautifully refined and stable. Mixing and matching encoder settings can get quite tricky, as different settings are shared by different sets of modes, so it is not recommended that you attempt to do so.

  • thanks @balazar, to sum it up; things are the same as they were a few months ago in regards to the GH2 hack, there are no plans to update the Settings Vault with the many new patches have been created so it is just a matter of searching them out and testing.

  • @balazer : I figured out where the problem came from : it was the H264 (.mp4) compression that caused banding. When I compress the footage using .mov H264, it's okay.

  • After 3 days reading all the posts, I think I am ready to ask a question (Hope I don't get banned after my first participation) Details: Pal area, mostly docs. Tripod, but more often I am running and filming under bad circumstances. I would like one (the) best patch (like most of us I suppose).

    Besides the 'basic' patch settings ( pal -ntsc, iso limit removal etc) my sincere wishes would be:
    • good quality also in low light (45- 50 mb/s)

    • Most fluent motion in 1080p (as I prefer 1080 above 720, and I have read I should not film 1080i

    • extreme stable / reliability (no crash)

    • Preferable compatible with class 6 cards (in case I would run out of class 10 cards, and I would not be able to film at all).

    • (preferable steady, but I suppose no patch can help me with that ;-)

    I found Flow motion v2.02 and my questions are (to everyone who can answer them) :

    • Can I just lower the bitrates in the Flow Motion @LPowell settings? Or will the whole idea of the 'flow motion' be gone, or worse, will there be other possible errors)? Or would you suggest to only lower the bitrate of (for example) 1080i, so in case I would only have class 6 cards I can always shoot 1080i.

    • Besides Flow motion, do I need to use other patches (for the other wishes, as filming in low light)? If that is the case, I haven't figured out yet how to combine patches.)

    • Other suggestions are welcome ( perhaps an adaptation of Sanity 4.1 @Ralph_B or Cluster v6 @Driftwood ?)

    It's all quite complex Thanks you all!

  • @tommy Thanks for your interest in Flow Motion v2. This is a comprehensive, full-featured patch that is designed to handle all types of shooting situations. Although I tested it for use with standard Class 10 SD cards, I've been able to successfully use fast Class 6 cards with FM2's 60Mbps 24L, FH, and H video modes. Aside from their bitrates being limited to 60Mbps peak, these modes work exactly the same as Flow Motion's 100Mbps 24H, HBR, FSH, and SH modes, and produce excellent motion picture quality with just a notch tighter compression.

  • Hello, im a beginner too, i think this is the right place for my simple question. I use the FM 2.02 and i like it very much, but i don´t wonna have the 100Mbps in the HBR mode, the half is good for me, let´s say about 45-50 Mbps, Question: which changes in the ini file for the Lower Bitrate must i make?. sorry for my bad Englisch. greetings René

  • GH1 Version Display shows ver 1.B .... yes B as in Boy

    I purchased this camera online, it's a new body and has been hacked by the last owner. I went to use simple B settings to match my other 2 GH1s and the camera would only flash me the Wait screen before going to display the image that was on the card. So I went back into ptools and redid it again, double checking I hit the version increment, version compare, new body etc etc. Same thing, flash the Wait screen and then view the image. I checked the version in the menu and found it to be ver 1.B..... yes B.....as in Boy.....not a numerical value but an alpha character. So I tried renaming the update 1CC, 200, 500, 1BJ and nothing. It's acting like it's unhackable, again. Any ideas on how to get this camera rehacked and clean up the version number issue ???

    Thanks !!!

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  • @snoopy Did you check (tick) the "version increment" box in ptools? PThat's the only thing I can think of...

  • B means just B in hex system here. :-)