Beginners: Guide to setting up stable settings

iamnicos

Hi all,

I would like to thank mpgxsvcd for his work, his time spent doing test, posting and helping others. People like you are precious.

I am a french director making documentaries for TV. I recently got a GH2 used as a C camera (A being an EX1R, B a 5d MKII). I must say that I'm really impress with this like piece of plastic and the creative stuff that it makes possible. I'm also very glad that people have been hacking it to be more versatile. I just wish Canon had such an open firmware...

I have recently discover mpgxsvcd hacks and presets, posts and topics. It is the only ones that I have been using since I have no other choice to have a 100% working device for the shooting that I am doing. My point was to increase bitrate for the 50i modes and 25p and you just created what I needed (thanks again). But still, there are some questions that are keeping my mind busy.

I precise that I'm looking for a 50i or 25p 1080 mode with a bitrate close to 35mbs (same as EX1R) and a 720p settings (more likely 25p) for car mount (because 720p as usually less jello). 1080 is not meant to be used for long take but 720p will record as long as my batteries last. I have poor interess for 24i mode as I am mixing with 25p or 50i footage. I am curently using Lexar 64GB SDXC class 10 x133 cards.

Maybe some people here could help.

After applying the patch (and possibly new 1,1 firmware from Panasonic) I have a new mode call "HBR" (for Hi Bit Rate I guess) : how is this mode affected by the hack ? What is the actual bit rate for that mode ? Is it "safe" (no bug what so ever) ?
It is for me not clear if I should use "Hi" or "Low" settings for spanning and total safety ? Mpgxsvcd say's that everything is safe for all his settings, but in the topic "The Vault", the same says that only "Low" settings will let the camera spann and will be safe... Which mpgxsvcd to trust ?
I'm a bit lost with the stupid modes and quality names of that device : let's take video manual mode... there is a FHS and a SH in 1080... than a SH and H for 720p... in 24i video mode there is 24H and 24L... in HBR, nothing you can choose... Can I just consider all of this as "Hi" and "Low", upper being HI and lower being LOW ? If a LOW settings of one mode is the same bit rate as Hi settings of another mode that fails sometimes, is the LOW settings safe ? Does it has something to do with the bitrate itself or with the setting (being "HI" or "LOW", including other changes in the process) ?
I have noticed that running "HI" settings in different modes will cause the record to fail sometimes when using ISO above 3200. When I'm using a "LOW" settings (whatever mode I choose), this won't happen. Anyone noticing same results ?

Thank you for your help.

Doing some more test, I will be happy to post some sample footage when I can.

Best regards,

nicos

balazer

for 60p: Menu, setup, video out, NTSC. If switching from PAL, turn the camera off and back on and reformat the memory card. Top dial to creative movie mode. Menu, creative movie, manual movie mode. Menu, Motion picture, Rec mode, AVCHD(720p).

http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-usage/gh2-usage

myemptycloset

Hello all,

I'm a total noob, but seeing as this is the place to ask dumb questions...

I recently hacked the camera and the whole process went fine, but I can't figure out how to get my camera to switch to 60fps... can someone tell me what path I take to get there through the menu? Also, I can't find the noise reduction option...

So sorry for this completely ridiculous set of questions. Like I said, total noob...

TiagoMorena

@mpgxsvcd A new trancend 32gb class 10 just arrived. I will test on another speedy card. Thank you for your reply, I was really worried. I will look for a fix and post here if I find.

All the best and thank you for your patch!

Regards, Tiago

mpgxsvcd

@TiagoMorena

It is a problem with VLC and not the card. It appears that VLC has an issue playing all of the hacked footage. Use another program like Windows Media Player or search the net for the fix for VLC. I forget what setting you have to change to get it to work.

TiagoMorena

Hi Guys,

I installed the a 88mbit hack some week ago and shot two or three jobs, no problem, everything worked fine. I was using a SDHC Sandisk Extreme Clas 10 30mb/s. In the field, I tried to playback and the card gave me a write error. I worked it out in the camera, deleted a few clips, everything starts working again. So when I imported the footage (I'm using a macbook to edit with 8gb and premiere pro CS5) just by coping it to my HD, and tried to playback in VLC. Some clips played fine (the short clips) and some just won't play to the end. They go to some point and stop the image - the audio continues.

So I updated the VLC and still the same problem. I imported in premiere and it plays fine on the clip preview window, but when I put the clip in the timeline, it played strobed. I rendered the clip then to Vimeo HD quality and it played just fine.

This problem is going on ever since. I tried to switch hacks to mpgxsvcd Updated 2-23-2012 10:16 AM EST and the same keeps happening. I just ordered from B&H a new card, but it's on the mail. I own other two class 6 cards and the give me the same problem.

On top of it all, my macbook is having some trouble to recognize the cards from lumix - only it I open disk utility the card appears on the finder window.

Did anyone have similar problems like these? I'm having major trust issues with my GH2 and thinking the hacks my have damaged the body. What do you guys think?

Regards, Tiago

mpgxsvcd

@shane

If the point of diminishing returns is below what the slowest card can handle then no there really isn’t much need in using a faster card. I believe that the point of diminishing returns is around 42 mb/sec. I really have never seen much benefit in going higher than that.

That is why the 1080p @ 24 FPS mode in the “No adverse Affects” settings are set to 42 mb/sec. In my opinion you use that setting if you want absolute quality(Still with 100% reliability though). If you need a different frame rate then the other modes work almost as well.

I have tested all of the other settings and I have not found any other 720p or 1080p @ 30 FPS settings that are 100% stable. Write errors are not the only thing I consider to be failures either. If the bit rate drops too low I consider that to be a failure as well.

Therefore, I believe these settings to be the absolute highest quality that you can get without sacrificing stability regardless of the card used.

Even if I wanted to raise the 1080p @ 24 FPS bit rate(which I won’t do) I don’t believe it would visually improve the image. Raising the bit rate in all other modes will just decrease reliability which defeats the purpose of the settings.

shane

@mpgxsvcd

Thank you for your answers. No Adverse Effects is incredibly useful. It's great that there is something out there that will work on ALL SD cards, and I'm sure that it will be more than enough for most shooters.

However, I was hoping that spending a little extra for a SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC card might open up some additional options in terms of stable quality. I'm still new to the idea of hacking cameras, but it seems to me that a setting that is designed to work on ALL cards must be "dumbed down" to accomodate the very slowest card in the range. What I'm just trying to gauge is whether there is a higher fidelity No Adverse Effects setting that uses these faster 95mb/s SanDisk Extreme cards as a baseline instead of the slowest card. Do you know of anything like this? Any feedback that you have would be greatly appreciated.

mpgxsvcd

@shane

Yes you can rename the settings file to anything you want. Just make sure that you restart PTools so that the new settings will be applied.

The only way to know if the other settings are stable for your particular situations is to test them yourself. The no adverse affects settings were tested specifically for every situation so you don’t have to test them. That is why they are a good place to start.

With these settings you can shoot anything you want to and determine if there are quality improvements that you desire. If so then you can progress on to other settings that you will have to test for both quality and stability. If you are satisfied with the quality of the no adverse affects then you don’t have to do any testing at all.

Really the point of these settings is to give the people that don’t want to spend hours testing for their specific scenarios a chance to just get going right away. For everyone who doesn’t mind doing the testing these settings are a great way to know if they really need the extra quality that the higher settings “might” offer.

shane

I have mpgxsvcd's 'No Adverse Effects' settings (thank you for those) but can anyone suggest what the highest stable, or at least mostly stable, settings would be for a SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC card? I bought one so that I could push this camera. I've been looking around the settings vault and noticed that Driftwood's Quantum v7 isn't in Beta like v8 and v9. Can I infer from that that it is relatively stable?

Also, I am eyeing the Sanity settings for 720p60. Is there any reason why settings can't be mix-and-matched? For example, could I run Driftwood Quantum v7 for my 1080pP24 24H settings, and Sanity for my 720p settings (i.e. as long as they aren't directly competing for the same camera setting)?

And finally, the letter values of the settings files -- they affect the buttons in PTools, but what's the reason behind that naming convention? Just curious. Can I rename them "seta.ini", "setb.ini", "setc.ini", etc. without any ramifications?

I know that these are pretty remedial questions but I haven't been able to find the answers anywhere. Thanks in advance!

mk47

I have a PAL camera and a Transcend class10 32gb card. I got the "cant write to card due to limits" error on a few clips using the 1080 25p setting (HBR). I tried switching video out to NTSC and back to PAL and formatted the card but it did not help.

edit: also the 4GB file limit stops the recording

mpgxsvcd

@Dkane

Yes that is the correct file.

Dkane

I downloaded and installed the No adverse affects patch and it works very well. I am a little unsure if I loaded the correct settings. I loaded No Adverse Affects setj Final.zip 725B. Did I load the correct file ? Thank you for your help

mozes

When users get the "file limit exceeded" that trick also works.
Most likely users who have set the ntsc > pal or vice versa switch have this problem.

mpgxsvcd

@mozes

Thanks for that. Switching from PAL to NTSC and from NTSC to PAL can be tricky. Your sequence works well.

mozes

@mpgxsvcd

I have a native pal camera and it works good in pal and ntsc mode.
Users who have problems with changing from ntsc > pal or visa versa.
Here is probable the solution, it works for me without any further problems.

1. after you have updated your gh2 with the new settings, go check if everything is still oké in your menu. change the setting if you want to pal or ntsc.
2. now TURN OFF your gh2!
3. Turn the gh2 on, and now format your sdcard...

I always go this route.
If i dont, i get write errors, exceed limit warnings, and language warning to set the correct language.

mpgxsvcd

@orla

Everything you asked for is in the description of the video on youtube. Click the "Youtube" icon in the bottom right corner of the video preview above and it will take you to where you need to go.

orla

Great Video, Thank you. But as a beginner I have two questions: 1) what's the latest Ptools Version and where can I Download it? 2) Where can I Dowload the "No Adverse Effects file" Thank you again Orla

KeithLommel

@bechou: @sebasp1 explained VBR and CBR well. Despite the similarity in names, HBR is something completely different... it's just Panasonic's stupid name for 30p or 25p modes (depending on whether you have NTSC or PAL version of the camera) on the GH2. It stands for high bit rate, but that's just to distinguish it from the 60i/50i modes that have somewhat lower bitrates. The whole system of mode names is a complete mess. Why they couldn't just simply specify the frame and bit rates in a logical manner is a complete mystery to me.

sebasp1

hi bechou, i think the difference is VBR means Variable bit rate which means the encoder changes its bit rate depending on what you are shooting at, for example leaves on a tree are complex so the bit rate will go up to get all the detail, in contrast if you are shooting at night with low light the bit rate goes down because you dont have much detail, CBR mean Constant bit rate which means the encoder will try to hold as much information as it can regardless of what you are shooting at whether it is complex or not. HBR im not sure what it stands for could it be High bit rate related to patches which go beyond normal bit rate from 44 or more up to even 150+. Both vbr and cbr can be hbr!

Choosing between cbr or vbr depends on your style what you do and the situation you are going to be. Also cbr as it tries to maintain constant quality consumes more space than vbr on your memory card!

@mpgxsvcd thanks im hoping to get a faster card soon to try driftwood patches!

bechou

Hi guys, i got a simple question. Since the new firmware for the GH2, all topics are talking about vbr, cbr and hbr... What does it mean exactly and what differences ? Cheers for your help !

Tomee21

Thanks for your guide, it was useful. I'm a beginner and after trying your settings with ptool 3.64, I plan to try the higher bitrate patches. My question is: If I'm using the latest ptools v3.64d dated '200212' and loading the latest GH2 firmware V11, is it possible to use settings which were made earlier, before the hack came out for the new firmware? Or new firmware/new ptool will only work with new settings?

Just another (maybe lame) question: If I dowload a setting (formerly: patch), is it legit to overwrite the bitrates in it just to fit my needs better, while leaving the other parts of the file untouched?

Thank You, Tom

mpgxsvcd

@driftwood

Thank you very much for your help.

nod

@driftwood @mpgxsvcd Now using v3.64d dated (200212) and the 'Zero Penalty Patch' is now working perfectly in 720p mode. Thanks driftwood and mpgxsvcd for your responses. Really appreciated. So I now have B frames in GOP. No idea what that means, but guess it's good. I guess there will be multiple explanations all over this site. Thanks again.

nod

Thanks for this.. I'm using v3.64d dated (190212). I'll download the newer version later today and test.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

Tags in Topic

Top Posters