Want some more frame rates?

"Here's a fun one. The scene file settings allow you to bypass the ranges in the camera. Whether this actually effects the picture or not I haven't tested, but as a test one might try this:

Set
00005002: 5 ; DETAIL CORING : -3
in your scene file on the SD Card on your PC. Read the Scene in to the HVX.

Voila! I think you can do wacky things like enable News gamma in Film mode (news at 6, film at 11?).

Probably the easiest way to see if this really does anything is to set the frame rate to some of the new choices. For example, you can set it to 8,14,16,27, or 28 frames. Do they work? You tell me.

0000500F: 9 ; FRAME RATE: 16FRAME

DISCLAIMER: Don't come crying to me if you mess up your camera. Try it at your own risk."
 
Yes, Vidled found the post. Yes, that's the technique, and yes -- it unlocks two dozen more variable frame rates!

Here's the deal: support for the other frame rates appears to be implemented but UNTESTED. There can be NO GUARANTEE that you won't screw up your camera if you try this! Okay? Everyone understand? If you get P2 MICON errors from doing this, or "unrepairable clips", or any other weird problems, it's because it's unsupported!

Jan told us that for every frame rate Panasonic added, they spent a lot of time testing it in every possible configuration. As an ex-programmer I can surmise that the engineers probably roughed in the framework and that it basically works, but there was only so much time to certify the various frame rates before releasing the product to the public. Any frame rate that they didn't include in the first place is, BY DEFINITION, UNCERTIFIED.

Neither Panasonic, nor me, nor ChakaMonkey, nor Jarred, nor DVXUser will be responsible for anything that happens to you or your camera if you decide to EXPERIMENT with this undocumented, unsupported, uncertified feature.

Consider this almost like "overclocking" -- you can now triple (TRIPLE) the available frame rates, but none of the new ones are tested, certified, or supported, and by poking around in the scene files you may inadvertently do something that fouls up your camera. And if so, it won't be covered by warranty repair.
 
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so what if you can add running time to a p2 card by going to 2fps- why would you want to shoot at 2fps anyway?
 
DavidBeier said:
^
Timelaps
Click to expand...

You can do that already in one of the supported modes.

What would have been really cool is to be able to go over 60.....like 100fps. But...that is just not realistic at all for a camera in this price range.
 
dglasgal said:
so what if you can add running time to a p2 card by going to 2fps- why would you want to shoot at 2fps anyway?
Click to expand...


That's only ONE of the "new" frame rates!
Got to love the fact that there is a CHOICE, no?
Besides, Barry posted some stills from where a low FPS comes in handy.

And yes, timelaps is one such option.
 
Here's the procedure:

1) Get a scene file text file on an SD card, usually by going into menu 8, CARD FUNCTIONS, and saving scene files to your SD card.

2) Open the scene file text file in the PRIVATE\MEIGROUP\PAVCN\SBG\P2SD directory, called SCENE1.TXT (or scene2.txt, scene3.txt, or scene4.txt) using a text editor like Windows Notepad

3) Look for the next-to-last item in the scene file. Here's what a sample scene file text file looks like:
00005000: 8 ; DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005001: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005002: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005003: 8 ; CHROMA LEVEL: 0
00005004: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005005: 8 ; COLOR TEMP: 0
00005006: 16 ; MASTER PED: 0
00005007: 8 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
00005008: 1 ; NEWS GAMMA: OFF
00005009: 0 ; GAMMA : HD NORM
0000500A: 0 ; KNEE: AUTO
0000500B: 0 ; MATRIX: NORM
0000500C: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
0000500D: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
0000500E: 0 ; OPERATION TYPE: VIDEO CAM
0000500F: 0 ; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT
00005010: BE026801 ; SYNCRO SCAN :

That next-to-last item is:
0000500F: 0 ; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT

You can ignore everything after the semicolon; the semicolon indicates that it's a "comment" and will have no bearing on anything else (so, in this example, the part that says "; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT " is useless, it affects nothing, it's just there for human-readable description).

So the relevant part is:
0000500F: 0

The only thing you would want to change is that last number (in this case, "0"). To get different frame rates, use one of the following numbers:

0 = DEFAULT
1 = 2fps
2 = 3fps
3 =4fps
4 = 6fps
5 = 8fps
6 = 10fps
7 = 12fps
8 = 14fps
9 = 16fps
10 = 18fps
11 = 20fps
12 = 22fps
13 = 23fps
14 = 24fps
16 = 26fps
17 = 27fps
18 = 28fps
19 = 30fps
20 = 32fps
21 = 34fps
22 = 36fps
23 = 38fps
24 = 40fps
25 = 42fps
26 = 44fps
27 = 46fps
28 = 48fps
29 = 50fps
30 = 52fps
32 = 54fps
33 = 56fps
34 = 58fps
35 = 60fps
36+ = repeat of sequence from 50fps to 60fps

So, for example, if you wanted to get a frame rate of 2 FPS, your modified line would look like this:
0000500F: 1 ; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT

And if you wanted 44 fps, it would look like this:
0000500F: 26 ; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT

(don't try higher than 35; I tried 36 and it set it to 50fps, 37 set it to 52, so I think it just repeats 50-60 for all fields set higher than 36)

4) Save your modified text file back onto your SD card

5) Put the SD card back in the camera, go to CARD FUNCTIONS, and read the scene files into the camera.

Now, when you go to the appropriate scene file, you'll see the new frame rate there. But be aware, the only way to assign these "nonstandard" frame rates is through the SD card. If you use the menu to try to change the frame rate, you'll lose it -- it'll immediately jump to 60, and then only allow the normal rates to be selected. You'd have to re-load the scene file from the SD card in order to re-establish your "nonstandard" frame rate.
 
icicle22 said:
You can do that already in one of the supported modes.
Click to expand...
Not like this you can't... with the 2fps mode, you can set the shutter to 350 degrees and get an exposure time of almost 1/2 of a second! That's what makes the new slower frame rates so cool. Check the shot up above of the cars...

It's true you could always simulate 2fps (or 1fps or even slower, up to 10-minute intervals between frames) by using the intervalometer, but I don't think you could come anywhere near getting this type of long-duration exposure when doing that...
 
Barry,

Can we assume that the missing value 15 (0000500F: 15 ) could be for 25 fps...

To be clearer that the NTSC model can support PAL default frame rate...
 
Barry,

can you post or link us to a full size/res screen cap of that very first pic...does it look as compressed and artifacted as the resize you posted?
 
The million dollar qustion here though is:
Does this allow the PAL model HVX shoot at 24fps!!!!!!??????

Any PAL owners willing to test?
 
hvpz said:
Barry,

Can we assume that the missing value 15 (0000500F: 15 ) could be for 25 fps...
Click to expand...
No, it also shows up as 24.

Keep in mind that none of these frame rates are the exact frame rates they are named after. 24 is not 24, it's 23.976. 12 is not 12.000, it's 12.260. So even if there was a 25, it'd probably be something like 24.887 or something odd. But there's not; 15 shows up as 24fps, just like 14 does. So I left it out.
 
GraphicPlanet said:
Barry, stop the presses and add this to your book!!!
Click to expand...
I thought about that, but... I dunno... it's unsupported and unspecified. I mean, it's probably okay for internet boards, but to codify it in the book and have it distributed with the camera -- I don't know that I'm comfortable with that... :)
 
Chimpan-A said:
The million dollar qustion here though is:
Does this allow the PAL model HVX shoot at 24fps!!!!!!??????

Any PAL owners willing to test?
Click to expand...
No it won't. I don't even have a PAL unit and I'm certain it won't. The numbers increase by two almost across the board, so the PAL unit is 23-25-27. I'm pretty sure there won't be a slot for 24 in there. In fact I'd bet it's just like the US version, in reverse: both 14 and 15 will default to 25.

Remember PAL is 25.000, but NTSC isn't 24.000, it's 23.976, so it's very doubtful that the same crystal would provide both rates.
 
Barry_Green said:
No it won't. I don't even have a PAL unit and I'm certain it won't. The numbers increase by two almost across the board, so the PAL unit is 23-25-27. I'm pretty sure there won't be a slot for 24 in there. In fact I'd bet it's just like the US version, in reverse: both 14 and 15 will default to 25.

Remember PAL is 25.000, but NTSC isn't 24.000, it's 23.976, so it's very doubtful that the same crystal would provide both rates.
Click to expand...
You're probably right Barry, but still it would be good to have someone confirm the possible PAL speeds. Even if there is not an exact 24fps or even 23.97fps, I'm still holding out hope that there might be something closer to 24 than 25...

cheers

-Cimpan-A
 
God bless Panasonic, the HVX and this whole freakin' community! :)

Truly great news!

Barry, were those shots from your own HVX? Have you tried this out personally?

I'm not opposed to experimenting but I just want to make sure enough people are doing this successfully. It is one thing for the camera to malfunction after the hack and then to just reload proper scene files as a remedy. It is another thing to cause irreparable damage to the camera!

Let's hope that all these "new" framerates work perfectly in reality as they would in theory. I'm not an engineer, but I can't see how this hack would ruin the camera.

I will anxiously be awaiting more feedback on this. And I may just try it myself soon anyway! :)
 
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