Blackmagic design and cineform

[Jamal Jonesy]

I want the absolute best quality from my GH2 1080p AVCHD footage going into Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. I heard that one of the best and affordable cinema quality workflows comes from a combination of Blackmagic design import , then a conversion to 10-bit Cineform AVI 422. I am shooting a web series soon, so this quality thing is priority, and I would like some suggestions.

So first, I want to know what the potential issues are before I take the plunge (BlackMagic Intensity Pro is $199; Cineform NEO HD is $299) I will grade my footage, and I heard you get a better image anyway, so I think it will be worth it.

1) What are all these rumblings about no audio capture through HDMI?

2) I heard BlackMagic only imports as 60i. Does 24p incompatibility mean anything when converting/pulling down with Cineform AVI anyway?

3) Firstlight is sexy, so is NEO HD worth the price over Neoscene?


Any answers suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[HKO]

Hey Jamal. Check the sticky abut HDMI capture first. It is a pain. If it was simple then going to BM HDMI would make sense but it is post production intensive. My advice is do this with another camera until a new unfettered cammera comes along or even a firmware hack sorts out all the issues it has.

 

[Jamal Jonesy]

I think I kinda understand what you are saying Mr. Olonga. I should just forget hardware capture and directly use Cineform/firstlight to convert my GH2 footage, right? I thought the Matrox MX02 might be a good alternative for hardware capture (here I go again), but its a bit too rich for my blood right now..