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SANITY X - High Bitrate Version of Sanity
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  • @ khanaa1

    Sanity will work in all H264 modes including iA, portrait, 720, 1080, i and p, etc. The only mode it doesn't work in is MJPEG. MJPEG will run as stock.

  • Hi: I had the following problem. Doing tests to record some interviews, I always stop at the same point. When the files reach 4.9 GB camera stops. I thought that might be the card. But it is no coincidence that I have tried several different cards and is the same. The files will not play on the camera. But the computer itself. there are perfect in so far that stop

  • I had the same issue Axier, and never cared until I wanted to film a really long shot, when I could not record more than a few minutes. I tried formatting my card with SDformatter, which everyone always goes on about here, and it worked! it let me record for as long as I left it, I even filled up a whole card with 1 hour of constant video while testing. Try it I hope it works!

    also use overwrite format in SDformatter for it to work, takes quite a long time on a 64gb card

  • Thank you, ilia310101. When people have problems like this, I know it's card related, so all I can tell them is to try another card. Good to know SDformatter is a solutuion.

  • Here's a video I recently filmed using Sanity X:

    Overall I find Sanity X pretty nice to work with. The motion blur during panning is a bit strange, but I'm still debating whether I like the blur better or worse than the harsh stuttering a lot of other hacks exhibit.

    Also, the overall image quality is nice, and I actually like how it's a softer image (at least it seems that way to me). Additionally, I am really impressed with how well the footage holds up in post processing and color correction/grading.

  • @Lumiclar

    Sanity has no effect on motion blur. Whatever you see is what the camera is really producing. Are you sure you didn't accidentally shoot with a slower shutter speed?

  • @Ralph_B

    When panning, I feel like the edges of objects have some artifacting that almost looks like interlacing. But if your firmware isn't causing this, then that's interesting to know.

    Also, I forgot to mention in my last post that this really is a stable firmware. For some reason, I have a lot of issues with some of the other recent (non-Sanity) firmwares, in that they freeze my camera or stop recording after a few seconds. Maybe it's something with my camera, I'm not sure, but I even started thinking about going back to firmwares from a couple years ago :P

    But with Sanity X, the only stability related observation is sometimes it takes the audio a split second to start recording. Also, sometimes the video glitches for a split second at the beginning as well, but that's really rare. However, neither of these are big issues, and I'm not sure if they're due to Sanity.

    Thanks for your contributions to the community Ralph_B, I like having Sanity X as one of my go-to's in the toolbox.

    Just one more video I recently filmed with Sanity X:

  • @ Lumiclar

    Double check everything in your post pipeline. If something, somewhere is interpreting the footage as interlaced, it might try to de-interlace it, which could cause the effect you're seeing.

  • @Lumiclar - "When panning, I feel like the edges of objects have some artifacting that almost looks like interlacing" - this can also be caused by shooting in HBR (hack or no hack). My theory is that while the camera is indeed shooting in progressive in HBR, the panasonic coders were lazy and the h.264 encoder is still encoding as if the footage were interlaced, meaning it doesn't expect continuity between adjacent horizontal lines and compresses them as if they belonged to different interlaced frames, leading to a quasi-interlaced result. Better than interlaced, but not as good as 24L or 24R modes which seem to be h.264 compressed as progressive.

  • @arvidtp - Great insight, the last two clips I posted were filmed in HBR mode for the most part. I only recently started trying out HBR, as I usually always filmed in 24H in the past. Based on what you mentioned I googled for more information, and found that it appears that while HBR is 30p, it's wrapped in 60i. That would most likely explain the interlacing artifacts I see, especially in the raw footage.

    I'm not sure why HBR is wrapped in 60i, some people say the Panasonic engineers were lazy/crazy, others say it has to do with industry standards.

    Though we're off topic of Sanity, I feel this was a great learning point. I'll need to keep experimenting with HBR. I like 24H, but relatively few displays properly support 24p cadence. When viewing 24p footage on displays that only support 30p cadence, people often complain of the stuttering as they think something is wrong with the footage :/

  • @arvidtp

    My theory is that while the camera is indeed shooting in progressive in HBR, the panasonic coders were lazy and the h.264 encoder is still encoding as if the footage were interlaced, meaning it doesn't expect continuity between adjacent horizontal lines and compresses them as if they belonged to different interlaced frames, leading to a quasi-interlaced result.

    Correct, on the GH2, both FHD and HBR video streams are encoded as interlaced fields, and the MTS files produced by the camera contain the same metadata tags. The only difference is that in FHD mode, the GH2 scans the sensor in interlaced fields at 50/60 fps. In HBR mode, the GH2 scans the sensor in progressive frames at 25/30 fps. Consequently, video editors cannot tell the difference between GH2 FHD and HBR files and must guess whether they contain interlaced 50/60i fields or progressive 25/30p frames. With some editors, it is necessary to manually identify each imported MTS file as interlaced or progressive.

  • I ear or read something about this. The shutter speed normally for 24 P or 25P we select 1/50 e as the speed. Some Pro said at a shutter speed of 1/40 at 24 P the image look more cinematic ... this is what i like to try next. I find out the sanity x the one i got in 24 H or 24 L it's 1080 so i download it again this one got a notice it's the correct one.I like to using the 720 also.

  • Hi Alex_K . How do you apply this to sanity x, GH2. thanx

  • @gazweb

    You can't. That article is describing a physical device that Red bought which emulates the look of a spinning film shutter. This has been a long standing issue with all digital motion picture cameras. Sony solved it in their F65 camera by placing an actual spinning shutter between the lens and the sensor.

    I've seen demonstrations of both these technologies. I can see the difference, but it's sublte. Personally, I don't feel it's significant enough to be concerned.

  • Ralph_B - I have purchased a camera that already has the Sanity X hack on it. I have read tons of forum posts and I still have a few questions. Can you please respond to the following:

    1) Is there any way to shoot in 1080p 60fps not 1080i 60i - The reasoning for this is that YouTube doesn't support interlaced videos. I know they will upload, but I would like to shoot in 1080p 60p.

    2) I have read a bunch and I'm still confused what each setting does. I read somewhere that you posted that options work just as the manual states, but just at higher bitrates. I also have read other posts that confuse me. Here are my questions:

    • Could you just look at my table below and let me know if I am understanding correctly what each menu option records at with the Sanity X

    Mode Resolution FPS BitRate

    Manual 1080i 60i Variable(Sanity X)

    Manual 720p 60p Variable(Sanity X)

    HBR ? 25p Variable(Sanity X)

    Cinema ? 24p Variable(Sanity X)

    • What setting do you recommend recording in (Manual, HBR, Cinema)? We will be recording DIY movies to be posted to youtube.

    THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP. THIS HAS BEEN CONFUSING.

  • Sorry. No 1080p60 on GH2.

    Hacks don't change any of the resolutions or frame rates of the video in the GH2, just the bitrates and the way h.264 videos are encoded (and a few other misc things). So everything in the original manual still applies.

    • HBR is 1080p30 (or 1080p25 in PAL) but is a bummer because they didn't change the h.264 encoder in camera - it still acts like its encoding interlaced video and therefore inserts subtle interlacing-like artifacts in your otherwise progressive video when the video is compressed.
    • cinema is the only true 1080p mode on GH2, and its only 24p. You can get beautiful 1080p30 by going into 80% speed mode in 24p cinema, but then it does not record sound.

    If you want more 1080p frame rates, I suggest finding a used G6. I actually find that my stock G6 does just as good, and better in some situations, as my Sanity 5.1 hacked GH2, and it has 1080p30, 1080p60 (though this has too much compression), etc. No worries about spanning or not either, and you can use cheaper SD cards. Has focus peaking, higher res LCD screen…

  • @rpryor

    What arvitp says is true. The only two options for shooting 60 fps on the GH2 are 1080 60i and 720 60P. Of the two, I highly recommend 720 60P. It's extremely high quality and finely detailed. Even when you blow it up to 1080, the average person will think it looks fine. Only a trained eye will see the difference.

  • Sanity x 24h and 24l and flowmotion 2.02. Thanks @Ralph_B

  • Hey Ralph! For some reason I am unable to download the link you posted. All it comes up as is an image when I try to download it. If you have any ideas on how to make it work that would be greatly appreciated! I am currently using an iMac with osx el capitan.

  • What link are you refering to?

  • The Sanity X Correct zip file

  • Try single clicking it. It should ask you if you want to save the file.

  • It worked! wow lol I did not expect the solution to be so simple! Thanks so much! I'm excited to try this hack :)

  • Hi. I really like sanity 5.1 because of small file size and iq. But for the best iq i use moon t7 (24h mode). So my quaestion is: i need to have 24h with t7, 24l - sanity 5.1 and for 720p (sanity or moon t7? Dont know what hack is the best in 720p) Audio hack- pasadena. Any way to combine all this hacks in one ultimate pack? Thanks