Ptool for beginners / Ptool FAQ

just a quick hello and many thanx for this tool!!!!! sucessfully tested the battery and will report more tests now. (since I took some risks and whacked the bitrate too)...this is really appreciated!

I just checked and FW SAYS 1.3 but lens still 1.0 are there any lens updates I should consider?

edit: upped FW 1.2 for the lens successfully!

thanks again to all involved, will post my tests!

this motion picture can not be displayed! :-( looks like I have to tweak FW and remove the bitrate adjustment!.
bitrate 32k
overall 34k
limit 40k

results in movies the cam can not review...

any tips?
 
Last edited:
timbook2 said:
just a quick hello and many thanx for this tool!!!!! sucessfully tested the battery and will report more tests now. (since I took some risks and whacked the bitrate too)...this is really appreciated!

I just checked and FW SAYS 1.3 but lens still 1.0 are there any lens updates I should consider?

edit: upped FW 1.2 for the lens successfully!

thanks again to all involved, will post my tests!

this motion picture can not be displayed! :-( looks like I have to tweak FW and remove the bitrate adjustment!.
bitrate 32k
overall 34k
limit 40k

results in movies the cam can not review...

any tips?
Click to expand...

Interesting,
I'm yet to change Video settings but intend to as long as it's playable via the Camera still.
In previous questions I was told it was able to play back in the camera, as long as ausio settings aren't changed...

Did you change audio settings at all?
 
I am completely confused now, what setting do I use for avchd?

There is now a simplified, then h, and L, then overall, then limiting, gets more complicated with each version
 
mtan said:
I am completely confused now, what setting do I use for avchd?

There is now a simplified, then h, and L, then overall, then limiting, gets more complicated with each version
Click to expand...

From what I;ve read, you can use the simplified or the H and L.

If you use the simplified no need to touch H and L settings.

If you want more control then don't touch simplified and use H and L settings
 
Very Cool. I didn't think was about to happen a month ago.

I currently record the HDMI signal coming off of my Canon Hv30 (Intensity card + Cineform). Is there anyway to get an HDMI signal at any time other than during playback. Note that I do not want/need to record on board using the card, only looking for an HDMI feed to record on a desktop, so no need for simultaneous record + HDMI out. thanks
 
OK Here's my setting I'm about to use.
Will let you know later on how everything went!

My Settings:

3rd Party Battery

Native 24p/25p

Interface Language: English

NTSC->PAL Conversion

MJPEG 1280M 420->422 color sampling

MJPEG E1 Quality 400
MJPEG E1 Table 103
MJPEG E2 Quality 350
MJPEG E2 Table 116
MJPEG E3 Quality 250
MJPEG E3 Table 120
MJPEG E4 Quality 200
MJPEG E4 Table 125

720p50,00fps->25,00fps

Video Bitrate Adjustment FHD/SH Simplified 32000000
Video Bitrate Adjustment H 32000000
Video Bitrate Adjustment L 22000000
Overall Bitrate Adjustment 34000000
Limiting Bitrate Adjustment 40000000

Seems all good except the HD MJPEg had issues playing on the camera, and very jerky on the computer no matter what player/
 
Last edited:
To Update.
Tried numerous MJPEG settings.
Below is what worked for me for playing back on camera and on computer
MJPEG 1280M 420->422 color sampling

MJPEG E1 Quality 256
MJPEG E1 Table 103
MJPEG E2 Quality 220
MJPEG E2 Table 116
MJPEG E3 Quality 200
MJPEG E3 Table 120
MJPEG E4 Quality 147
MJPEG E4 Table 125
 
Car3o said:
hey guys. you should probably post your settings in the threads that deal specifically with these kinds of results.
Click to expand...


No Problem which thread is that?

I found one to upload your settings using Google Docks, but to be honest found it very hard to read and understand with the layout...
 
Not getting very good data rate?

Not getting very good data rate?

So I found the equation to determine what kind of data rate I'm getting and it looks like I'm getting around 20mbt/s in AVCHD and 50 in MJPEG. The MJPEG settings were listed as in the 70's for 720p. Not deeply concerned with the MJPEG, I'd just like to up my AVCHD.

My settings are as follows:

Using ptool 3.36 (all the "c" settings listed in the tool itself).
Video bit rate 50
Overall 52
Limiting 60.

No 24p.

Are there settings in the camera I should be looking for/adjusting? Is my card too slow to get the higher bit rates? I thought it would just crash the camera if that was the case, but that hasn't happened at all.

Lastly, it looks like my camera was getting crap to begin with (11mbt/s??) before the hack. So, I feel like I must be doing something wrong. It's either my math to figure out the datarate (file size / time in seconds x 8) or I'm just using the thing wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

And thanks so much for this amazing tool!
 
When I set mjpeg to 1440 x 1080, is that true resolution or is it upscaled? I am just wondering if it is better to just leave as 720p and crank up the bit rate.
 
Car3o said:
If Panasonic releases an official firmware, and it's a lower version than the custom firmware you have, tester13 will most likely have an updated ptool that will allow the new firmware by the same night Panasonic releases it. He did it for Pana's latest, I'm sure he'll continue. If Panasonic releases a new one at all. If this is a concern, you may not want to load the patch.
Click to expand...


Maybe I'm not clear on this, but if Panasonic releases an official firmware and you want to update to it wouldn't you be able to use any version of Ptools to do so??

RG
 
If version number increases to 1.41 or beyond and next Panasonic official firmware is version 1.40, are we locked into custom firmware updates?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robot2D
Or if custom firmware increases to high number, can we reverse back to official firmware if new official firmware is released?

You can always revert back to official firmware. But not the original version NUMBER.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robot2D
Or does tester13 have to patch this firmware for it to become operational (with higher version number count)?

I don't understand.

..........................

has anyone actually determined how many significant digits the camera is sensitive to when upgrading firmware? Instead of moving from v1.30 to v1.31, why not go from v1.30 to v1.301 or 1.300001 or 1.300000000000001?
 
ajcourtney said:
If version number increases to 1.41 or beyond and next Panasonic official firmware is version 1.40, are we locked into custom firmware updates?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robot2D
Or if custom firmware increases to high number, can we reverse back to official firmware if new official firmware is released?

You can always revert back to official firmware. But not the original version NUMBER.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robot2D
Or does tester13 have to patch this firmware for it to become operational (with higher version number count)?

I don't understand.

..........................

has anyone actually determined how many significant digits the camera is sensitive to when upgrading firmware? Instead of moving from v1.30 to v1.31, why not go from v1.30 to v1.301 or 1.300001 or 1.300000000000001?
Click to expand...


check the faq's again. i've since updated the FW question. it's the first or second one.
 
Confused, I though I read that version incrementing has been eliminated.

Confused, I though I read that version incrementing has been eliminated.

I though the latest version of PTool eliminates the need to increment but the FAQ says you must check version change and save as an incremented version (133).


Car3o said:
check the faq's again. i've since updated the FW question. it's the first or second one.
Click to expand...
 
Hey guys - so I just installed the ptool firmware using the wiki settings

Everything seems fine except that my data rate hasn't changed according to Quick Time. I'm at 113 mbits/sec with the new firmware, and was getting videos with 110-145 mbits/sec without it (default camera firmware)

I figure i'm either misreading something, or filled something in wrong in ptool.

I logged the clips off of a class 10 8gb sdhc card using fcp log and transfer ("native" transfer settings)

Any help on understanding this is greatly appreciated
 
Best way to test besides Star Chart?

Best way to test besides Star Chart?

Hi,

I find that I have pretty stable performance with the "c" settings, but if I'm doing anythiing other than the star chart, the bit rate plummets to original specs on the camera and sometimes drastically below.

What conditions should I be using to test the camera and what should I be expecting in terms of performance when not doing high detail scenes?

Also, It seems like when I'm doing longer shots (I do interviews and was testing a 45 minute clip), the bit rate also seemed to plummet. Any ideas on why that might be?

Thanks again_

All C settings (50, 52, 60) and no Native24p.
 
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