workhorse boson

highest possible careful tweaked settings for very high image quality with enough stability for short takes up to 5 - 8 minutes.

Arri Alexa image quality inside the GH2, (just missing the Alexa dynamic range of course)

default version:

*SH and H slots are better for good light in low iso and for more detailed scenes in good light

*SH slot is higher quality and more stable with manual focus legacy lenses

*H slot more stable with native lenses with electronic contacts

*H slot also better for use with image stabilization

*hbr is better in good light than in low light

*default version is more stable in SH and H 720p and in HBR than the boson version

*24p 24H and 24L are the same of boson

*great quality in all modes

boson version:

*SH slot improved for low light textures and noise

*H slot better for good light in low iso, better for more complex details scenes in good light

*H slot is more stable for native lenses

*HBR does the low light / good light balance automaticaly for better noise in low light or better detail in good light

*24p has same noise quality in both good light or low light for constant image texture this keeps same random noise in all light conditions, good for intercut with SH

*a little less stable in 720p and HBR than the default version

*best quality in all modes

seta = workhorse default

setb = workhorse boson

setc = workhorse default lower datarate in SH and H for more stability in 720p and hbr

setd = workhorse boson lower datarate in SH and H for more stability in 720p and hbr

sete = same as seta, but the 24H and 24L are optimized to deliver sharpest image for steady complex detail scenes, it does the automatic adaptation in 24p for low light noise or good light steady complex detail scenes

setf = same as setc, but the 24H and 24L are optimized to deliver sharpest image for steady complex detail scenes, it does the automatic adaptation in 24p for low light noise or good light steady complex detail scenes

all tests performed in NTSC with the Sandisk 32GB SDHC Class 10 U1 45Mbps card.

transcode the original mts files to Apple ProRes 422 full range using the 5DtoRGB free software before editing to avoid the diagonal pattern rain problem. Try the ProRes HQ, normal and LT versions to perceive the best balance between quality/file size.

as of september 05 2014 all versions are modified flowmotion 2.02 with extensive careful tweaking

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@joethepro thanks for your words. the street shoots was done with the workhorse default. if you try the boson version you will like the noise even more for 720p60 SH and for 1080p30 HBR. in the boson the noise is even more fine and random than the workhorse in these modes.

after you find the best settings for each hack patch, all the secrets are in the GOP TABLES, they manipulate the size of the I, B, P frames and how much they will vary in size depending on image details, and consequently the ration between them. knowing how to do this makes possible to extract the best form the datarate to get what you want from the image. mainly you can have priority to sharpness and detail or to fine random noise, or an automaticaly adjust between both. for cinema a constant fine random noise is better, for advertising a sharp detailed image is better.

when tweaking the gop tables the I frames cannot have a compression ration higher than 7 because the image degrades so much. the uncompressed 720p frame is 1382400 bytes, so 200.000 is the lower limit for a goo I frame in 720p, and then the P and/or B frames are increased as much as the datarate allow, when the P and/or B frames are more big and the ration between I /PB is lower the noise becomes fine and random. this is what the boson version does for 1080p24 24H and 24L, for 1080p30 HBR, and for 720p SH

I think that the scalling matrices and deblocking matrices are important, but after you have a good matrix then the gop tables is what does the job.

these last patches I uploaded are very careful tweaked in all settings, they are a perfect base to play with gop tables and understand what they do. a good thing to do would be to map the gop tables, starting with the panasonic stock values and increasing or decreasing each number one step each time. if we map the gop tables, we will can do whatever we want with the image.

at this moment I cannot do this because I am full of other tasks, very busy...

about the GH3 I do not own it, sorry. And I think that the PTool does not support it at this moment.

no, no, it is a different approach, see:

the datarate in the default version and in the boson version are the almost the same.

what I did was to make the P/B frames bigger in low light shoots to avoid heavy compression in these frames to preserve the noise. The I frames was reduced in size and this datarate from the I frames reduction was allocated to the P/B frames to increase them. this way the noise are more similar in the I, P and B frames, and then the magic happens, a fine random noise.

I think if you have a better datarate distribution you can have better color preservation in the shadows also, maybe more strong colors, but I think the color tone will be the same... needs comparisons...

the original flowmotion already have this fine random noise in 1080p24 but not in 720p60. the workhorse is better in 720p60 and the boson is the best, excelent in 720p60 SH slot and HBR for low light noise.

these patches are GOP3, not all-i. the 1080p24 is IBB, the 720p60 is IPP, I used IPP in 720p because the P frames are bigger than B frames in my tests.

I do not know if the blue channel noise is improved compared to the stock firmware... if I can remember correctly it seems to have a little less chroma noise, but to be sure It would be good idea to do a comparison.

@Trackzillas Thanks.

The Boson can be used in day shoots and good light shoots at night also. It will be the same quality of workhorse for good light or even better. every texture in 720p will be better with the boson SH. problem is: the boson is not as stable as the workhorse.

@TrackZillas thanks.

yes, the boson is even better in SH for 720p60, the mud in low contrast areas is gone. the noise is more fine and random, it looks like film in all the image.

there is some price to pay: the i-dynamic does not work with native lenses, it stop recording, but with manual focus lenses the i-dynamic does not stop

I did a test in good light some minutes ago, boson SH is better.

@apefos Just reporting back my findings on the patch.. My first impression after reviewing the 720p footage from Boson was Wow!!! it almost looks as good as 1080p I'm amazed of the quality no muddiness in low light shots. I can only imagine what daylight will look like. Tomorrow I'll do some more extensive test.. by the way I shot with the Panasonic 20mm lens with the 95mbs card with no problem cheers.

advice for PAL shooters: boson is not tweaked yet for work in PAL, I am doing attempts on it.

@caveport thanks, I had a look, different approach, inspired try something different.

@apefos Boson SH - 95mbs Card - Panasonic 20mm - i-Dynamic (High) Works perfectly.. I'm In love with this patch amazing job once again. The images look soo.. filmic I see why you said Alexa looking. This has to be the best 720p image out of any camera currently that I've seen & is far superior to a lot of 1080p cameras just WOW!!! By the way got a music video that I'm about to shoot this week, my line-up will be GH2 with your patch for all Slomo's and the BMPCC for all 1080p work I'll keep you posted.

@apefos One last observation the grain structure is fine like film you can see the individual grain in the shadows with i-Dynamic turned on the (High)

@TrackZillas just a question if you allow me: did you get the boson 720p SH spanning in the 95Mbps card? or it ends recording when reach 4GB ? thanks!

Wonderful achievement! I also recommend the nebula-workhorse set!