David Lawrence
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COW Coins
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This news has made for some very unhappy campers in the Blackmagic Forums who would like to see Blackmagic fix the problems they’ve had since BMCC version 1:
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20956
I was super excited about the Blackmagic cameras last year but now I’m not so sure.
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David Lawrence
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[Gary Huff] “Are you on the Mac platform? I have heard that Cineform wasn’t very stable on Mac in the past.”
I am and it’s not. The GoPro Studio software is extremely buggy on the Mac – especially with Panasonic Z10000 stereo 3D files.
I wanted to convert from .MVC files shot with this camera to CineForm .MOV. The only way it was possible was with a PC version of the software. Even then it was very difficult. It took about six weeks working with Jake from customer support and their Mac engineer to come up with a workflow that I successfully used to convert all my files. In the process, we identified a couple bugs with their software and QuickTime that will hopefully be fixed by the next major release. I have to give the CineForm team major props for their outstanding support. They were willing to dig deep and work directly with me to help figure out a solution.
I was willing to jump thru these hoops to get CineForm .MOV masters for the payoff I enjoy now. With CineForm’s Active Metadata, I can seamlessly switch between 2D and 3D viewing modes with zero performance penalty in post. I can tweak convergence and do basic image grades, again with no performance hit. It’ll make posting this project so much easier and let us focus on creative choices rather then getting bogged down in 3D tech issues.
The big problem now is getting CineForm out of the Adobe encoder. They don’t play well together on the Mac. CineForm knows about it and apparently has been trying to get things straightened out but I get the impression they need help from Adobe to make it happen. I hope they get it worked out.
In the meantime, I’m cutting in CineForm and when needed, outputting intermediate files as ProRes 4444.
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David Lawrence
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[Walter Soyka] “Instead I usually use image sequences or CineForm, with a little good old QuickTime Animation thrown in for 8b work.”
Big thumbs up for CineForm. I’m using it for the first time on a stereo 3D project and the active metadata workflow is fantastic! So is the quality and the customer support. I can’t say enough good things about these guys.
I still use ProRes but like you, a lot less. These days I’m mostly cutting native and delivering in h.264. Once CineForm fixes the output bugs with Adobe applications, I may switch to CineFrom as my primary intermediate codec. It’s really great.
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David Lawrence
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I have word direct from the supervising editor that the Oscar-winning documentary, 20 Feet From Stardom was cut on Final Cut Pro 7.
Apparently there was an early push for Avid, but to avoid purchasing more Avid seats, they stayed with Final Cut Pro.
FCP7 works fine in Mavericks and on the new Mac Pro and is still heavily used in the doc world. Going on three years since EOL, it’s still very much alive and kicking.
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David Lawrence
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[Steve Connor] “I’d say Premiere Pro CC is pretty close to Avid in trimming functions”
I’d agree.
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “Expanding VA tracks by simply running your finger up the magic mouse is a little bit erotic frankly.”
It also works with a scroll wheel!
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[Shawn Miller] “To me, it’s a no brainier – ProRes/cDNG/global shutter handily beats every other feature on the GH4k…”
Agreed. Speaking as a whip pan enthusiast, global shutter is especially appealing!
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[Gary Huff] “The worse thing you can do is go to a Fry’s where they have the 4K demo display smack dab in the middle of all their newest 1080p panels. It’s really hard to spot the difference, except all the 4K demo material is at 30p and not 24, so the motion cadence difference between the two gives a slight clarity edge, which is b.s. since 1080 works the same way.”
Agreed. On the other hand, my local Best Buy has some new 4K panels from Samsung and Sony and the demos are pretty amazing.
The Samsung panel is UHD and their demo material is shot with HDR imaging. While the colors are unnatural, the detail is staggering. On the expansive, wide, city shots, you can read street signs and see pedestrians and cars. The closer you get, the more you see. It’s pretty mind blowing.
The Sony demo has more natural, realistic color. Again very nice detail.
Of course, with most normal material at normal viewing distances a lot of this detail is moot. I agree that better frame rates and color gamut would be a more valuable upgrade right now. But 4K is cool! I look forward to getting my hands on it more often.
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David Lawrence
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[Jeremy Garchow] “Now, it’s a blanket license at a monthly, yearly, or perpetual. Monthly and yearly entitles you to major version upgrades, the buyout locks you in to wherever you bought it + any maintenance updates. To go to the next version, you pay an upgrade.”
They’re doomed. Don’t they know Sarbanes–Oxley rules make this business model completely impossible?
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[Andrew Kimery] “CS4, CS 5, CS 5.5, CS 6, etc., all the same thing. Once the products hits store shelves it’s locked. It is what it is. A new version will come out and users can either pay to upgrade or not pay and keep using what they already have.”
Yes, but the key difference is suddenly, without any warning, Adobe completely eliminated the upgrade path a significant number of users expected, leaving no option to buy the next version.
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