Driftwood ClusterX series 2:│moon│ЅріzZ│nebula│drewnet│Slipstream │Redshift

driftwood

Cluster X Settings - Series 2

After receiving over a thousand replies in the last 8 weeks in the previous thread we continue the series here from the following link:-

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5806/cluster-x-series-1

Whats it all about? Achieving the best looking overall pictures around - throughtout the popular GOPs. The great thing about Cluster X developments is you can mix and match some of the settings to combine into your favourite setting (e.g. GOP1 for 24p and 25p/FSH, GOP 6 For 1080i60/30p and 12/15 for 720p etc...). Slipstream settings do this for you (mixed and matched and with spanning capabilities where we can plus 80% modes on H & iA mode support).

This has been a tough (and still ongoing) challenge, each setting (and ptools patch change) takes an age to check & measure. Its exhausting work - even with 4 cameras on the go. The measuring to check Quantisation, frame sizes and stability adapting one change at a time is pretty debilitating on mental energy. I hope people appreciate waiting for each setting to appear.

All the new Cluster X series settings for each GOP attached below have been tested on the notorious 14-140 Pany sharp lens. Give me feedback.

Its as simple as A, B, C, D, E, F ! Each .ini setting in ptools for Cluster X Series will equate to setA ('DREWnet' 12/15 GOP), setB ('Nebula' 6 GOP), setC ('Spizz' 3 GOP), setD ('Moon' 1 GOP/3 GOP), setE (Slipstream 1) & setF (Slipstream 2) setG (Slipstream 3) and finally setH (Redshift). Any updates will stay on these sets.

"Bitrate is King. Who needs hi powered scaling matrices when enough Bitrate (if you have it) can drive the quantisation..." Quote from my conversation with Dark Shikari - X264 dev 2012

If you enjoy these settings please don't forget to donate to personal-view by clicking on the link above. Gratitude and thanks to Vitaliy Kiselev.

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driftwood

1 GOP Intra 'moon' T7 - Top Grading - Best Motion - Best Setting Ever? (You decide)

Update News (updated 21/07/2013) Two months after the experimental moon T6 and lots of new research I present you 'moon' T7.

INTRA 24p minimum 130-147Mbps - best looking ever with extreme Quant values - period.
INTRA 25p/FSH50i at 80Mbps
3 GOP 30pHBR/FSH60i at 72Mbps+
720p modes minimum 50-70Mbps max - best ever 720 setting? ;-)
new softer matrix - targeted at Pany lenses.
iA modes working it appears
iDynamic mode on 24p best on Low.
Great sound from per (Per Lichtman of Pasadena Pulse AKA thepalalias!!!!) ;-)
Includes the long-time best looking mjpeg setting and greatest Quant.
Please don't forget to donate to personal-view and help this site continue.

What's so good about moon T7? In simple terms, after looking at the rate control, quantisation and scaling matrices found in the GH3, Nikon D800 and Canon 5DMKIII I decided upon a radical approach to find out if the GH2 was capable of getting near their very low QP values (which range from predominantly 1 to 30 depending on the detail and luminance of the subject).

What I found was (and this had me concerned before) was that Panasonic's implementation / or ptools labelling!) of rate control using the GH2's quantisation parameter isn't too clear. I needed a way of having a minumum Quant and a desired maximum quant. Strangely with Initial Quantizer = 30, Quantizer for 1080 modes = 3 (+-2 can offer a QP of 1 !) and Quantizer for 720 modes = 30 I could sortof achieve this!!!!

With 720 using B frames (switched on in the 720 encoder 1 settings as = 3) Quantizer for 720 modes seems to work as a highest Quantisation setting (high is worse, low quant is best) together with Initial Quant of 30 (don't worry about such a high starting value here - after the first frame it settles straight back to lowest achievable (best) for the scene. Subsequently, Quantizer for 1080 modes = 3 gives me my lowest desired (best quant).

This quantizer rate control now seems to work as in newer High Profile Level 5 (5.1) cameras such as the 5DMKIII and Nikon D800 (and seemingly the GH3) and when matched with a new softer looking matrix - as analysed on the Canon 5DMKIII (with adjustments) - brings a degree of softening to the over sharpe Pany lenses.

I'm also sure that 1080i/FSH?HBR modes work better with half the coded picture buffer size of 720p modes (indeed I switched off 720 Bottom setting (the buffer amount) whilst offering a fairly low buffer in bitrate settings in 'patches for testers'.

In summary, the range of QP will be (certianly in 1080p24 modes) from 1 to 30 - often staying very low (less than 10) all round. I believe (although only tested by myself) that the result offers extremely good looking 720p modes (probably the best ever), certainly superior 24p WITH Intra, and great looking HBR/FSH and iA mode control (though further strenuous tests may well be required). High dynamic functions work it seems too.

Your reactions are now needed - so give it a try and lookout for similar based theories employed in the other Cluster X settings shortly - 'DREWnet' coming next. Enjoy :-)

moon T6 is now demoted. moon T7 can be downloaded by right-click saving on the icon below.

Big thanks to VK for his great work and site.

Cluster X Series: 'Moon' includes 1 GOP Intra 24p & HBR25/ 3 GOP 720p50/60 and HBR30p/FSH modes Trial 6 - (Released on 21/07/2013) A very experimental set of three settings. Tryout only to test.

Update News (updated 18/02/2013): Released after 720p/HBR/FSH renumerations - Great quality and QP all round in the moon tradition ;-) - 'moon' (trial 5) 1080p24 stays with the sharper 'Blue moon' matrix and the QP of Trial 3 - nice all round mix.

Cluster X Series: 'Moon' includes 1 GOP Intra 24p & HBR25/ 3 GOP 720p50/60 and HBR30p/FSH modes Trial 5 (Released 18/02/2013)

Including;-

1080p24 All Intra - Low 14-16 QP avg picture quantisation - hi-bitrate 100+ to 151Mbps superior quality
1080i50/HBR 25p All Intra - 14-16 avg QP - 60Mbps Med detail scenes bitrate excellent quality to 90Mbps hi bitrate/hi detail great quality
1080i60/HBR30p 3 GOP with P frames avg 14-16 QP 50Mbps Lo bitrate great quality to 72Mbps Hi bitrate hi detail
720p50/60p 3 GOPwith P Frames - avg 14-16 QP - 50+Mbps to 72Mbps stabilised hi bitrate / detail / quality
80% Mode recordings should be operated on the high bitrate 'L' setting primed for this mode.

This setting is primed for 1080p24 'in tight', medium, and busy detail scenes offering even sharper quantisation performance and is in the middle of trial 3 and trial 4 to please everybody (inc. me).

driftwood

3 GOP 'Spizz' - Hi-Quality - Pro Motion

Update News (03/03/2013): Spizz Trial 5 released based on some of the ideas from Nebula and DREWnet. Its a safe QP15 and seems to work on all modes including iA (Intelligent Auto) @bkmcwd and @towi will be testing these findings and improving them even further. More possible updates on Spizz with bkmcwd's and towi's findings soon.

HISTORY

Cluster X Series: 3 GOP 'Spizz' from Driftwood, bkmcwd and with the help of @towi Trial 5 (Released 03/03/2013)

Updated Matrix and NO frame limit to cater for the hi-bitrate superior looking files. 1080p24 now records at a minimum of around 90Mbps on low detail stuff and 137Mbps at high detail. 720 SH/1080iFSH now work on iA modes, HBR modes should be very high quality.

Many thanks to @bkmcwd and @towi for improving these settings.

Cluster X Series: 3 GOP 'Spizz' from bkmcwd Trial 6 (Released TBA)

An update and 'tune-up' to Trial 5 with stability in 720p modes. Matrix and frame limit amendments to cater for the hi-bitrate superior looking files. COMING SOON from @bkmcwd

Earlier SpizZ trials can be found on the Cluster X Series 1 thread

driftwood

6 GOP - Middle Earth 'Nebula'

Latest update notes: Trial 6b - 1080p24 mode massively adjusted HUGE quality improvement. 1080i/720p modes stabilised and tested for iA modes. *Minor update to HBR25 for stability reasons as reported by top tester @towi - many thanks.

Cluster X Series: 6 GOP - 'Nebula' Trial 6b (Released 03/3/2013)

Great middle ground setting - even 6 GOP with i frames closer together than classic GOP reporting quality in motion and excellent picture resolvement at decent bitrates - adjusting itself to picture requirement accordingly.

Excellent 1080p24p around 90Mbps Lo detail to 130Mbps Hi detail.
Superb quality 720p60/50 50Mbps lo scene detail to 70Mbps Hi detail and fast action.
Top notch 50Mbps HBR30p/25p/FSH 1080i50i/60i setting.

Earlier Nebula trials can be found on the Cluster X Series 1 thread.

driftwood

12/15 GOP 'DREWnet' T9 - Traditional Long GOP 12 (PAL) / 15 (NTSC)

Update News (Monday 22nd July) DREWnet T9 released today. Including the findings of moon T7 (read above) You'll get a QP of 1 throughout many less busy pictures but most pictures will resolve sub QP of 10. Death charts code at a quant of around 15-16 average!

Superior Quantisation
80Mbps constant in 24p modes for exceptional quality.
1080i/FSH Maybe only around 40Mbps but the quantisation and PSNR is brilliant!
720p modes Just the best there is.
iA and iDynamic modes simply work!
MJPEG mode - best available (like moon)
Per Lichtman stunning audio resolution.

To download Click on the file icon link below labeled 'DREWnet T9.zip'

Update News:Today (Saturday 3rd March) Trial 8 released with more adjustments to 24H matrix to improve P/B frame sizes and 80% mode working in 24H.

FSH & 720p modes plus iA (intelligent Auto) modes stabilised and working. Same QP10 Rate Control - Amazing quality as Trial 6 on 1080p24 - Defeats the GH3's IPB modes. :-) We are very nearly there on 12/15 Long GOP (as far as we can go)

Cluster X Series: 12/15 GOP - 'DREWnet' Trial 8 - Released 03/03/2013

MEGA QUANTISATION! QP10

Hi Settings Rip up and start again! Inspired by the GH3 we redesign the matrix and scale it across IPB frames to spread the bitrate evenly and create very low quantisation. This isnt so hungry on your precious sd cards but its quanted like the GH3 and looks very good. :-)

82Mbps Low detail to 88Mbps Hi Detail 1080p24 - This is an insane setting - equivalent to over 240Mbps Intra but using less memory (88Mbps tops). Most pictures will quantise to an incredible low value of Q8-16 - comparable and better than the GH3. !!!
50+Mbps 720p modes on high detail/38-40Mbps Hi detail 1080i/HBR modes - These settings are the equivalent of 80-100Mbps short GOP and are very good - best i frame sizes yet on 720/HBR/FSH.
Hi Settings 1080p24 80Mbps Hi detail 720p50/60 50+Mbps Hi detail 1080iFSH/HBR 38-40Mbps Hi detail
Low Settings 1080p24L 60 Mbps All other modes 36Mbps

Earlier DREWnet trials can be found on the Cluster X Series 1 thread.

driftwood

Cluster X 'Slipstream'

A series of GOP combination settings drawn from the Cluster X series but set at nominal bitrate settings (40 to 72Mbps) to achieve a better spanning percentage for longer recordings plus the ability to be used on slower sd cards. Slipstream attempts to correlate the actual clip duration to the TS (transport stream) duration whilst providing error free population of the cpb buffers. And it seems to work very well at these settings. :-)

Slipstream #1: (Rev B): Release Date: 10/03/2013

A mix of Nebula and DREWnet settings all tightly packed into 72Mbps max 24p and around 40-52Mbps for everything else which in my PAL tests SPAN! You also get 80% mode at 24H and iA modes working. NTSC 720p60 and FSH/HBR30p should now span.

1080p24/1080i50/HBR25p/720p50 at GOP 6 1080i60/HBR30p & 720p60 at 12 GOP

Slipstream #2: Release Date: 10/03/2013

Including;-

1080p24H 88Mbps GOP3

FSH1080i50/HBR25p 60Mbps GOP3

720p50 62Mbps GOP6

FSH1080i60/HBR30p 44Mbps GOP12

720p60 52Mbps GOP12

Slipstream #3: Release Date: 15/03/2013

Including THE GH3 MATRIX ON ALL REC MODES;-

1080p24H 150Mbps GOP1 (moon style)

FSH1080i50/HBR25p 70Mbps GOP1

720p50 62Mbps GOP6

FSH1080i60/HBR30p 64Mbps GOP3

720p60 52Mbps GOP12

NB: Ive had one occasion where the camera just freezes with no apparent error. If this happens simply leave the camera alone for a minute or two until it fully writes out to sdcard (emptying all buffers) THEN turn off/battery pull. Hopefully you will notice that all your spanned files are there on next powerup.

driftwood

Cluster X 'REDshift'Version 1b (Released 29/05/2013)

A classic 12/15 Long GOP combination designed for longer recording times and lower bitrates whilst offering superior quantisation over stock settings and for most pictures. Passes death charts needs checking for spanning. Should work on most cards. Version 1 has been adjusted slightly for a Q16 rate control and 720p modes tweaked: now footage should playback in-camera for all modes.

Drawn from its big brother DREWnet, REDshift offers;-

1080p24 50Mbps sustained on detailed shots
1080i60/HBR30p = 38-40Mbps sustained on most shots.
1080i50/HBR25p = 40Mbps sustained on most shots.
720p50/60 = 40-45Mbps sustained on most detail shots.

Test away!

driftwood

DON'T FORGET TO PRESS THE 'FOLLOW' BUTTON TO KEEP INFORMED OF NEW UPDATES TO CLUSTER X SERIES

Mirrorkisser

@driftwood: Thanks for your answer. As i dont own a gh3 i cant really tell if the new matrix is any better or where its different. For people like me, who just use a gh2, do you see any benefit in using slipstream 3 over moon 3 or 5? Thanks a lot old bean!

cjdincer

@mirrorkisser hi I am not the expert here, but to my eyes moonT5 is sharper than T3 and Slipstream 3. I maybe wrong in the sense of judging the matrices. that's why I wrote I wish I have more bodies to make a side by side test. I think @driftwood knows the best and really whats going on inside the cam and also the end results according to the settings. and as you said we're dealing w/ slight differences between X series variations.

Manu4Vendetta

Moon or another great patch Cluster X work with SD 45MB/s @ 16gb?

cjdincer

@manu4vendetta I stopped using my 45mbs sandisk. try to stay away from those ones. planning to buy 95mbs ones

dado023

i did a test with 2/15 GOP 'DREWnet' - Traditional Long GOP 12 (PAL) / 15 (NTSC) It says this: *82Mbps Low detail to 88Mbps Hi Detail 1080p24 * , and everything works ok, but i am little confused.

I have examined seta.ini file and found a line with Video Bitrate 24H=147000000 .....147Mbps, right? The thing is the video is recorded without any problems, but my SD card should not be fast enough for actuall 169Mbps as you can see in the picture below, so i don't understand how is it possible to record when bitrate peaks over the limits....look here: http://i.imgur.com/7itU48a.png

Can someone shed some light on my confusion. :\

driftwood

@dado023 Ive set max bitrate for a reason to 147000000 It will never use that amount. Its just to set up a high buffer. Don't worry all is good. Use streamparser found on personal-view for viewing your streams/mts files :-)

Alex_K

Which one is better for this kind of scene (high iso +dynamic lighting)? Moon or Spizz?

Manu4Vendetta

@cjdincer, Why do you say, is unstable with 45MB/s card?

dgf

Shooted an entire music event with Slipstream 2 at 24fp. Great performance of the hack. Spanning no problem, play on camera, perfect. I´m still checking the footage, but it looks really good with the condition of the shoot.

I still love some of the old Hacks (Sedna, CM or Intravenus) but the new Cluster X are maybe the final evolution of the GH2 hacking. I hope I´m wrong, because Nick is making to be an GH2 owner so much fun.

I will post some stills as soon as I can.

I will use Slipstream 3 this weekend, let´s see!

cjdincer

@manu4vendetta Nothing wrong with the settings. Some of the 45mbs sandisk cards may cause problems. this has been talked over in previous pages if you take your time and read them; you'd see. We are getting out of topic as we discuss this card issue. and also it is adviced that we use 95mbs cards, cause these are mostly high bitrate settings.

Manu4Vendetta

The theme of the cards has to do with the patch, but I think the problem of SD 45MB/s was with earlier cards. I have several and use without problems with Sanity 5.

dado023

@driftwood

"@dado023 Ive set max bitrate for a reason to 147000000 It will never use that amount. Its just to set up a high buffer. Don't worry all is good. Use streamparser found on personal-view for viewing your streams/mts files :-)"

thanks for clearing that up :D

dado023

did anyone tried x264.exe 64bit 10bit-depth version?

zsero

@dado023, you are mixing mega BYTES per second (MB/s) with mega BITS per second (mbps). Card is in MB, the camera is in mbit. 1 MB = 8 mbit.

dado023

@zsero

i am aware of difference between MB and Mb. Would you be so kind and point out where did i mix up those two.

vpetero

Screen capture on moon trial 3 smooth -2,-2,0,-2. I seem to prefer T3 to T5

T1000 · Screen Shot 2013-03-19 at 11.32.10 AM.png

Help! Ok I'm using Moon Trial 5 and have set the bitrate in 1080 24p H to 151mbps. I've recorded multiple files and am using the program Videospec to view the MTS video specs. Each MTS file displays a different bitrate. mostly 50-60's and not 151. And then it shows that the max bitrate is 149mbps when I set it to 151. I'm new to the hacking so if I'm missing something correct me. Attached are two screen shots of what I see. Thanks!

GravitateMediaGroup

@T1000

I guess it depends on how much detail is shot in each clip.