HFS10/SR11 at their best through HDMI/Cmposite HD
 

Hi everyone

For the last few months I have been shooting video to my laptop through a blackmagic design intensity pro to Cineform.I have used a Sony SR11 and also a Canon HFS10.For those of you interested in how good HDMI and Composite HD captures can be check out my Vimeo videos.I am happy to share any insight that may help anyone else get started in this cost saving venture if this is of interest.

HDMI capture takes any of these full raster AVCHD camcorders and turns them into cameras with a picture quality rivaling cameras many times the price.I have been floored at how crsip and clean it can be - especially the Canon HFS10.

I also have a tutorial to help anyone who wishes to build their own portable capture station at a fraction of what the dedicated hardware vendors charge.

the only problem is that most people buy these cams for portability which the laptop sacrifices

But you can soon get a TINY pro HDMI 4:2:2 recorder ...
 

For a serious chunk of cash -- $2,995 ... but it's about the size of a 5-pack of DVD cases.

Convergent Design, experts in HDMI, SD, HD, and HDV

Convergent Design Flash XDR - The Digital Video Information Network

Have any handheld examples with serious motion?
 

I'd love to see a high-motion comparison of the S10 AVCHD to the HDMI capture -- Do you have anything posted like that?
Thanks!

Hi Shaun - not at the moment.May well do soon in my ongoing tests.One thing to remember is that the laptop acts as a reference LCD for critical focus and I can actually edit,review or discard takes in the field.It is all available as soon as it is recorded.The capture station is the edit station as well.Oh and one more advantage to capturing to a laptop is Cineform's first light.I have demoed it and it is amazing.I mean truly amazing.

What is First Light like?
 

Intriguing, please tell this computer editing rookie what First Light does and the reasons you like it so much :) ... THANKS!
Is it for color grading but different than Magic Bullet Looks??

Hey Shaun
 

This is my rather vague understanding of the tech and I am no expert but here goes..First light is a colour grading tool to accompany the top end Cineform products.It is not as full blown as the dedicated colour grading suites like Iridas speedgrade or even the more ridiculously expensive film finishing combos but it is powerful.It allows one to adjust white balance,saturation,gamma etc at a codec level.In other words the video files appears with the changes made in first light instantly in your NLE.It is under the hood so to speak.It is like using layers in Photoshop where the changes are made on top of the video so it is none destructive and the Meta data can be turned on or off.It is akin to working with RAW files in photography.Get this the software loads Iridas look files.Yes you heard me.So if you get Speedgrade Onset it will load the look you are looking for and they can be shared around a set and in your post pro workflow.This is what makes the Silicon imaging camera so powerful.Magic Bullet looks is nice and I have them but it cannot compare to the Iridas looks.You can make your files look like film stock - it's insane.It alters the colour responses in a matrix and if you can get the looks used on a motion picture - typically a few kilobytes you can get your pics to look similiar.Like convolution in audio.This is amazing technology and I will do demo and post it to my Vimeo page soon.Take care

Hi Henry
How do you use the intensity card with your laptop? Does your laptop record directly from HDMI. What are the mechanics? I am interested in a similar setup.

Hi Robert.I have a tutorial.

HDMI/Composite HD/HD-SDI DIY portable capture station tutorial on Vimeo
Hope that helps.Do read the info as well as it may well help.This was done before the two new products were announced so options have improved.
HEnry