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GH2 Flow Motion v2 - 100 Mbps Fast Action Performance - Series 2
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  • Thanks @edgenumbers - yes most broadcast delivery in the US is 23.98 PSF.

    As I just mentioned to @LPowell above, I have used Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC shooting entire cards for the last 6 months, to test the hack and have never failed spanning, if I am in manual across the board, with Nikon primes.

    I have occasional failures on that card if using FSH or 24H with Lumix lenses with AF AE AI etc but I wouldn't use those for an interview anyway. If spanning fails on a take of B-roll it's not an issue but in the middle of that crucial sentence in an interview is a killer (as you know!). For me it is a question of budget - I like to keep the camera card as backup and then it just gets out the box expensive financing myself.

    Thank you.

  • @Jacekk

    I use standard standard Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC cards with Nikon lenses and all manual settings and find Flo Motion spans on all the Lumix movie settings except Motion JPEG HD.

    Good to hear of your success with FM2 on documentary shooting. Not surprised to hear MJPEG mode doesn't span for you - the GH2 is able to span only when in AVCHD mode ;-)

  • Aah that would explain it then!

  • I was wondering, are there any plans for a new update on GH2 Flow Motion by any chance??? :D

  • Sorry for my english very rough but in ptool I saw that it is possible to pass in MJPG in 1920 * 1080. So why is it not possible avchd 720p make the same change for a 1920 * 1080 50p as we see 720 50p 60p. We would then have a true 1080 50p as the GH3.

    Is it not possible to change the firmware in the GH3 to improve the GH2?

    If what you say is the best current hack and why? because I feel that every hack is good for a particular situation.

    In fact I have a little trouble to navigate through it all.

    Thank you for your help.

  • If I want FM2 HBR 60mbits for a long time record on my sd. I have just to adjust the bitrate in ptool ?

    Thanks for your responses

  • @utilinet if you mean my statement that it is the best, I mean for my use of it - I make documentaries. I need to shoot long interviews often in low light, and Flow Motion v2 has a very high data rate so looks good, is great in dark shadows and movement but more importantly will span on class 10 SDHC cards (not Extreme cards - so cost is lower if using many cards as I do).

    It also is extraordinarily good at motion - I assume that is why @LPowell called it Flow Motion v2? I have been in the business for 37 years now and have a very sensitive eye to noise in deep shadows and motion and I see artifacting in a lot of the hacks especially in complex motion like flowing water, not so much in Flow Motion v2, but I completely agree with you that each hack has its own best use.

    Most of the other hacks do not span so limit you to the length of a 4.29GB per clip: how fast it gets to that size depends on how much data is in the setting but typically from 2-4 minutes.

    If your camera is not spanning (i.e. recording for more than 4 minutes) and you have a transcend class 10 card, I have found it to be for a variety of reasons all explained elsewhere, but basically it is if the processor has too much to do. I mean think about it - if you use Auto Exposure, Auto Focus, Auto Anything Else, the little bitty processor in that camera has to process that, in addition to scanning 1920x1080 images 24, 25 or 30 times a second. So it just stops - information overload - wouldn't you? @LPowell lists what to use up above on page1, but I shoot everything on manual anyway.

    No you do not need to adjust anything in ptool - @LPowell has maximized everything, change your data rates by the camera setting 24h or 24L etc.

    There is a very good comparison of hack data rates etc here easy to understand when they are all laid out neatly (I made my own doc like this with all my results because without it my brain was exploding, much as your is now): http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/gh2-popular-settings

    I can't answer the 1080p question as I am not sure I understand but know nothing about hacking anyway! Maybe one of the experts can help you there, Hope this helps.

  • @utilnet Yes, you can lower FM2's 100Mbps bitrate down to 60Mbps. However, the bitrate for HBR mode also affects FSH and FH modes as well. Unfortunately, Panasonic did not include a lower bitrate mode for HBR like they did for FSH/FH.

  • My latest work filmed with the panasonic gh2

  • @chemukeng Very, very nice work! Loved the aerials, they add so much production value - excellent!

  • @Jacekk Thanks, I'm glad you like. Greetings

  • @Jacekk Thanks, I'm glad you like. Greetings

  • Hi, I've seen in other posts there was a 2fps MJPEG option inside an older Flow Motion hack. (http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/953/gh2-settings-vault-most-popular-settings-in-one-place-quite-old/p1) Is this originally included in LPowell's hack? Could it work reliably with version 2.02?. Thanks

  • @LPowell, thanks for the super reliable Flow Motion v2 patch! Here's my contribution...

    ...rigged to an octocopter.

  • @chemukeng OMG i never thought a wedding video could be so GOOD! it was entertaining and its not even my wedding. This is a better film work than those wedding shows on tv GREAT JOB! INSPIRATIONAL HOPE YOU GOT PAID WELL FOR THAT

  • @Anthem how much are those octocopters that can fly the gh2?

  • Hi folks,long timer user of the flowmotion v2 hack here.I have one sandisk extreme pro 64gb 95MB/s card and love it but can't really afford another.I have read as many pages on here as possible but still can't seem to find a definitive answer,I want to stick with sandisk as I would rather spend the same money and have lower recording time but higher reliability.My question is,have people been succesfully using the sandisk 45 MB/s cards as they are around half the price of the equivalent 95MN/s card and would save me a fair chunk of cash.Thanks.

  • @foggy Yes, all FM2 video modes work reliably on Sandisk SD cards rated 30MB/sec or higher. The only feature that requires a 95MB/sec SD card is 4GB file-spanning in FM2 100Mbps video modes. With slower cards, file-spanning is reliable only in FM2 60Mbps video modes.

  • Thank you very much for both the hack and the reply, strangely enough I have read in the last topic that sandisk ULTRA cards don't write as quickly as the extreme cards despite both being class 10,however I just tried a 16gb sandisk ULTRA card and even in 24H mode it worked fine and spanned without issue?I am contemplating going with the sandisk extreme 45MB/s cards as a safe half way house that in theory should be fine also in 24H which is the only setting I use unless I am doing interviews at which point I use 24L.I have never messed with the other settings (FSH,SH,Etc) as to be honest I don't know what they do.

  • @foggy As I noted above, I have had great success with FM2 using Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC, shooting entire cards shooting 24H, and have never failed spanning, if I am in manual across the board, with Nikon primes. These cards are $20 from BHPhotovideo and are really affordable and reliable.

    I have occasional failures on that card if using FSH or 24H with Lumix lenses with AF AE AI etc but I wouldn't use those for an interview anyway. If spanning fails on a take of B-roll it's not an issue but in the middle of that crucial sentence in an interview is a killer (as you know!). For me as for you it is a question of budget - I like to keep the camera card as backup and then it just gets out the box expensive financing myself. Try one, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

  • Hi Jacekk,I did look at the transcend cards, the only reason I didn't go with them is because here in the UK we have had a lot of imported fakes and even through reputable dealers people have had issues,that and I will be using OIS on my 14-15mm for in car filming and I worry that it may be too much for the card to be running the OIS and 24H at the same time(it is a documentary road trip style film that's currently in pre that I am buying new gear for).I have just purchased a 64GB Sandisk Extreme 45MB/s card for £43($70) which was a good £14 cheaper than the 32GB 95MB/s card,so less money and twice the capacity,I can't see why it shouldn't run perfectly when the 30 MB/s cards from the same company have been proven tonight(its actually gone 4AM here now and I'm up reading about cameras,you know how it is!) that they run perfectly fine.I haven't tried them in FSH or SH modes but as I have yet to take a single clip in those modes that doesn't bother me.Out of interest,which mode would I use if I wanted slo-mo shots? I'm guessing it would be the 720/50 (SH?) here in the UK at a shutter speed of say 1/125?

  • Hi @foggy, makes great sense if you cannot buy from a reliable source (which is why I love BH PhotoVideo so much!).

    Re the slow-mo, I have had great results in shooting slow-mo with variable-movie mode @ 300% (and all the others down to 80%) and then slowing down in post, in After Effects if I have time because there are so many more options in field interpolation and frame blending.

    I first used that method by mistake at 80% and was amazed at how great the slow-mo looked but then realized it is old school over-cranking so you have more frames to work with so the video is less jittery . I have often wondered why more people don't discuss that method but I suppose each to his own and it is all dependent on what and how you are shooting. Experimentation is what we are all doing every time we shoot, right?

  • I just loaded flowmotion2 onto my GH2. I am shooting in M, or S priority modes. I have the REC MODE set to AVCHD 70P and the REC QUALITY set to H. When I depress the "red" movie button to begin filming the "shutter speed info" as well as the "ISO setting" do not appear on the display, and ISO AUTO is engaged. This seems odd to me, as one does need to adjust those parameters when shooting at times? OR with this hack to do have to set shutter prior to shooting, and have to rely on AUTO ISO?

  • Hello all, I just figured out the problem I was having that I detailed in the above post. I was used to shooting video in the S or A modes. I realized that I need to have the function dial set to Movie (m with the camera logo) and then select MANUAL MOVIE MODE to have access to the S,A,M, or P shooting modes as well as the ISO adjustment and Exposure meter in the viewfinder. Problem solved.

  • The introduction to Flow Motion 2 on page one of the thread mentions access to PAL settings, where do we find this in the menu structure?