Does the in-cam playback work with Cluster v6? I'm still tinkering around with Cluster v4. To get in-cam playback to work, I power the GH2 down and then back up again. This somehow allows me to view playback through the GH2's display. This solution has worked for me with both slow and fast memory cards.
I've been happy with Sanity v5 and was thinking about installing Cluster v6 for the benefits listed above. However, after having shot a back-to-back comparison, I couldnt see the difference to my untrained eye. Do you know what I should be looking for?
sorry, dont know how to embed@SuperSet I'm not asking you to change - if you like Sanity - stay with it. Most beta work has gone into 720p and HBR modes for v6 - our team wanted all modes working (inc. iA and iDynamic) with better quality and better motion (bigger p and b frames!). Cluster 24pH is extremely good on scenic detail & motion.
The scene you depict I wouldn't say is too overtaxing - what was the bitrate for each and the chart data?
Sanity v5 is a good quality hack with insanely low bitrate. So you can shoot for a long time, especially on a card like this: goo.gl/gbQf4
On the other hand, Cluster v6 is excellent at being economical, as well. I am shooting a timelapse of clouds over NYC now (on the card as above), and after 3hrs of shoot (all spanned fine), I still see about 40min left on the card indicator. Most likely, this estimate will actually translate into a couple hours more. Granted, we are talking about the wide shot of, basically, a landscape with only slow and slight changes over time - the holy grail of long GOP.
Now, to compare the hacks, ideally you should have two identically set cameras, with the only difference being that they'd have different hacks installed. Shoot different setups, then drop both videos on timeline in a high-end editor (I actually do it in AE), and pixel peep :)
That's what I did. Shot my scene with Sanity, applied Cluster v6, shot the same scene. The camera didn't move so same lens and settings. I want to get maximum image quality but wondering if it's worth almost 3x the storage requirement. Hence, my question about whether I should switch as I'm missing out on something?
@Superset: Could you post up a streamparser screengrab for the mts file you shot on Cluster v6? Alternatively, use a bitrate proggie like MediaInfo or Videospec (free off the internet) to tell you the Mbps info. Many thanks. The reason I say this is this: Cluster's top Bitrate is indeed 90M+ but ONLY when required. I need to confirm that your test shot actually used that data rate. Its purely for research - cus Im interested. Thanks for your test.
Okay, finished the streamparser. I was wrong, it was 71M+ for the Cluster file. Sorry about that. Here are the screenshots for both files. Hope it helps.
Cluster v6: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/7sgio.png
Sanity v5: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/jz6ky.png
@driftwood Thanks! My partner and I do weddings as well as anything else that comes our way.
@driftwood Depends on your definition. ;-)
But a serious thanks to yours and VKs hard work. Our slow climb to what we have now is in large part to the tools you've unleashed for us. Fully funded feature in the works here in New Mexico to be solely shot on 3 GH2s all hacked with Sedna. The largest thing I've learned from all of the seasoned people here especially yourself and VK is that a tool like the GH2 and test shots can only go so far. It's imagination, hard work, and ingenuity that makes shit happen. So, thanks for helping us along. Making dreams happen.
@driftwood. When you release Cluster v6 (6GOP), please explain the differences between CL v6 6GOP and CL v3 6GOP. Thanks in advance.
Which patches and settings do I use to enable the 1080i50? I'd love to try the slow-mo there...
@MisterBink swiitch over to PAL mode in the cameras tools menus 'Video mode = PAL'. Any settings with the 'PAL<->NTSC Menu=' Checked will enable you to switch modes. Thus, switch modes, turn off camera, turn back on and reformat a sdcard to that country mode. Record away in 1080i, HBR or 720p to notice the change to 50 frames.
@Zaven13 Much more stability on all REC modes and extreme modes such as Etc, iA and iDynamic. Plus better quality&motion on 1080i/HBR/720 modes.
@driftwood Hey Nick, as a quiet but fervent admirer of your amazing work, I was wondering if there are particular reasons why none of you recent settings are 3GOP for 24p (I understand that there are quite a few settings in that arena, but I'd love to see your take on a 3GOP for 24p shooters...:-).
Just installed Cluster v6 and have been trying it out! I think the best equivalent setting to compare it to is going to be Cake v2.3 because both of them are able to span in all video modes. Cake v2.3 definitely is giving higher bitrates in HBR mode, but it has a shorter GOP, so I'm not sure if the video is actually better quality.
Did 3GOP 6 months ago! ;-) The reason is as you suggest, to be fair there's already well grounded settings from bkmwcd and lpowell - both excellent 3 GOPs.
Besides, I wanted to see how far 12/15 GOP could be pushed and if you think about it - anything in AVCHD above 30M+ for HBR, 40M+ for 720 and 70M+ for 24p working reliably like Cluster v6 does is much better than the old mpeg 35M 12/15 Long GOP standards from yore such as the once 'pro' codecs found in Sony EX Camcorders, Canon cams, etc...
6GOP Cluster is looking very good too and will be out v soon.
@Driftwood - Thanks for that. As for your camera prices: 5DmkII - I'd ask between 50-60% of the original price I paid. Depending on it's condition of course. 7D - Around 60-80% of the orginal price I paid (body only). 60D - About 70-90% of the original price.
I dunno, maybe I'm a greedy git... Does that sound unreasonable?
Probably about right methinks @MiisterBink
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