Will CS3 handle PMW-EX1 MP4s natively?
 

I have been trying to narrow down my workflow options (as a PPro user who doesn't really want to change) and someone suggested that PPro might handle the MP4s from the EX1 without some other codecs like Main Concept or Cineform.

Do we know?

John... I've been asking this question in the Cineform forum as well. For some reason there are some NDA issues that prevent this very basic question to be answered.

I have posted this question in the EX forum, so hopefully someone can shed some light on this.

My guess is that an intermediate codec is going to be the way to go, ala M2T files as opposed to Cineform's. The MXF issues make this even more confusing in my mind. The way I understand it, the tools included with the EX are software that creates an MXF wrapper of the capture files. MXF is not an acceptable format by Premiere... and seems to be a step backwards in that I presumed that an MP4 would potentially be more universally accepted by NLE softwares, but I must be mistaken on that.

So if I am interpreting this correctly, MP4 and MXF are going to be long GOP format files. Cineform (and perhaps others) offer a true conversion to an interframe format.

It would be nice to know if Premiere could ingest the raw EX files, but in terms of workflow (and the fact that the EX HQ files are going to be even more robust than M2T/HDV files), I'm guessing that a Cineform-type solution will make things better all the way around. Especially when you consider After Effects in this equation as well.

And for Premiere users... we may not have much of a choice in the matter anyways.

I guess that's what I'm wondering - does Prospect make things easier or is it an absolute necessity?

It seems very odd that there isn't a straight answer to be had on this issue. Having said that, any indications that I have read that suggest usage of Premiere, points to a plug-in or an intermediate codec.

I'm already using Vegas for my sound work. Since it will definitely handle MXF, I may give it a whirl in the video realm.

There is still the strong possibility that working with the native files will be clunky and limiting (what about After Effects, etc?). Cineform really does a great job with m2t files (converting to an interframe AVI), and I would anticipate the same performance relative to the mp4, or mp2 in an mp4 wrapper, or an mp4 in an MXF wrapper.... or whatever the heck we are getting from the EX.

Doesn't matter to me.. the EX could record on potato chips and I still want it. Pro lens, no tape..... hallelujah!

A poster on the Adobe Forums site here seems to suggest that CS3 will handle the EX's footage natively (though one person refers to it as the EZ, so I'm a little confused.

He states:

However, people reply to him with skepticism.