The End NR4 - Stable - High - Intra - GH2 Patches - 03/28/2015 - by Apefos

thpluto

Recently used the Sept 9th Workhorse and The End Patches to make this little video. Thanks to Apefos for his hard work on all of his patches. Vimeo

Youtube

apefos

Thanks for sharing, I am happy it is useful for you. I am on a slow internet connection at this moment, when I can I will see the entire videos.

apefos

Last week I did some tests in various ISO to perceive the image quality in light and dark areas using The End NR4 Stable version, in 720p60, HBR30 and 24p, I liked the image texture a lot.

I did some tests with NeatVideo to do denoise, using spatial 30 and temporal 1, which looks better to me. Then I compared the original versions versus the denoised versions in various ISO.

It is good to have a clean image, but the texture in dark areas are much better in the original versions, because the denoise versions introduce some posterization and flat tones in dark areas, the original versions looks more random noise, even in ISO 2000 which is the safe limit for GH2 using The End NR4.

After I saw the second movie about Steve Jobs, which have Super16mm color film 500 ISO, I perceived that the random noise can be much more beautiful than a clean posterized denoised image... Now I am curious to see which version looks better considering the YouTube and Vimeo internet compression...

Will the online version looks good to keep the original texture in dark areas? Or it will be better to upload the denoised version? Which version will have a better balance between texture and artifacts? Maybe the denoised version will help the web compression to avoid artifacts. Maybe the web compression can hurt the texture from the original version... or it will keep it? These are the big questions now...

apefos

new tests of denoising with neatvideo4 using the end nr4 stable version are looking pretty good for gh2 up to iso 4000. when I have enough time I will create presets and profiles for it.

it seems neatvideo4 improves denoise quality compared to previous versions.

the end nr4 seems to contribute to results due to smooth and temporaly constant, regular noise in shadows.

dado023

as an owner of GH2 i am so glad there is more room for improvement :D thank you

testering

apefos, thanks for your great work. Are there any comparison photos / videos or did I miss them them?

apefos

I think i did not upload videos about the end nr4.

When i finished it i perceived that there was no way to be better, so i think it was the time for people to try and compare to other patches.

I recomend two versions, stable and intra

To perceive quality in a patch better thing to do is to see the original mts video on the screen, so dont be afraid and load it to your camera.

The stable version is very friendly to neatvideo denoise up to iso 4000. Something i like on it is the noise on shadows, even without denoise it is smooth.

The intra is good for big screen to keep all texture without denoise.

But you know, there are great patches on pv, so it is a personal choice, you need to try.

apefos

There is an important information I already said before and people who followed this topic aleady know, the end nr4 patches solves the diagonal rain problem, you can use the clips in timeline without transcode to other codecs.

apefos

Here are the NEATVIDEO 4 profiles and presets for GH2 using "The End NR4 Stable Version" for 24p and 60p.

(the 60p are called "up" because was done with 720p video in 1080p timeline, 150% upresized, so before apply the NeatVideo put the 720p video in timeline and upresize to 1080p).

Presets and Profiles from Iso 160 up to Iso 4000, with proper sharpening (sharp in camera was set to -1). Iso higher than 4000 do not deserve using, they introduce fixed pattern noise. Safest high Iso is 2000, but you can use up to Iso 4000 if needed.

It was developed using a greyscale target with shades of grey varying 8 units each in the 0-255 scale, and exposure ranging from 0 to -2 in 1/3 steps, to get the best noise pattern.

I did note create NeatVideo for the "The End NR4 Intra Version" because the Intra Version was created to be used without denoise to keep all image texture.

Enjoy!

apefos

This is an effects combo which increases the dynamic range of GH2 using The End NR4 Stable or Intra.

It was carefully developed to grade the image respecting the camera 8bits limits, without pushing so much.

Download it, unzip and import this preset to Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015.1 and apply to GH2 clips in timeline.

It was developed using GH2 with the Film Mode Standard with Contrast -2, Saturation -1, Sharpness -1, Noise Reduction -2, so set the camera to this when recording the videos. Also the iDynamic and iResolution was both disabled in camera.

It makes GH2 looks like GH4 and G7 CineLike D, but without the milky look, ready to render.

It will increase noise a little bit in shadows (very little), but this is easy to solve using neatvideo presets and profiles uploaded in previous post above. But it looks good without denoise also, because the increase in noise is very small.

The image will be much more pleasing to the eye, avoiding the contrasty look and making the image more cinematic look.

If you cannot afford a GH4 or G7 or GX8 this can be a good solution for a longer life to GH2.

Enjoy!

producer

Would you create this preset for After Effects?

Or just upload few snapshots of the fx and their parameters within the preset.

apefos

just apply the preset into a clip in premiere timeline and all parameters will be shown in the effects window, so you can develop similar thing in after effects.

the version below lifts the shadows a little bit more, into a maximum safe value:

dado023

@apefos

is it possible to do it for DAVINCI RESOLVE 12 ?, because i cant afford Adobe Premiere, and Davinci resolve is free.

Kind regards

apefos

I think it is possible, but I never worked in davinci, so I do not know how to do. Take a look in the parameters in premiere effects window and probably you will can develop similar thing in davinci.

The version below is a little bit different, it uses two curves instead of shadowhighlight+curve. This version has less local contrast compared to previous version, but it is real time render. The previous version is very beautiful in local contrast but it is 3.5x time render, so this version below can be faster workflow and you can apply the real time sharp or neatvideo sharp to increase local contrast a little bit up to your taste.

This difference in the versions is because in the first version the shadowhighlight effect tweaks the radius and deliver a beautiful local contrast, but it is not real time. In the second version the curves effect does the job but it does not tweaks the local contrast, but it is real time.

Both uploads below are the real time version, the second upload is correct, the first is a little bit milky, so use the version with the + simbol.

apefos

These are the two best versions for comparison:

gh2_rgbshc uses shadowhighlight+curves, not real time, better local contrast

gh2_rgbcc+ uses two curves, real time, not so beautiful in local contrast

compare and pick up your poison!

Edit post: i like the highlights more in the shc version, but the cc version has less noise. Dont be afraid to use the real time version, it looks good.

apefos

In my render tests for web I did try various datarates and I found 12Mbps CBR to be the best size/quality balance for youtube and vimeo using 1080p24. It keeps good texture and image quality for The End NR4.

For vimeo users who will download the original this 12Mbps CBR without denoise can be good to keep GH2 texture, but for online streaming it will be better to do neatvideo denoise because vimeo and youtube recompression will smash out all texture.

producer

"just apply the preset into a clip in premiere timeline and all parameters will be shown in the effects window, so you can develop similar thing in after effects."

Of course, that's the way, but it's for Premiere users. Since I and some others don't use Premiere, just take few snapshots (print screen button) of the Premiere interface with all the effects and their parameters shown in your preset. That's it.

apefos

OK, so let's go:

Here are the final versions, tweaked again to be more similar. Less reinforcement in local contrast in the shadowhighlight version makes the image more natural. More similar highlight preservation in both versions makes the versions very similar results.

Compare the versions: RGBSHC (shadowhighlight+curve, not real time) and RGBCC (curve+curve, real time), apply to the same clip to see which one you like most:

In the zip file you will find 6 jpg images showing the effects parameters, 3 images for each version.

The versions in this zip file are remade, rebuilt again, so use them.

anonim

Hi Apefos, first of all many thanks for ubeleviable efforts and generosity. Than, just one question - is it possible to make these presets for Neat Video version 3.5? Thanks in advance.

apefos

I dont know if neatvideo 3.5 can import presets and profiles created in neatvideo 4. Better idea would be upgrade your neatvideo, I like the version 4 a lot, denoise results are amazing on it and the software layout is much better.

apefos

GH2 Bundle by Apefos complete solution for GH2:

The End NR4 Stable and Intra Patches,

denoise profiles and presets for neatvideo4, and denoise target,

presets for dynamic range grading in adobe premiere

instructions included in the zip files

Best size/quality render settings for web (youtube and vimeo): CBR, 12Mbps, keyframe distance 24. If there is lots of motion you can try VBR two pass with 12Mbps target and 16Mbps maximum.

anonim

Unforunatelly, Neatvideo 3.5 doesn't import profiles from v4 - that's the reason I've asked. Upgrading to v4 - well, than I'll rather buy newer camera. But, of course, and without any other contributions, apefos gifts are so marvelous together with other masters here in PW.

apefos

Thanks for your words. The upgrade from nv3 to nv4 is 50 usd. But you can use the end nr4 hack without denoise up to iso 2000, the image texture looks good.

Frame

Greetings from 2022 - probably the last person on earth to resurrect his GH2 with this patch. I was very active here 10 years ago but forgot many things - does this patch use the audio no limiter/compressor settings developed by thepalias I guess was his name? I put the AC3 bitrate up to 448000 but forgot what the other settings were...

Aashay

@apefos, Hello. For someone who hasnt followed the hack development for years and has stuck to Sanity X, which The End patch would you suggest? I'd like to try the most stable one with intra settings (24p and 60p shooter mostly) Thanks a lot

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