First Light = great workflow
 

Just wanted to attest that, after extensive use, I feel that FirstLight proves to be invaluable to do what it is designed - preliminary color correction.

Ability to quickly create LUT's; change the clip's LUT and propagate that change to every program that uses the clip - is really fantastic.

And the grading does NOT impose any extra processing on the NLE/compositing software, ASFAIK, as regular grading filters/plugins would.

And unlike filters, the chosen Look for your clip will travel between the programs without rendering, as it is non-destructively attached to the file itself.

Some people may feel FirstLight just imposes an extra learning curve and may feel resistance to it. I know because I felt the same :)

Well, do yourself a favor and try FirstLight - in my opinion, it's the best invention since... since... the Cineform codec itself!

Seriously - thanks, Cineform.

I agree wholeheartedly with Alex and would only add that for those editing in 3D, FirstLight essentially makes the nearly impossible not only possible but almost easy. We are very much in the thick of editing an hour long documentary we shot in 3D and I truly cannot imagine where we would be if Prospect/FirstLight 3D had not be released just as we began our editorial.

From our perspective as well - thanks CineForm!

Thanks guys! I'm very pleased you see the power of FirstLight in it current form. The many upgrades to FirstLight in v5.0 should make you even happier.

But First Light 3D do not have ability in preview mode (side-by-side or over-under) temporally and spatial sync L-R streams. For this task better use StereoMovie Maker or Vegas with PluralEyes plugin. Interface of First Light not great - same story as with HDLink :) Great CF codec, revolutionary ideas but implementation in GUI so-so..

Serge, I do not put HDLink and FirstLight in the same category. Yes the GUI for HDLink is poor (and it is on the chopping block this year), FirstLight is fair more flexible and is getting better every week -- of cause you can have no idea what is coming.

I have ProspectHD v4.1.6, and I think FirstLight's GUI is very well made, intuitive, looks great, and works well. Surely it is even better in the later releases.

HDLink: David, I hope you guys are adding drag-and-drop capability to it.

And may I suggest another feature: NO AUDIO on file conversion. Many times I shoot footage with a second cam (Canon 7D to match my SI-2K) that contains audio track I don't need in post. Right now I have to convert with HDLink to CFHD; then run that converted file through VDub to lose the audio. This is because unwanted audio tracks pollute my NLE as they are being conformed, also I"d have to delete them in the timeline, and also they take HDD space. So... NO AUDIO tick box in HDLink"s converter please, if possible?

4.1.6? Aren't we on 4.3.x now? Thanks for you comments.

Yes to Drag-and-drop. HDlink was built on an old Windows class that didn't support it, like it doesn't support resizing, so we are going to replace the GUI with the same GUI manager that runs FirstLight -- built with the latest Windows classes. This will add a whole lot more flexibility into HDLink (likely renamed to ReMaster to match our Mac version) -- this is a while off, so not part of 5.0, maybe 5.1 or 5.2. A check-box for no-audio is a good idea.

First Light is simply brilliant! When I first used it I couldn't believe how quickly I started getting good looking results. But the best part about it is that it doesn't turn your footage into "mud" like some other CC software I have used. Your footage remains as crisp and clear as when you recorded it. Thanks Cineform!

On the topic of features for the next release, will we be able to play the footage out on a second monitor while grading footage in First Light? I have a secondary 23" monitor connected via HDMI that I would love to view my footage on while grading.

Via an AJA or Blackmagic card you can to that now. We do have more output options coming in V5.0.