Noise Test: Panasonic GH2 with Driftwood's 176mb GOP1

exilenorth

I have been noticing that there is allot of chatter about the GH2 testing. I have been trying to get the 244 Driftwood to crash or fall apart. For my needs in low light and hard light this hack is right on.
There is no noise that I can see and the color and focus through a prime 24mm is tack sharp. I do not see banding nor odd color readings. I will continue to try and stress the setting but at this point why.
This is a monumental achievement and proof that people working in concert with talented direction can mark a difference.

driftwood

Thats because it relentlessly reaches superb constant buffer fullness and reliably matched bitrate and i frame size.

johnnym

i had an extreme amount of noise with driftwood's 172Mbs patch when shooting AVCHD 1080i, so when NOT shooting 24p cinema. That is odd cause the average bitrate is around 50. Not that this is a problem. Just saying. I'll probably always shoot 24p from now on.

nomad

Driftwood has published different, optimized settings for 1080i50.

cosimo_bullo

@exilenorth - great handle! Where are you located?!

Have you compared the 244 vs 176? Any thoughts for low light superiority?

brianluce

@proadudio4
But Hiroshi didn't say he used noiseremoval software.
@exilenorth
Wow, that is impressive footage. My unhacked gh2 for sure wouldn't get that shot. What ISO were you at? Settings?

apix

@exilenorth
What kind of flash card are you using?
nice video :)

hiroshisaito

@brianluce, @proadudio4
I didn't use noise removal software or plugin indeed. Just shoot with custom colour profile and over-exposure (and colour correct).
Btw, The latest dfitwoods' patch is really awesome, I think it solves the noise issue.

Hiroshi

danyyyel

yes seems so.

Greek_m43

I'll post some examples later on, but no matter what patch I use, even going from the original, I always get annoying noise in the greys. Right now I'm using the newest @driftwood patch reAQ

cosimo_bullo

Hi @Greek_m43. Try standard at iso 160 if you haven't already and tell if that affects noise. We're currently getting an all but noise free image in many settings.

Greek_m43

@cosimo_bullo I did, it was an outdoor shot and the anchor's gray jacket still had noise

driftwood

Remember to try and start at a high ISO, quick recording, then back down to the lower iso that you originally need. The GH2 can sometimes screwup.

proaudio4

Just to make some assumptions clear...

The hack and it's high bitrate settings don't make noise (of course...)
It's not like Vitaliy added special code to add noise. LOL ;)

The fact is, noise is an analog medium and is at the lower thresold levels emitting from the cameras sensor.
Like analog, video has a noise floor. Some sensors and initial image signal processors and A/D converters have better signal-to-noise specs over others. It's then encoded to a digital medium.

The GH2 stock "lower quality" AVCHD compression is smearing the fine detail (Remember, noise is fine detail too).

With these high bitrate high quality AVCHD settings (thanks driftwood and others), we are now seeing closer to the "true" output of the sensor. NOW noise appears finer and more natural appearing. The noise is not as smeared by the lower ACVHD compression. Also, if we choose to remove noise in post, the higher quality image allows us to make a better model of actual noise for better noise removal.

proaudio4

Thanks driftwood
I forgot about that > ("start at a high ISO, quick recording, then back down to the lower iso")
Very strange to say the least.

I need to find some time to test these ISO differences and quirks.
Hopefully Vitaliy can find an avenue to fix this in the code.

Giant_Steps

Hey Guys,
Newbie here. Working with 176mb Driftwood patch. I prefer to work in 30p - my clients like the look. So I'm using the 80% Variable mode w/Sandisk Class 10 8GB HC1 card. I'm getting around 4-5 seconds and then it stops with the card message. Though on some less-busy static shots it can go nonstop. What's up? Is this the right card, or am I going to have to go with a slower patch? Also, is there a dedicated 1080/30p setting and I'm missing it? Thanks - love the short clips - incredible.

balazer

Driftwood's 176 Mbps patches aren't meant for 30p. You can use his Aquamotion, which is meant specifically for 30p and/or ETC, or SmoothAsFuck, which I've also found to work well in 30p. And I'm not sure what card you are talking about, but most of us have been using the SanDisk Extreme HD Video cards with success.

http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/953/gh2-patch-vault-most-popular-patches-in-one-place#Item_11

Giant_Steps

I can't open up any of these files - like the SmoothAsFuck - I click on it in my Mac browser and nothing happens. I have Wine Bottler open... Sorry for the stupid question but I just don't know.

EDIT: Never mind - I opened in Text Edit

alcomposer

@exilenorth what lens is that? Nikon 24mm f2.8? Looks great!

Giant_Steps

Tested Driftwood Aquamotion. Fantastic. Can't believe the lack of noise. I'm using on 80% 30p Variable setting. I'm used to shooting P2 2700 Varicam 10bit 422 AVC-Intra100, and hard to believe but this it is looking brilliant.
Using Canon 70-200 2.8 wide open with Vari ND.

Unless you have a better idea I think I'll stick with Aquamotion. What is Mbps rate with this patch?

adventsam

Download stream parser, somewhere you will find it on here and it will tell you.

Giant_Steps

Stream Parser wouldn't open on my Mac - it said there were problems.

Anyone know what the Aquamotion Mbps rate is?

freeheels

Try mediainfo, its a snapshot but gives you a decent idea

balazer

Use VLC to get the bit rate. (multiply by 5/4 to account for the slow motion) Aquamotion tops out around 100 Mbps.

Ian_T

@Giant_Steps Go here:

http://mirillis.com/en/products/splash.html

Download the free Splash player. Press play then right click anywhere on the screen and select "information." It will give you the info you are looking for.

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