GH2 Hack Myths and Realities

driftwood

All good points so how about three threads for best overall settings for movement, best overall settings for image, and best overall settings for movement & image. Whereby bitrates, QA, GOP, in camera settings, etc... are nailed to the most recommended settings for the three requirements... Cant wait to get stuck into testing from tomoz when I get back from Greece!

cbrandin

I just use the sharpening plugin that comes with the editor. Are there better 3rd party plug-ins? I know that there are great 3rd party NR plugins, so I guess it would follow that somebody has a better sharpening plugin too. Good question...

Chris

DrDave

Thanks Chris! BTW would be interested in ppl's favorite sharpening apps for post if sharpening is turned down in cam.

cbrandin

By the way, multi-pass noise reduction also works well. Doing a little NR in camera can help the codec to apply bandwidth to more useful aspects of the image. I would never suggest doing all the NR in camera - just some of it;)

To me the issue is that sharpening never, under any circumstances, adds real detail; whereas noise reduction does remove real noise.

Chris

cbrandin

I read the post by @stefanos (thanks, @stonebat). I found his take on things pretty consistent with mine. Issues like contrast, saturation etc... Ideally you would always want to set them to use the full dynamic range - but knowing when that happens is more of an art than a science because real time vectorscopes aren't available (although the histogram can tell you a little about contrast). I was just trying to get to the point that low contrast isn't always good - just sometimes, which is what I think he is saying.

I have to disagree with him about sharpening, though. I think the advantage he sees is not because of the camera sharpening, rather it's because of the advantages of multi-pass sharpening. He just happens to be doing the first pass in the camera. I contend that it would still be better to do two passes in post.

When you consider these issues in light of increased bitrates, lower QP settings, etc... I think the reasoning changes somewhat.

Chris

No_SuRReNDeR

@cbrandin -- Yeah I am gonna print this and keep it in my wallet...you sir are as Vitality said "brilliant"...

ivan858

@cbrandin So amazing!

stoney

Always sharpness -2... might not be true. As @stefanos pointed out, it might depend. Then he said always -2 NR. That might not be true. I'm not saying who's right or wrong. It's really open to discussion. Food for thought.

Contrast, sharpness, saturation, noise reduction.... all depends... I guess. There seems no fixed value for all cases. The Art of Film Mode Settings!!! Each time I think I got it... then I find out I don't know crap about it. Haha.

chip

Thanks a lot Chris, very helpful, I hope everyone reads this.

stoney

Check out tips from @stefanos. He covered the contrast setting well. I think I read his comment a dozen times. http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/6912#Comment_6912

Prolly I would need to read Chris's post a dozen times as well.

mpgxsvcd

@cbrandin

The only question I have is how does the contrast setting affect dynamic range? I thought that only the sensor could affect dynamic range? Doesn't the contrast setting just move the black point or white point up and down the scale? Therefore, adjusting the contrast is only affective if you prevent it from clipping the highlights or clipping the shadows. Otherwise the setting should be irrelevant in terms of post processing.

I may be way off base with that. That was just my understanding of it.

stoney

I like. Thanks Chris. It is truly the thought process shining.

One day... I hope AQ value can be changed from a camera menu on the fly. Also GOP value.