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. (more…)

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.