Panasonic Profile Stepper App

[BTM_Pix]

So, as you may recall, I have an interest in tweaking the combinations of the basic profiles in the camera along with the contrast/sharpness/saturation/NR parameters.

The purpose of that is basically a mining operation to see if there are some combinations that perhaps may not be intuitive but whose interaction may yield pleasing results.

Outside of the usual "select cinelike d, reduce everything to -5" etc stuff that we all do, who really knows if Natural with +4 contrast/-5 sharpness/+3 saturation/+2 noise reduction might actually be the golden ticket?

I did a hardware controller last year based on a midi control surface that let you tweak the parameters in real time which, whilst offering a way of 'discovery through play', wasn't exactly ideal from a structured testing point of view. 

It also wasn't particularly practical (or cheap) for you to go out and replicate yourselves if you fancied a go !

Anyway, in pursuit of something a bit more structured, I created a very simple automated testing app which I thought I might as well hand out in case anyone else is interested in this sort of thing.

Its Android only so you elitists with that other phone type are out of luck for now

As its also a bit of a utilitarian thing that was only really designed for my own meddling, its not exactly pretty either but it works. Mainly.

OK, so here is how it looks, how to use it and what it does.

 

First things first, obviously, is to enable the Wifi on your Panasonic camera as per if you were using their app and then go into your phone/tablet and connect to it.

In the ProfileStepper app, you then press the "Connect" button and it will take control of the camera. It might complain the first time about approving the connection but if it does just repeat and it will be fine.

Once connected, you press the individual parameter buttons and select the range that you are interested in so in this example we have set it to be using the base Natural profile and how it looks with all permutations of Contrast from -5 to +3, Sharpness from -2 to 0, Saturation from -5 to +5 and NR from -5 to +1.

Next up is to set if you want to use Stills or Video, which we toggle between by pressing the Stills button and then to create a delay (of between 1 and 10 seconds) between shots you press the button (currently set to 2 seconds) and select it.

When you are happy with the settings range, press the Start button and the app will begin compiling the list of commands it needs to send to the camera. As this is a variable amount of time (in our example there are 2079 commands ) you may see a progress pop-up before it proceeds to the playout screen. Be patient.

The progress screen will then appear and display the value of each parameter in the set it is sending to the camera and the current progress (in this case we are on set 4 of 2079).

After it sends each set to the camera, if you have the mode set to Stills it will then fire the shutter on the camera. Obviously, make sure you have a decent memory card capacity if you are testing a lot of permutations!

If you are set to Video mode, a recording will begin on the camera as soon as you pressed the Start button and the changes will all be recorded into this one recording. This is where the Delay function becomes useful as it determines how long each setting is held on the video as it progresses. As with the Stills mode, be careful regarding capacity as if you have 1000 permutations with a Delay time of 5 seconds then, well....

In either mode, pressing the Stop button will abort and return you to the main screen and if you are in video mode it will stop the recording.

The purpose of the progress screen is not just to provide you with a countdown to whats going on but also meant to act as a slate so that you can put your phone/tablet in your test scene and the settings will then be embedded in the images/video when you review them. This is an example frame from a GX80 to illustrate. 

There is a 3 second delay built in to the beginning of the command playout process to allow you to do this but obviously as the camera is being controlled over Wifi you can place the phone/tablet in the scene and press Start from there anyway. This just gives you a chance to get your hand out of the way !

So there you go.

Its a bit of a niche app to say the least but might be useful for some.

Bear in mind, its not really meant to be about analysing every single permutation in one go (though it can do that if you want) its more about helping you to look at how more targeted ranges of settings interact with each other (such as Saturation and Contrast in a specific Profile for example). And what exactly is the Noise Reduction bringing to the party in terms of colour shifts and sharpening etc.

Download link is here

https://mega.nz/#!Vux3UDIK!TPJNYc8gJ6YrQY5T8xkZRAQ_IpBac16xIIGe3ET6R0Y

You'll need to set your device to install apps from non-Play store sources etc.

Its completely free, no ads or any bollocks like that.

As I say, its my own test tool and wasn't designed for general release but thought it might be useful to share.

If nothing else, its a quick way to get the Cinelike D hack on to your camera!

Because its just a quick and dirty test tool, there is no particularly elegant error handling going on (other than telling you that you haven't connected the camera) so if it throws one up just quit and restart it. 

If you set the To range to be lower than the From range (i.e. the From is -3 and the To is -4) then it won't execute the commands so don't do that. 

NB - The eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted the Bracket function at the bottom of the screen. This does exactly what you might expect but its unrelated to the main function but I needed it to test something so you get it as a bonus! You set the shutter speed and then the 1/3rd steps above and below and press Bracket and it takes the required frames with suitably altered shutter speeds. Its a bit flaky on some Panasonic cameras because they don't all allow the 1/3rd shutter changes so your mileage may vary and, as I say, you can largely ignore it.

[Kisaha]

@BTM_Pix Great analytical mind, just wish you were in the NX camp when the mod/hack scene was a thing!

Amazing stuff, nevertheless!

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, Kisaha said:

@BTM_Pix Great analytical mind, just wish you were in the NX camp when the mod/hack scene was a thing!

Amazing stuff, nevertheless!

I thought they did plenty well enough without my ham fisted blundering about !

Its portable to the NX though from what I can see of their protocol.

If I had one.

But prices seemed to take a big jump in the last few weeks of March for some reason

 

[BTM_Pix]

Just a couple of additional notes regarding intended usage.

Unfortunately, Panasonic don't offer a way to control the highlight and shadow parameters remotely which is why they aren't included.

However, what I would recommend is you setting up the parameter ranges you were interested in using the app and doing several passes with adjustments to the highlights and shadows between each pass.

This will achieve the same end.

With regard to doing this as stills versus video, the purpose of the video is so that you can put it on a timeline and not only observe the changes all in one place instead of ploughing through hundreds of stills but also to be able to add a LUT to it so you can see if there are settings changes you can make in camera to better prepare it to be used with a particular film simulation LUT you may have.

The benefit of the stills is in making your own LUT without the image changing !

Obviously, don't also just think this is for analysing dull test scenes and colour charts but take it out into the outside world and see what you can extract from the sensor and processor in a real scenario. 

[Grimor]

BTM, first of all, thank you for this and congratulation again.

I play with the program a little, but i can't take the point to the combination test. (Stepper method)

I think it will be more usefull (to me) just simple slider for each value (contrast, sharpness, NR, saturation) and play with them with a hdmi external monitor to see the changes in real time. (Without going to the camera menus, loosing the image-reference).

Something like Panasonic Profile Slider App.

If the slider say the number of value that is sending to the camera, will be the best way to found the "golden combination" in the field.

But anyways really great job, consider a donation page or similar because your work worth it.

[BTM_Pix]

5 minutes ago, Grimor said:

BTM, first of all, thank you for this and congratulation again.

I play with the program a little, but i can't take the point to the combination test. (Stepper method)

I think it will be more usefull (to me) just simple slider for each value (contrast, sharpness, NR, saturation) and play with them with a hdmi external monitor to see the changes in real time. (Without going to the camera menus, loosing the image-reference).

Something like Panasonic Profile Slider App.

If the slider say the number of value that is sending to the camera, will be the best way to found the "golden combination" in the field.

But anyways really great job, consider a donation page or similar because your work worth it.

I agree regarding a real time tweaker (as with my hardware one) but, yes, this is for a different purpose to build a complete reference file of all the permutations in a very structured way.

Let me get back to you about a tweaker app as its not a huge effort to knock one together if you want it.

[BTM_Pix]

OK, as requested by @Grimor I've just written an additional app for live tweaking of the parameters.

Usual instructions, so put your Panasonic camera into wifi mode and attach your phone/tablet then press the Connect button in the app.

Select a base profile with the Profile button and then tweak away on the sliders.

Press the STILL button to, erm, take a still and the REC button will start a video recording.

While the video is recording, your tweaks are still live to the camera and will be recorded.

Download link is here

https://mega.nz/#!djgk1aIL!fzloi_GiFqTNULCcYhCaG0oZHes6sQd-RzW_PsUlK-I

Enjoy !

 

[tupp]

Thanks for this!

[Grimor]

Oh man, Thats a real Quick app!!

Thanks!!!

[BTM_Pix]

No problem.

Hope it works and doesn't break your phones.

Or your cameras.

 

 

[Grimor]

Working ok with no issues at the moment. 

Really helpfull for match color style of different lumix cameras and fine tunning on the field.

13 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

 

Hope it works and doesn't break your phones.

Or your cameras.

 

 

Now that you have all my phone contacts, don't forget to call my mom and say her i will be on her house to lunch next saturday... 

Thanks a lot, you are great!!!

[buggz]

Wow!

[Timotheus]

@BTM_Pix G'damn this deserves more attention man. Excellent job. Hope the community picks it up. Just ordered a cheap GX80, can't wait to give it cine D ;-)

(OT: you mentioned in another thread a mic input hack for the GX80? Did you take it apart and find a connector on the board or something? Or just kidding? ;-))

[BTM_Pix]

OK, another day, another app 

As I originally mentioned, the Bracket part of my test app was a bit flaky but as another forum member wanted just the bracket part, I've made a dedicated one.

Usual story, activate the Wifi on your Panasonic camera and select Connect.

Choose the base shutter speed with the Shutter button.

The choose the number of plus and minus steps that you want with the sliders.

These are 1/3rd steps so its 6 stops in either direction.

Depending on your particular Panasonic camera, you may have to activate electronic shutter to get the upper values if you've got a high base speed and have a number of + steps.

If you don't activate electronic shutter then it will just go as high as it can with the mechanical shutter and then repeat the same frames after that.

When you are all set up, press the Bracket button and it will begin executing the commands, beginning with your base frame and then doing the over and unders that you have set.

To prevent overloading the Wifi and to take into account slower FPS cameras there is a delay built in between frames.

Download link is here

https://mega.nz/#!92R11RaC!4IuYvd7SWu3UKpHzRK6nZA1PFPRruSEDw1nFp7ERXf4

Enjoy !

 

 

[Timotheus]

41 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

I haven't actually done it myself but based on someone doing it on an LX100 (picture is somewhere on here) and a picture of the GX80 board you can see the same entry points on both.

My GX80 is out of warranty in a month or so. Maybe I'll give it a go then

 

I remember a YT video from a guy soldering a mic input on his LX100 yeah...cool stuff.

Let me take the opportunity to cheer you on for having a go at you GX80 ;-)

[Michael Skoz]

On 6.4.2018 at 3:36 PM, BTM_Pix said:

OK, another day, another app 

As I originally mentioned, the Bracket part of my test app was a bit flaky but as another forum member wanted just the bracket part, I've made a dedicated one.

Usual story, activate the Wifi on your Panasonic camera and select Connect.

Choose the base shutter speed with the Shutter button.

The choose the number of plus and minus steps that you want with the sliders.

These are 1/3rd steps so its 6 stops in either direction.

Depending on your particular Panasonic camera, you may have to activate electronic shutter to get the upper values if you've got a high base speed and have a number of + steps.

If you don't activate electronic shutter then it will just go as high as it can with the mechanical shutter and then repeat the same frames after that.

When you are all set up, press the Bracket button and it will begin executing the commands, beginning with your base frame and then doing the over and unders that you have set.

To prevent overloading the Wifi and to take into account slower FPS cameras there is a delay built in between frames.

Download link is here

https://mega.nz/#!92R11RaC!4IuYvd7SWu3UKpHzRK6nZA1PFPRruSEDw1nFp7ERXf4

Enjoy !

 

 

Hey, i have some issues with my "Samsung Tab2" and my "Panasonic Lumix G70". Camera is connected and under control by your app. Ure App is installed and running, but i cant release the script by pushing the bracket button.

In your Screenshot is also a shutter number which doesnt appear after selecting. Seems to be an andriod problem...

I have also tried your other App, after pushing the bracket Button it says Bad Argument. But if i push the Start Button in the upper corner, my cam starts shooting. I have activated electronic shutter, but it only goes +-7ev with 1/3 stops. Tomorrow i can give it another try with my old HTC Android phone.

 

Best regards from germany

Micha

[BTM_Pix]

Don't use the Bracket function of the Stepper app as there is a bug with it, hence why I made the dedicated one.

So only use the dedicated one.

When you are using the dedicated one, make sure you select a shutter speed first by pressing the Shutter button

This will open a list and you select your base shutter speed from there.

It will then return you to the main screen and you should see the selected shutter speed.

 

 

[Michael Skoz]

1 minute ago, BTM_Pix said:

Don't use the Bracket function of the Stepper app as there is a bug with it, hence why I made the dedicated one.

So only use the dedicated one.

When you are using the dedicated one, make sure you select a shutter speed first by pressing the Shutter button

This will open a list and you select your base shutter speed from there.

It will then return you to the main screen and you should see the selected shutter speed.

 

 

Yeah, ive done. But he doesnt show the selected speed after returning

[BTM_Pix]

When you are selecting it in there, does it highlight in orange before it comes back to the main screen?

[Michael Skoz]

Here is a short clip.

video-1523292868.mp4