Hi All,

i have a question (which is perhaps a newbie one!) related to the consequence of using such settings like Sanity ones (with high quality and relatively low bit rates) in comparison with for example Apocalypse now ones or Mysteron (high quality and much higher bit rates), and this question relates to the consequences on the fluidity for editing the MTS from my hacked GH2 in an NLE like Premiere pro CS 5.5 or CS6 (WINDOWS7 OS) with a laptop with LIMITED PROCESSING POWER (that's currently a given for me, I'll try to optimize my next computer to improve that but please don't tell me just to buy a video pro desktop as this is not the intent of the question!).

I just tried Sanity 5.1 and have been very impressed by the quality of the videos (24H or 24L), especially when i looked at the bit rates and the final size of the videos which are small in comparison of what i was using (namely one of the Apocalypse Now settings from Nick Driftwood, settings that gave me a lot of satisfactions so far i must say). Basically, in a test shot not too "stressing", I ended up with bitrates/final video sizes that are around 2X less than the same ones with Apocalyse Now, with almost no visual differences as much as i can see for my taste (maybe some differences in high isos but i have to retest that). So of course I'm tempted to use this Sanity settings to reduce the storage needed (SD card and hard disk)... but I'm wondering about the consequences in processing power and fluidity in CS 5.5 or CS6 (WIN 7)?

I know that MTS are natively decoded by these versions of Premiere but that this require some relatively high processing power from the computer (I have enabled the GPU CUDA option -Mercury Engine- with my GT240M Nvidia card for info, but not sure it helps for decoding). So I am wondering if settings like Sanity 5.1 is actually a better option from this NLE decoding fluidity standpoint (on a limited computer) than for example Apocalyse Now settings? In clear wording: is higher bitrate like Apocalypse Now or Mysteron (with maybe lower and less complex compression?) easier to decode by Premiere, or are smaller files with lower bitrates like Sanity (but maybe higher and more complex compression) rendered with more fluidity when editing in Premiere?

I guess my question is primarily (but not only!) for Ralph B and Nick Driftwood as they know better of course what tweaking they do in their encoding philosophy...

A related question would be: in windows 7, what could be an alternative to help my computer in Premiere to be more "fluid" in editing Sanity or higher bitrates settings if not using the MTS files but converting them: converting them to what precise format and with which software (in WINDOWS 7 again...), for minimal loss of quality?

This last question is maybe a bit out of this topic but choosing one setting (like this great SANITY 5.1 setting) or another is always a compromise between quality, bitrates, computing power for editing in NLE, storage requirements, and so on!

Thanks for your replies!

@gottue nicely done. Looks like a fun group of people = )

I need to update the firmware on my PZ 14-42. Do I need to reflash the camera to the Panasonic 1.1 from Sanity? http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/index2.html

@itsmc2011

Nice work - I loved the '3-shot' in the woods!

Recently I substituted for the DP on a feature, and used my GH2 with Sanity. The director and producers keep raving about the quality.

One more with Sanity 5 shoot wit a x 2 anamorphic projection lens.

HBR : 30p :45m/s Lense : 14-140mm SS : 1/50 ISO 400 Mode : smooth Color Grad : EDIUS6 Filter : HD Multi-Coated Variable ND Fader Filter

@tomson8877

Nice Balinese knives :)

The 720P bitrate is 44M, but it can fluctuate quite a bit depending on the complexity of the scene. That's the beauty of Sanity - it only uses the bits it needs - no extra fat!

@Axier thx, it was smooth -2,-2,+2,-2

Hello Ralph_B you are so so so great man Thank you Thank you Thank you! I love Sanity5.1 so much

I shoot new footage Right here ! This movie was shoot by 30p 43m/s, I like its!!

Mode ISO400 Smooth From JP,Yokohama

@vicharris Glad you're enjoying Sanity. Night shooting is important to me, and it's one of the things I worked on to get right.

@tcarretti Dude, you really need to start working out. You're starting to look like shit!!! LOL

@tomson8877 Goog job. Could you tell me which profile as used? And the levels of Sharpe, Contrast..