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MJPEG FPS setting for Timelapse on GH2
  • 128 Replies sorted by
  • tidatida
    @Luc sure it's far away from 4K, 5K or 8K HDR timelapse...
  • LucLuc
    The camera would love to get some shots with it's mechanical shutter ;-)
    Ok, if you just want to do some timelaps without getting the best results then it may be an acceptable methode.
  • tidatida
    @Luc what's about mechanical impact on your shutter and workflow if you would compare.
  • LucLuc
    Why don't you do raw timelaps with an external timer? The quality you will get there is far more mindfucking blowjob than with the hack..
  • fatpigfatpig
    @plasmasmp:
    Great footage! How long did it take you to shoot? which iso? :)
  • tidatida
    @GH13Timelapser thanks for your prompt reply. As I understand suggested settings for GH2 are equal to GH1 settings. I'm just starting to play with your tool - it's ingenious.
  • GH13TimelapserGH13Timelapser
    @tida The biggest determining factor is the maximum length you wish to record. You want to set the quality as high as you can without cutting short whatever timelapse you intend on shooting. Unless MJPEG quality on the GH2 works different from the GH1, this information from the About page on http://timelapser.net should apply: [Also interested in hearing any comments LPowell might have]

    MJPEG quality settings are a tradeoff between image quality and recording duration. Setting E1 Table: 4 makes a big difference. My understanding is that the E1 Quality/Table setting is used initially and E2/E3/E4 are a fallback if the camera can’t keep up. As we’re only recording at 2fps this is unlikely to be a problem, but I recommend using settings that descend down from your E1 quality setting. E1 Quality: 400 will give you super-high quality jpegs, but only about twenty minutes of recording time at 1080p.

    E1 Quality 160 looks just fine to me, especially when frames are blended together and will give you a recording time of just under an hour. If you’re happy with 720p you’ll get closer to two hours.

    MJPEG Movie Mode | MJPEG Compression | E1 Quality: 160
    E1 Table: 4
    E2 Quality: 140
    E2 Table: 4
    E3 Quality: 120
    E3 Table: 4
    E4 Quality: 100
    E4 Table: 4

    I leave ” MJPEG Color” as the standard 4:2:0 which leads to smaller file sizes and thus longer shooting time. If you use frame blending, I believe you’ll get the benefit of averaged colour/luminosity for each pixel and GH13 Timelapser will output in 4:2:2 to take advantage of this (please let me know if I’m mistaken and there is no benefit.) When shooting your timelapse, you’ll want to always set your shutter to 1/2 second if you intend to use frame blending. 1/2 second blended frames will have smoother motion – shorter shutter speeds will introduce ghosting to fast moving objects.
  • tidatida
    @LPowell do you have any suggestion for a proper MJPEG setting at 2fps. In my opinion you are one of the best experts...

    Thanks
  • tobnyottobnyot
    I also tested it and it works great with 2 fps. The only problem I ran into was the bitrate of just ~8 MBit/s.
  • stoneystoney
    Because of the longer shutter speed, it can be used in low light indoor.
  • plasmasmpplasmasmp
    Did a quick test with the GH2 at 2fps. great little program

  • stoneystoney
    PTool 3.63d supports this feature on GH2. Woohoo!!!

    One caveat. There's no this option for GH2: MJPEG Movie Mode | MJPEG Size Adjustments | 720p30 -> 1080p30

    Try MJPEG Movie Mode | MJPEG Size Adjustments | 720p30 width to 1920, 720p30 height to 1080.

    Hopefully Panasonic doesn't get rid of MJPEG encoding option.
  • kanintesovakanintesova
    Vitaliy now ported this feature to GH2 as well with the upcoming p-tool 3.63 release. Thank you Vitaliy!
  • GH13TimelapserGH13Timelapser
    @Meierhans It is possible on the GH1 [and GF1 I think?] because ptools allows the user to change the MJPEG fps setting from 30 to 2. It is not possible to make this change on the GH2 because ptool does not have this setting for GH2 firmware. Vitaliy has indicated that this should appear in a future release.

    [ps: I think you can set your shutter to 1/2 second under MJPEG mode without the firmware hack but the camera still records at 30fps. Quality and maximum record time will be lower and file size will be huge because of so many wasted frames. The footage won't work correctly in GH13Timelapser because it expects 2fps footage]
  • MeierhansMeierhans
    I am also very interested, plan to shoot some timelapse in the city during chrismas time.
    @driftwood: Did you mean this is already possible with current ptools, or that it should be easy to implement in next version?
  • stoneystoney
    This is very useful feature to capture timelapse on close subjects. It adds nice motion blur. Prolly ND filter required.
  • driftwooddriftwood
    This could be easily implemented on the GH2 under the frame rate settings where we can put in our own variable.
  • PerryWilsonPerryWilson
    I cant wait for the next release Vitaliy
  • kanintesovakanintesova
    This looks REALLY nice!

    I definitely want this feature so I can use your program. Thanks!
  • arashsiaharashsiah
    Any updates on this? Do we know when to expect this feature?
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    >is this new feature available on the latest ptool yet for the gh2?

    Nope.
    Hope to add this to the next release.
  • fooliofoolio
    is this new feature available on the latest ptool yet for the gh2?
  • JDNJDN
    @GH13Timelapser This is fantastic! Can't wait. Was just about to buy an intervelometer but I'll wait now...
  • Brian202020Brian202020
    I was just thinking. If Vitaliy add support for DMC-FT3/TS3 someday like he has suggested he might, this technic would not only give me something I am missing from my GoPro, but also making it far better than the GoPro with frame blending.

    @Vitaliy
    DMC-FT3/TS3 please :)
  • Brian202020Brian202020
    @GH13Timelapser
    I've skimmed over posts of yours in this forum and others, but never really analyzed what you were doing until now. I'm really impressed with the quality of the timelapses you are achieving. Sorry it took me so long to see the light :)

    @Vitaliy
    Adding this in the next PTool version would be great!
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