600D GOP and Slice control FAQ + settings, for beginners.

[N/A]

I shot this entire video with the 600D and TL- V1. GOP 3 (or possibly GOP 1, I'll have to check), slice 87, DBlock both on -1, some clips with NTSC 24p audio off and some with PAL 25p audio on. Most of the clips stayed around 90-120 mbps but a few hit 160-170. VisionColor PS.

You can even bump up sharpening in-camera a couple notches and not get that "digital" look, this build holds detail very well in h264 and colors/shadows can be manipulated a bit more.

[Luzestudio]

Hi! I just received my Sandisk 95 mbs and tried with this configuration from @jgharding :

IN SLICE CBR

Lock Slice: Disabled
Min BR: 130
Max BR: 160
Drop by 1: 140
Drop by 3: 145
Taper Rates: Enabled.

IN BITRATE MENU
Mode: CBR
DblockA: -6
Dblockb: -6
PicPC: 0
GOP: 3 (changed from 1 to 3 as @Rush suggests)
Bitrate Info: On (I find it interesting)
BuffWarnLevel: 70% (just in case)
fps: 25

I can get audio.

My buffer is always between 30% and 40%
Card exfat formatted.

For now it seems stable.

[jgharding]

Excellent, ill amend the top post to mention that GOP3 allows audio in 25p

[N/A]

Too much dblocking will result in increased noise, try it on -1 or -2.

And audio works on PAL 25P, but not on NTSC.

[jgharding]

Here is my Virgin Media Shorts entry, shot with these settings and VisionColor

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/5002/messiah

[Luzestudio]

Too much dblocking will result in increased noise, try it on -1 or -2.

And audio works on PAL 25P, but not on NTSC.

Tried with that option, not checked the results on the screen yet but I can confirm it's stable as before.
Buffer 30%-40% all the time with sound.

[Luzestudio]

Here is my Virgin Media Shorts entry, shot with these settings and VisionColor

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/5002/messiah

Very well! I like the visuals and the concept, the end is punchy.
How did you record the part of the roof where the camera is following the actor? I like it too.

In the first part of the short, on the kitchen, did you use additional light facing the character or was it natural? The photography of the short is really amazing, congratulations!

Best,

Xermán

[jgharding]

Many thanks! The roof shot was a cheap Hague steadicam. I tried to move with his walking rather than make it dead still.

The kitchen shot used two LED panels and window light balanced, the rest is natural. In glad you liked it, thanks so much for the compliments!

[Luzestudio]

Sh*tt! Now, with the enhaced video configuration I have a red spot on the left bottom of each video. It may be a dead pixel on the sensor, but it does not appear with stock or Magic lantern configuration.

Any idea of how to remove it? It's small but pure red and disturbs the videos.

Help will be much appreciated!!

Best,

Xermán

[1%]

Sounds like a dead pixel.. screenshot? I've had none on 600D, have one on 6D that went away since the shutter was changed over.

[Baquster]

you can change the GOP Size in the video hack menu in the SIXTHIRTY Tragic Lantern Built.

Is it the same like that way with the old build ?

[1%]

2.0 has gop/flush independent so one or the other or both.

[Luzestudio]

Here are 3 captures from different videos. I agree, it looks like a dead pixel.
I don't see it when I turn to default ML, so it must mean that we get more detail from the sensor now, the image is less smushed.




Any idea of a good way of removing it? I would really apreciate some way of taking it out, it's quite obstrusive and spoils the videos a bit.

Edit -  Tried with a version of Neatvideo but nothing, it's still there. :/

Best,

Xermán

[deletedAcc.0021]

Here are 3 captures from different videos. I agree, it looks like a dead pixel.
I don't see it when I turn to default ML, so it must mean that we get more detail from the sensor now, the image is less smushed.




Any idea of a good way of removing it? I would really apreciate some way of taking it out, it's quite obstrusive and spoils the videos a bit.

Edit -  Tried with a version of Neatvideo but nothing, it's still there. :/

Best,

Xermán

Have you tried this .... 

[1%]

The defect correction is off so things like this come out. That is a dead pixel for sure. You can mask it in after effects. Its only one.

[Luzestudio]

Have you tried this .... 

Ei, that seem to do the trick!! Thanks a lot, with that technique I got rid of the dead pixel.

Best,

Xermán

[Sam Makes Movies]

When i use the Settings from the first post, the footage gets really noisy.
Is it only because of the dblock settings or are there more settings to improve?
What are your favorite Settings?

[1%]

The raw gets really noisy too, doesn't it? More detail.. too bad sometimes its mostly noise.

[N/A]

Neat video has an easier time getting the noise out though. And make sure to expose to the right just to the point of clipping highlights.

[Sam Makes Movies]

I´m not complaining. Of course Neat Video is doing a good job. I will try to change the dblock settings and look what i can improve.
Any other advises what i can/should try?

@1%
I´ve never tried RAW so i don´t know if it is as noisy as the bumped up h.264.

[jgharding]

I'll give some different Deblock settings a go and mention findings in the edit of the first post. In general I don't mind a lot of noise as long as it's clean noise, not mushed into the picture. That way Neat Video has a lot to work with!

[Luzestudio]

@Sam, I feel like you, in fact I was going to show some of my latest footage, here is a comparison:

a: without noise reduction:

(youtube compression helps alot, https://www.dropbox.com/s/oz2gei9l0t55xvs/Sequence%2001_1-NOISE.mp4)
b: with noise reduction:

The video at full screen 1080p will show a lot of noise in the dark areas, but I think that noise comes because we are lifting those underexposed parts. They are recorded with DblockA/B of 1. And flaat 10.

I film with noise of 80, 160, 320, 640, etc. I read it is the best option we have. By example, for iso 80:
Canon Analog ISO : 100
ML digital ISO: -0.3 EV
Equivalent ISO: 80

@jgharding, It's interesting what you say about "clean" noise, can you develop the idea a bit more?

Best,

Xermán

[Sam Makes Movies]

The Problem which i see with Neat Video and other noise reduction tools is,
that you lose sharpness. Shouldn't it be the goal to achive the cleanest, detailed
Picture we can get?

[N/A]

Bump up the sharpness in camera to 2 or 3 with dblock around -1. The picture style is applied to footage before the 8 bit encoding to h264, at the 12 bit level I believe, so in theory we would be sharpening 12 bit data in camera as opposed to 8 bit data in our NLE. Here's some more info about this.....
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=4830.msg28671#msg28671
Then again, if you're shooting something with with horrible moire, you'd be better off to shoot with no sharpening in cam and sharpen in post.

[Luzestudio]

Bump up the sharpness in camera to 2 or 3 with dblock around -1. The picture style is applied to footage before the 8 bit encoding to h264, at the 12 bit level I believe, so in theory we would be sharpening 12 bit data in camera as opposed to 8 bit data in our NLE. Here's some more info about this.....
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=4830.msg28671#msg28671
Then again, if you're shooting something with with horrible moire, you'd be better off to shoot with no sharpening in cam and sharpen in post.

Thanks for the link, interesting information.
Then HTP does something for improving the picture quality? I was totally wrong about this then...