GH2 Introducing 'SANITY' - the Do-It-All patch for GH2

R

Ralph B

Well-known member
It's time for SANITY!

While great work has been done with the GH2 hack for improving the 24P picture, I've been dissatisfied with the quality of the 50/60P and 60i patches. The biggest problem is mud in the shadows, and that has been the focus of my work - to minimize it.

So, may I present 'SANITY' - the patch that DOES IT ALL, and at reasonable bitrates. 'SANITY' produces the best 50 and 60 fps pictures you've ever seen from the GH2! Plus a sane 24P setting that isn't going to bust the bank - bkmcwd's superb 66M GOP12.

'SANITY' is the patch I load into my camera and go out shooting, and don't worry about it anymore. And I bring back great looking footage no matter what mode I shoot in.

'SANITY' has exceptionally clean 720 50/60P and 1080 50/60i. And of course, 24P.


For those interested, the key to increasing the quality of 50 and 60 fps, is to use a larger GOP than the stock setting.

1080 60i - GOP 18
720 60P - GOP 39
720 50P - GOP 30

When you do this, all the stars align and good things happen.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Use FH mode for 1080 50i. And use H mode when shooting in ETC with 720 50/60P.


Also, be sure to check Sam Mallery's website for excellent instructions on how to apply the hack.

http://www.sam-mallery.com/2011/11/an-ez-guide-to-hacking-the-panasonic-gh2/


 

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SANITY V2 is here!

This version has optimized video buffers and a slightly greater bitrate.
If shooting 50 or 60 fps on the GH2 has any importance to you, you should definitely check this out.

Edit: The latest version of SANITY is 3.1
 

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Thanks for this Ralph.

Without having to do hours of research online, have you come across a "nice and easy" hack similar to yours that works well with 50i?
 
xocomil said:
Without having to do hours of research online, have you come across a "nice and easy" hack similar to yours that works well with 50i?
Click to expand...

I haven't done much testing with SANITY at 50i, but it does work at 50i - it's just not optimized for it. Try it and see what you think.
 
SANITY v3.1

Here is the latest version of SANITY which fixes a bug in FH/H mode, and gives slightly higher quality in the 24P modes.
SANITY is now solid across all modes.

24H - 66M
24L - 44M
FSH/SH - 44M
FH/H - 32M

To repeat, the unique feature of SANITY is it's high quality 720 50/60P and 1080 50/60i modes.
And it's 24P modes give higher bitrate patches a serious run for their money.

NOTE:
Use FH mode for 1080 50i.
Use H mode for ETC 720 60P.
 

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IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS...

I developed Sanity using 16GB Sandisk 30M Class 10 cards, and everything recorded smoothly. However, there have been some reports of write errors with 720 60P when people were using other cards. If that happens to you, use H mode instead of FH, and things should be fine. I tested H mode with a slow Transcend Class 6 card, and it recorded smoothly without any issues.

And the picture quality on H mode at 32M is excellent. I'm actually hard pressed to see a difference between it and FH mode at 44M.
 
Why would increasing the GOP make 60p any better? If anything you would want to decrease GOP especially for 60p. Doing that has very serious side affects though. To my knowledge no one has overcome them yet.

Post a streamparser graph for the 720p @ 60 FPS footage or a sample straight out of the camera so we can verify what it is doing.
 
Ralph B said:
SANITY v3.1

Here is the latest version of SANITY which fixes a bug in FH/H mode, and gives slightly higher quality in the 24P modes.
SANITY is now solid across all modes.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your work. What, if any changes, to mjpeg recording in your patch? Al
EDIT: I just noticed no mjpeg changes and GOP size for 60p is 39? (Is this GOP size correct?)
 
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RE: Questions about the long GOP

When I developed SANITY, I had no pre-conceived notions of what settings would produce the best picture. I tested GOPs from 1 to stock. The picture quality did not impress me. With nowhere else to go, I started testing GOPs longer than stock, and shortly hit paydirt... genuinely better picture quality, especially concerning less mud.
 
Ralph B said:
RE: Questions about the long GOP

When I developed SANITY, I had no pre-conceived notions of what settings would produce the best picture. I tested GOPs from 1 to stock. The picture quality did not impress me. With nowhere else to go, I started testing GOPs longer than stock, and shortly hit paydirt... genuinely better picture quality, especially concerning less mud.
Click to expand...

Sorry without an unedited sample or at least a streamparser graph I don't believe that a higher GOP would be better.
 
I just installed this SANITY patch and it rocks. I have succeeded taking many clips and they all worked flawlessly and with great quality. I trust Ralph given his track record of testing in the Personal View site. Thanks Ralph for doing all the work and sharing this hack. The 720p60 looks incredibly sharp... Al
 
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