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Beginners: Basic hacks questions, series 2
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  • @balazer GO HOME NOBODY LIKES YOU!! I'm just kidding thanks for the info.

  • Thanks for the info, @balazer . Much appreciated!

    You said Aquamotion will work with 1.1 firmware, is this the case with all 1.0 patches, or is it a case by case situation?

    Also, you mentioned there are plenty of newer patches that aren't super high bitrate or long GOP. I don't doubt you, but I'm having trouble finding them. I've looked at the "GH2 settings vault" and the latest patches are months old and are either high bitrate or long GOP. About the only thing I've found is Driftwood's Quantum X SpanMyBitchUp and Pictoris patches which are several months old.

  • Whether PTools settings (not patches! you are misusing the word) designed for the v1.0 firmware work with v1.1 depends on which patches (check boxes and values) are used in PTool. Most of the patches in PTool are unchanged between firmware versions, but a few changed.

    Most of the hack settings have their own topics in http://personal-view.com/talks/categories/hacks . All of this has been covered in the FAQs. http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/

  • Thanks @LPowell . I was looking at FlowMotion, but was a bit concerned since it's not a GOP-1 patch. I'm not a huge fan of interpolated frames. But I might give it a shot since it seems to be a good all rounder that's very efficient.

  • Which is the patch with currently highest possible bitrate?

  • how would i go about merging two patches together?

  • Sorry for the newbie question, but how is the best way for make a true anamorphic look? Since I have a 2x anamorphic lens, so if I shoot on 16:9 it will be way wider than 2.66:1. It is possible to use, for example Sedna or the latest patches, with a 4:3 aspect to get a 2.66:1 in the final result? Thank you.

  • @Hakosuka

    FAQ Regarding Settings

    Question: I want to try a different matrix on such and such a setting?

    Answer: Easy, follow these simple steps:-

    REMEMBER: PATCHES ARE SELECTABLE SECTIONS IN PTOOLS FOR YOU TO EDIT, SETTINGS ARE WHAT WE INPUT, EDIT & SAVE & AS A COLLECTIVE NAME (like for example 'Orion').

    Copy the two settings you want to interchange matrices from and to into a fresh ptools folder together with a copy of the firmware v1.11 bin file and ptools itself. Now open the Setting (from A to J buttons) that you want to copy a matrix TO.

    Click down into ptools until you reach the section under 'Patches for Testers/AVCHD Movie Mode/Scaling Tables'

    Under 'Scaling Tables' patches uncheck all scaling i, p, b matrix tables you want to change.

    Now save this edited setting to a a blank (red coloured) Settings Button labelled A to J at bottom of ptools. (to save: Shift+ click one of these buttons). Notice saving opens up a dialog allowing you to give your setting a name and details (so call it 'no matrix 'setting' or whatever).

    Now open up the setting you want to copy the matrix FROM. Notice the scaler tables numbers and that they are ticked for this setting. Now immediately click on the slot you saved your 'no matrix setting' the one without matrices checked!).

    Yes, the scaling tables are unchecked, but if you now checkbox (tick the boxes!) them notice you now have the previously loaded scaling tables patch settings in your 'no matrix' labelled setting, this is because ptools still shows the previous setting loaded in the patch if the newly loaded setting patches are left unchecked.

    You can now resave to a new slot or overwrite your 'no matrix' slot and call it a new name like 'Setting X with Setting Y's Matrix' (e.g. 'Pictoris with Dark Matter v3 Matrix') Viola!!!!

    http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/gh2-hack-faq

  • @mozes @Hakosuka

    From time to time I get inquiries asking if I can produce a version of Flow Motion using different scaling matrices. The short answer is no, because to do so would convert it into a fundamentally different patch that would no longer be "Flow Motion:".

    On a deeper level, there's a reason why Scaling Matrices are not mix-and-match flavors that can be casually substituted into another patch. These tables lie at the heart of the AVCHD core encoding engine and can potentially affect any of the stability settings that keep the patch operating within safe limits. In automotive hot-rodding terms, it's comparable to swapping a new engine into a car, and if it's not done with the proper tools, havoc can ensue.

    *** WARNING ***

    Substituting a different set of Scaling Tables into a functioning patch is very likely to produce an unstable patch. While the risk of permanently damaging the camera is probably small, no one can really guarantee how the camera will respond to experimental settings that haven't been thoroughly tested. Those who choose to experiment with alterations of this type should be aware that you are venturing into potentially hazardous territory on your own.

  • @mozes @LPowell Thanks guys I'll check it out, I mainly need it for a replacement of the 720/50p in Sedna AQ1.

  • Hello Vitaly and everyone,

    Almost a year I'm reading about the gh2 hack and finally I'll have an opportunity to get one for cheap - a friend of mine will get it for me from New York, from B&H. I know the GH3 is on the way, but this one will be enough for me for now.

    I checked out the FAQ and searched around for information about hacking the camera, but I found some disturbing (maybe older) comments where people say that after the upgrade from Panasonic - 1.1 the hack is not working for the NTSC version of GH2 in order to switch it to PAL. I live in a PAL country, so it would be a bit confusing for me if I get a camera with NTSC and 24fps only.

    So, I'd like to know for sure if this is true. After hacking a NTSC GH2, will I be able to switch it to PAL?

    Thank you in advance.

  • @tomek123 - "After hacking a NTSC GH2, will I be able to switch it to PAL?"

    Yes, you can switch back and forth between NTSC and PAL frame rates at any time.

  • Just great! Thank you very much @LPowell !!

  • I've been looking all over for this Driftwoods Sedna AQ1 'A' .... anyone know where I can download it?

  • Ok, so I downloaded this sedna aq20 hack I believe it was, installed it with full battery. I turn it on and the apature and shutter controls are no where to be found in 24p creative movie mode. Only ISO can be adjusted along as a exposure increment shift. Also, it won't allow for scrolling down in the cortical menu to adjust additional setting beyond the first option (red camera movie modes section). Is there something I'm missing here? I tried restalling This firmware several times and got same result. Only way I could control apature was in 1080i manual mode. Is my gh2 in trouble or is there a fix for this. Before I used flomotion and it had no problems. Must be something I'm doing wrong?

  • Menu, setup, reset.

  • Thanks balazer. I guess that's a necessary step when using this hack? Or am I reading you wrong.

  • It is necessary when something unexplained happens. It is in the FAQ, in the instructions for how to flash your camera.

  • Hi balazar, Thanks again for the reply. I went to menu, setup, and chose reset. I'm still not seeing anything other than exposure increment and iso adjustment which is controlled by using the spin wheel (press to switch between iso and exposure excrement rather than fstop and shutter like it use to be) I read all the facts and found nothing on this. Any other ideas? Thank you. Anyone have thus happen?

  • Make sure you have the top dial set to creative movie mode (the projector icon). Then press menu and go to motion picture, exposure mode, and set it to M.

  • Yessir! Perfecto! Thanks so much, Balazer!

  • Please forgive me if it has been asked before but I've been scouring the net for the last couple of hours and honestly can't find a straight answer to this question:

    Is 25fps/1080p with hack and cranked bit rate (eg. 176mb/s) possible or not?

    I've got a project starting on Wednesday that needs to be shot to PAL standard. My guess is that this still isn't possible, since I haven't stumbled across anything to the contrary. But I would absolutely love for someone to tell me I'm wrong.

  • @Bania

    There is no straight anwser to that. I recom using some ready made patch from driftwood or others. You will find werry high bitrates in those. But remember bitrate is not everything, and with high bitrate you need fast sd card. There is also other factors like GOP, matrix and so on. You just must to test patches and choos yourself what best suit for you (do you like intra or longer GOP). There is lot of information in Driftwoods and other patch makers topics. I use in a moment Driftwoods CM Night patch and it produce something like150 mb/s.

  • I have Sandisk Extreme 45mb/s SD cards for the job. My main concern is whether or not Vitaliy has updated the hack since Panasonic's latest firmware update (which included 25P functionality) to allow customization of parameters already available for 24p