Final Cut workflows for the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D300

Since its release, the Canon 5D Mark II has become the de facto video camera for many photojournalists. Despite some technical challenges, the visual quality is simply stunning. Prosumer video gear just can't touch its filmic look or depth-of-field. For examples, check out the gorgeous work of Jeff Hutchens and Nacho Corbella in the MediaStorm workshop project that I produced Hold Out. More recent workshop attendees Deanne Fitzmaurice and Doug Grant also used the 5D to beautiful effect in Family Kocktail.

It's not hard to understand why the Canon 5D Mark II, and now the Nikon D300, have become so popular. But to make these files Final Cut Pro compliant there remain a number of technical hurdles.

To help with this, I documented the MediaStorm workflow with each of these cameras. From the MediaStorm blog:

These documents detail the transcoding process in Compressor, demonstrate how to use Apple's Qmaster to get the most out of your computer's processors, and describe how to properly set up a default Final Cut sequence setting for your respective footage.

Both documents are available as free downloads on the MediaStorm submission page: http://mediastorm.org/submissions/index.htm.