Well, I received my new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 today and installed it in my computer.  Using the Adobe Premiere CS5 GPU Hack, I added in my GTX 480 card to the Mercury Playback Engine supported list.  Figured I’d do a comparison between playback/export times using Software vs Mercury Playback on two separate file formats.  I was using my .mov files from the Canon 5D Mark II and the same files converted via HDLink and altered via FirstLight.  Here is how the results turned out. Read the rest of this entry »

For those that purchased Premiere CS5 with the hopes of CPU Acceleration via the Mercury playback engine and not having a compatible card, there is now hope!  Thanks to a “hack” posted on DVInfo we can now add support for other 200 series graphics cards.  Note, that there still seems to be  memory limitation on the graphics cards.  It seems that 765MB of memory to enable.  Ok here we go: Read the rest of this entry »

GoPro cameras have been a cheap source for capturing video where a traditional video camera was impractical or when shooting solo.  GoPro has since released their latest offering which shoots full 1080p HD video.  In fact the following formats are supported by the new GoPro HD cameras:

* 1080p = 1920×1080 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate
* 960p = 1280×960 pixels (4:3), 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate
* 720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate
* 720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
* WVGA = 848×480 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate

The GoPro HD cameras are offered in 4 configurations: HD Helmet HERO, HD Motorsports HERO, HD Surf HERO, and HD HERO Naked.  Prices range from $260 – $300.

Enjoyed the 2009 Buschur Racing DSM Shootout Car Show located in Wakeman, OH. Drove over in my 2006 Silver Mitsubishi Evolution MR.

Taking videos with the Canon 5D Mark II is becoming more common, I’ve been having trouble working with the files in Adobe Premiere.  The original MOV files are running at 40MB/sec which can bring most computers to a halt.  I recently came across a great article which talked about using Proxy files in order to do all your editing and never have to use the render function in order to see the preview movie playback smoothly. Read the rest of this entry »

After getting enough “play” time in with the 5D Mark II, I decided to do a quick noise test.  I wanted to see whether the 5D Mark II would best the 1D Mark III noise control.  After doing some unscientific shots with the 5D Mark II, I was convinced that the 5D Mark II was at least a full stop better than the 1D Mark II in terms of noise control.  So was I right?  Lets see. Read the rest of this entry »

Another test video exported as 1080p and uploaded to YouTube.

Link to Canon 5D Mark II Test Video

Finally got Adobe Premier CS4 and rendered out my first video clip.  So far I’m pretty pleased with the quality of the video.

After receiving my Canon 5D Mark II yesterday, i’s time to start taking some test shots.  I figured I’d go straight for a high ISO test. All shots with the Canon 24-70 @f/4 with +1/3 EC. As you can see the image is split down the middle with one side with 0 NR and 0 Sharpening. The other side was run through Neat Image and has Sharpening Applied.  Test are done at 3200 and 6400 ISO.  I’m pretty excited about these results.  I plan to do some low ISO shots tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

In my last blog entry, I stated that I had the Canon 5D Mark II on pre-order from B&H.  For whatever reason, B&H hasn’t received the shipments that one would expect a major camera seller to receive.  I got a tip stating that Best Buy had them in stock today, 12/7/08.  I looked it up and sure enough they did.  However the closest Best Buy to me with a 5D Mark II in stock was Canton, OH. Read the rest of this entry »