24p For the Canon 5D Mark II

This week, Canon has finally released to the public the long awaited 24p firmware update for the EOS 5D Mark II.  It is available for download directly from their site.  So that new development dramatically simplifies the 5D post-production workflow, but doesn’t help the fact that I now have many terabytes of 30p footage for my current project that need to be converted to 24p to intercut with film.  And once we are all done, the unique process that we created to complete the project will be totally obselete.  Ah, progress…Oh well, at least it will be a good movie when we are done, and the next one is going to be a heck of a lot easier to make.  In the meantime, I will keep rendering.

In related news, Canon also released the EOS Rebel T2i a little while back.  It is a cheaper derivation of the 7D, with most of the same features, at least in regards to video options, which is the primary factor I am concerned about.  (The fact that it takes good stills is just an extra bonus feature.)  I will probably finally purchase my own DSLR now that one of those new Rebels can be had for under $1000.

I know I haven’t posted anything here in a while, but there will be quite a bit coming in the near future.  I am writing a series of articles that will be posted between here and Shane Hurlbut’s blog at hurlbutvisuals.com.  I have worked with Shane on a number of projects, the largest one being the Navy Seal film over the last year.  I will be offering an overview of the post workflow options for video DSLRs on his site, with links back to this one to delve into the less glamorous, nitty-gritty details.  So stay tuned for some very focused articles detailing specific workflow obstacles in the next few weeks.  And then NAB is only a month away, which I am sure will bring a whole variety of new things to talk about.  I will be at Cineform’s booth as a demo artist/workflow consultant again this year, so feel free to stop by and check it out.

Tags: Canon, Cineform, DSLR