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GH2 Hack Myths and Realities
  • 45 Replies sorted by
  • nomadnomad
    Excellent write-up, Chris, and I second Neatvideo! Only the very expensive Relativity by Arri or the new Nuke version are a tad better.

    Regarding the perfect in-camera settings? Completely scene- and style-dependent. But since, as far as we know, there is no chance for 10 bit recording, you need to try and get contrast, exposure and saturation as close to your intended final look as possible. If you need to stretch or re-shuffle those few bits too much in post, they'll fall apart with posterization (banding) and quantization noise.

    So, if you want a milky look (say, a foggy day), do it – you may even reduce contrast. But don't believe those publishing recommendations like "always set the camera to low contrast and tweak in post". That is BS, the idea stems from cameras shooting RAW with 10 bits or more. Sorry, this is something we can't do!

  • HaznaHazna
    I do see improvements in detail on my Pana V10 Plasma played trough SAGETV HD300.
  • Mark_the_HarpMark_the_Harp
    @stonebat Do give convolution a try. It should be there somewhere in Premiere Pro and most NLE's have it. Its interface is a matrix of numbers you can enter manually to affect the image, and it's hugely quicker to process than most sharpening presets - useful for a quick test sharpening even if you go back to using unsharp mask.

    For a typical example (most NLE's will have something like this): http://docs.gimp.org/en/plug-in-convmatrix.html

    The sharpening example in the above link is way way too much, but don't let that put you off. You can do very subtle sharpening by playing with the numbers in the matrix and then save them as presets. If you find yourself using very small pixel values in your unsharp masking, you will definitely find convolution easier and quicker and just as good.
  • proaudio4proaudio4
    Nice write-up Chris!
  • stoneystoney
    @Mark_the_Harp Ok I got the basic concept about convolution. There's convolution kernel effect in PP CS5. It seems a lot of other effects are based on convolution kernel. Some claiming convolution kernel effect better than the sharp/unsharp "preset" effects. I will take a look into it... later. Thanks.
  • stefanosstefanos
    first, thank you Chris Brandin for this great great info.
    Now, with regards to my post here that's been mentioned : http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/6912#Comment_6912 , my NR recommendation is obviously outdated due to Chris's awesome technical insight, so I''ll start using some NR in camera instead of always -2, but not more than 0. Concerning sharpening, @cbrandin, I hear you, and I think I exaggerated slightly in my post as I don't really use +1 even in low light with very wide apertures, but based on my real world observations, I am finding it perfectly fine to use sharpening at 0 in some occasions that are lens, aperture and scene contrast dependent. I am very anal about sharpening artifacts and edge halos so I'm always careful not to cross limits, but a mild sharpening in camera combined with a stronger second pass in post is serving me great for softer scenes in low light at F1.4 for example. Something like 35-40% in cam and 65-60% in post.
  • bubbabubba
    How about changing/adding lighting to the scene?
    It's a variable too..
  • No_SuRReNDeRNo_SuRReNDeR
    Really stooooopid question but......Do I need to check the 30min removal if I am hacking my USA model GH2?...
  • proaudio4proaudio4
    @No_SuRReNDeR

    No
  • No_SuRReNDeRNo_SuRReNDeR
    @proaudio4 Thanks I felt dumb asking I just dont want to screw it up. Going to apply cbrandins 44mbit AQ4 today.
  • BuellerBueller
    Thanks Chris. This kind of summation is invaluable.
  • proaudio4proaudio4
    @No_SuRReNDeR

    No problem.
    BTW, you may want to consider Chris's 66Mb/s AQ2 setting. It holds up better for motion and also very good on static scenes.
  • qwerty123qwerty123
    Great write-up @cbrandin !

    I also agree that *the* best overall settings is unrealistic, and that different settings will be *best* for different situations.
  • luxisluxis

    just found this topic...and after going through it... lots of things are so much clearer......this should be topic number one to begin with before loading any modified settings in order to know how to get the best out of them and the camera. really essential post and discussion. thanks!

  • shunghsiyushunghsiyu

    Agree! Thanks for bringing this topic up for those who had missed it!

  • mozesmozes

    Great topic and many thx @cbrandin.
    I never did understand when i did use a patch, then a other one, and again the same patch, the quality was different..

  • fehafeha

    +1000 great topic, now it's more clear to me the role of I-P-B frames. Most interested in good image quality + motion hack settings.

  • 4CardsMan4CardsMan

    @cbrandin - Have you written a guide that explains what each setting does and how they interact?

  • leonbeasleonbeas

    @CurtisMack second that, including a ptool manual, cant find it anywhere.

  • shianshian

    @cbrandin any chance you and @driftwood will write a book (pamphlet, pdf, sticky note) loaded with all your amazing encoding knowledge? I'd buy it.

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