5DtoRGB
 

There doesn't seem to be a mention of this little application on DVinfo, so I thought I'd mention it and see if anyone has played with it.

"5DtoRGB converts Canon EOS series video files to ProRes QuickTime files or high-quality DPX sequences."

5DtoRGB by Rarevision

The quality of the conversion from H.264 to an editing codec such as prores is higher quality than that of the E1 plugin. Seems the major benefit would be for footage destined for effects work. For what I do - event videography - the difference in quality may be too subtle to bother with. Especially as I work in the ProRes (LT) codec.

In my quick test, there was an improvement in quality of the 5DtoRGB output as compared to that of the E1 plugin, but it was a very slight difference. I could not see any difference viewing the footage at 100%. I exported uncompressed TIFF stills and was able to see that the 5DtoRGB image was "smoother" with less compression blockiness. But only when viewing the image at something like 400%.

Also, the file size of the ProRes (LT) file from 5DtoRGB was 14% larger than the E1 file.

So while I don't think there would be any point for someone like me, just wanted to bring this up for those looking for an convertor that, as it states on the website, "extracts every last drop of video quality from cameras that record to the AVC/H.264 video format."

Edit: Forgot to mention... Like the E1 plugin, 5DtoRGB utilizes timecode data from the THM files. Unlike E1 is doesn't require the DCIM etc. folder structure. Full support for 7D and 550D/T2i footage as well.

I tested an earlier beta of this & I too found the quality difference subtle. It also took a long, long time to convert the native 5DII files.