GH2 Intermediat Codec / Denoise

[alkota]

I'm editing in Premiere Pro CS5 currently, probably will migrate to FCPX when it comes out. My question is:

1. What are the advantages of converting to an intermediate editing codec like Prores 422 LT or similar and editing/grading vs. editing and grading the native h.264
2. Do people denoise all of their footage to clean it up? I understand denoising noisy/problematic areas, but what about lightly touching everything?

Drop some workflow knowledge on me. Interested to hear how people are working.

 

[iunknown]

1. speed an latitude.
2. I denoise only whats needed. I thought it softens the footage otherwise. You sacrifice sharpness for noise reduction.
I use cineform just cause I love their white balance tool. It feels like you are working in lightroom.

 

[Jamal Jonesy]

by cineform, i'm guessing you mean firstlight, which comes with neo hd, is that correct? I think cineform is a great codec, but do you think its worth the price tag?