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Driftwood Quantum X Settings, Series 4: Cluster v2, Mysteron, Sedna, Orion...etc...
  • 1015 Replies sorted by
  • FohdeeshaFohdeesha

    I thought I'd post this here as well. I've only used sedna, but the other day I thought I would test out Mysteron. What I discovered when grading was horrible...while trying to pull HSL keys for secondaries, it revealed the awful, awful blocking and odd chroma encoding going on at higher IRE's. Another user also reported this when trying to key some greenscreen footage. his key showed the same blocks at high IRE value areas.

    If you look at the key range, it's huge. I normally pull perfect keys from skies (flat or not) with about 1/5th of the range seen here. But even with this loose of a key, it's barely keying half the sky, and it's just pulling the huge encoded blocks. Pixels right next to eachother that should have nearly the same luma and chroma values, are totally out of range of this gigantic liberal key, Rendered this patch totally useless for me, back to Sedna. I hope the new series does not have this same issue as well

    Look here - http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8394/desktop2012041923092188.jpg

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @GH2_Fan There are some that are as stable in HBR as they are in 24H, but just be aware that the design limitations pretty much guarantee a lower image quality for it than for 24H. I will keep an eye for other settings that span flawlessly, but odds are you will have to use one designed for a lower bitrate.

    Still, I wouldn't mind finding one that comes really close. :)

    @Fohdeesha It's important to keep clear on these things, so I thought I would ask for more information. Which mode(s) were you using? 24H, HBR, FSH, SH? PAL or NTSC? At the moment, my approach (for footage where I want the high bitrate codecs) is to use Mysteron when I need spanning SH mode but Sedna for most of the rest.

  • GH2_fanGH2_fan

    @thepalalias Well, may I ask, what is it exactly that is not keeping stable recording in Manual Movie and HBR modes as 24p??? I really do like Sedena Q20 'A' and recording at ISOs 3200 at least would be nice, ISO12800 is pushing it but the former cant even hold on a couple of minutes :(

  • FohdeeshaFohdeesha

    @thepalalias 24h on a gh2, the regular mysteron. Never had that problem with sedna

  • FohdeeshaFohdeesha

    Oh, and NTSC

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Fohdeesha Thanks. You're not the only person that's mentioned that issue with grading so I am sure it is something that @Driftwood is keeping an eye on for the next release.

    But since you aren't using SH mode, sounds like sticking with Sedna should be easy for the time being.

    @GH2_fan Like I said, Sedna Q20 C may perform better and the difference is subtle, so I would try it if you haven't yet.

    In terms of what makes it less stable, Manual Movie was originally designed to work at lower bitrates than 24H - so it all begins at the design level. Some experiments were done with intra at 50P but they most definitely did not span, and efforts to develop SH mode have focused on GOPs ranging from 3 to 12 and above. These have been more stable. For many months last year, almost no Driftwood SH settings worked properly on my cards (SanDisk 16GB 30MB/s, 32GB 45MB/s, etc.) and I relied exclusively on Sanity for that. It's been a pleasant surprise to have more options luck this year.

    HBR (as you probably remember) was only added to the GH2 with the last firmware update. Some have called it a "Panasonic hack" but this may very well be conjecture. What we do know is that we have not been able to push it as far as 24H and that there seem to be additional challenges associated with it. On top of that, it's a newer mode, which means that there has been less time to figure out what small issues keep it from working. See my above comments for how long it took to get SH mode working properly, then add on the fact that determining what will and won't span (and on what cards) has been an even greater piece of trial and error, and the scale of the problem becomes apparent.

    Now, if I knew much more than that, I would probably be trying to work on visual settings of my own, but that's not my specialty. I'm just telling you what has been circulating around the forum. :) I will keep an eye out for other settings with good spanning HBR support.

  • Zaven13Zaven13

    I have been trying to configure GH2 with custom settings for C1, C2 and C3 cust.set memory but it doesn't seem to take effect for some of the settings. For example: I use C1 for photo with SS=200, C2 for 24p with SS=60 and C3 for 720p SH with SS=125. When I switch to each respective memory, all three show the last shutter speed value that was used and does not change with each memory setting. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

  • FohdeeshaFohdeesha

    Absolutely everything is stored when you save to a C button...except the shutter speed. Odd, right? It just stays at whatever last speed used, even after a power off and on

  • luxisluxis

    @Zaven13 go to M and do the changes you need then save custom setting(still under the M) to : C1 , C2 , C 3.it works for me.

  • karlkarl

    I tried Mysterion as my first patch setting (using a GH2 with SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s 64GB), but it turned out to be unstable for me. When using NTSC FSH 1080i60, the camera freezes and needs power cycling after few seconds of recording. NTSC SH 720p60 seems stable, also with ETC. 1080p24 HBR stopped recording randomly after 5 to 500 seconds. 1080p24 24L and 24H were recording stable, but 24H exhibited strange artifacts a few times. MJPEG 1080p30 or 1080p25 recording was stable.

    I guess I'll try GOP3ZILLA next, 70 to 100MBit/s is probably enough for what I want to do...

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @karl You can save yourself some trial and error by checking here first.

    http://perlichtman.com/pasdenapulse/wordpress/gh2-hack-reference/

  • artiswarartiswar

    Loving the Quantum stuff @driftwood !

    Little acoustic shoot from a friend on Quantum X v2.

  • BuellerBueller

    I shot Myst Burst with the LA test gang on Sunday. I tried playing back in VLC player on my Mac Pro but it couldn't handle it. I found an interesting and awesomely efficient video player for the mac called Bino. It's really meant to be a 3D player but handles a lot of different types of files. It is also a little buggy (like quitting the program sometimes locks it up) but when it does work it does so pretty efficiently. I would download the latest stable version for the mac BINO 1.2.1 (there is one for Lion and one for Snow leopard). Here is the link if you want to try it. Also it does do 3D conversion really well (i.e. Side by side to anaglyph).

    http://devernay.free.fr/hacks/bino/

  • shianshian

    @Bueller have you tried mPlayerX? It's a free app on the app store. Never fails to play my hacked mts files.

  • BuellerBueller

    @shian Thanks. It didn't come up on my right click selection list and I forgot I had it. I tried it and it did work with mplayer, but I think the BINO 1.2.1 does show just a little more detail.

  • luxisluxis

    @shian yes, mplayerx is the only one with less issues when using the high bit rates...but have you been able to get rid of the time imprint on the left? its quite annoying especially if one wants some screen grabs. also it doesn't handle playlists and if you want to play a sequence of files it does play them but it stops if there is a missing number( let say 055, 056 ,058 it will play only the first two then selection is needed again...)

    @Bueller there is also a panasonic "fix" : https://eww.pass.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/dload/avccam_impt/agree_e.htm

    it will let you play mts files in quick time, where you can see the bitrate as well, see the files in preview directly and import them into fcp without any transcoding etc... its quite handy , but quick time is slower to open them up if longer files and some people have reported issues with finalcut pro. i also had to reset the fcp once, otherwise it wouldn't start. but then was ok.

  • meemee

    With the ne higher end patches the only media player I have that literally never skips a beat (frame) is Xino on Linux. I sorta downloaded this player by accident a couple months ago, and just discovered it again by accident and was astonished. It has ridiculous options if you set it to "I am master of the universe" may not be an exact quote but the mode opens options beyond your wildest dreams. After that setting and a tiny bit of tinkering it is the best player I have used without a doubt. FLAWLESS.

  • rajamalikrajamalik

    @thepalalias I am in Colombo srilanka,.. I captured some beautiful footage here with Sedna AAQ1 the most detailed beast,... what about canis majoris any news from our maestro ??

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @rajamalik No news. Looking forward to your footage.

  • rajamalikrajamalik

    @thepalalias I will upload them in a week I don't have Internet in my lap,..I am using edge through my ifone,..I will reach home on 28th ,..Sedna aaq1 is a definite winner when it comes to stones and woods,..

  • jfrojfro

    @thepalalias Thanks for publishing your spreadsheet on spanning findings. You've reinforced my informal testing in that nothing really spans reliably when using most high end settings.

    I've held back on the 64GB card, just because 1 would be only get me testing, not production. I'd need to buy 4 and I don't feel like parting with that amount of money till I'm sure I have something reliable.

    Regarding the Sandisk 30 MB/s Exteme HD video 32GB cards that many say work on Sedna and similar, I don't find that to be true for demanding situations. In demanding situations, I get 1:22 to 1:50 on sedna b. On less demanding footage, I can get the full 4GB recording in the upper 3 minute range on the Sedna type settings and bit rates.

    On some of the high 80Mb/s gop 3 and gop6 patches, I get more 4 GB files in the 5-8 minute range, but nothing rock solid reliable.

    I usually test by either a tripod panning back and forth through the flowers and bushes or by walking through same area with steadicam. Put camera in 24P mode (which seems to be most reliable) and going to f9 or f11 with shutter @50. Get everything in focus.

    Again, thanks for sharing your spread sheet.

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @jfro I know it isn't as popular, but I have found the SMBU series to be a good "go-to" for spanning intra. Even EX24H spanned on the Transcend 64GB SDXC with SMBU v2 (tested for 70 minutes on a painting), and my memory is that it is slower than the card you mention.

  • DeShonDixonDeShonDixon

    @thepalalias I know this should go on the beginner topic forum but I just want a quick answer. So I want to download Driftwood Quantum X (v4d Orion) Dark Matter but I have no clue which is v1,v2, or v3; I want v3. I downloaded the folder and I see setg.ini, seth.ini, and seti.ini which is which?

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @DeShonDixon This one is fine to answer here since it is more of an issue for Driftwood zip files than others. :) If you open each INI file up in NotePad or TextEdit it will tell you the name of it.

  • DeShonDixonDeShonDixon

    @thepalalias Oh alright thanks for the info man!!

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