Tuesday
Nov132007
Preliminary and Non-Committal blah blah holy crap!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 8:26PM Preliminary and Non-Committal CineForm Direct-to-Disk Recorder
Uhm, hell yeah. Turn an HDV camera with HDMI out into a barely-compressed HD rig, while mantaining DV Rebel agility.
Thanks for the heads up SalaTar! And yes dumptruck, you're right—the CineForm website is beyond confusing. I would have gone with something more like If We Build This, We Will Freaking Rule All.
Reader Comments (16)
Pretty cool if it ever comes to production. But, for the love of all that is holy, why can't companies produce a decent render of their product?
Yes. That is the worst illustration in the history of Man.
Heard of the Flash XDR?
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=106861
It's similar to this concept, though it captures SDI to MPEG2 on CF cards and will cost upwards of $5000, not shipping yet. I think a lower end HDMI capture device would also sell if it was priced lower. I'd want one if I could get it for under $2000.
i think it would be awesome if it actually looked like that!
I think they could 86 the screen and that would save a bunch of money. Just put a small display that shows the recording settings and amount of space left on the card.
You should have seen the previous drawing. :) No industrial design yet.
Screens are getting cheap, it seem that project flexibility would be expanded greatly. However we will consider a screenless version if the build cost get too high (they aren't currently.)
As for that non-committal thing, it shouldn't be in the title. That is a small print item, like features are subject to change and we may do something completely different.
David Newman
CTO, CineForm
cineform.blogspot.com
Good to see you here David, thanks!
question is: How much dammage has the HDV camera done to the signal before it hits the HDMI?
That being said anything is better than HDV itself.
Mike,
AFAIK the HDMI out comes BEFORE the HDV compression in the image pipeline. So if you are recording live off the HDMI out the biggest limitation is the camera head.
This is HUGE!! Everybody hoping that Blackmagic releases a expresscard version of the Intensity and you beat them with this!!
BUT!
You gotta fit it with at least TWO compact flash slots!! And allow us to swap cards and continue recording without missing a frame!
That'd make this product PERFECT. You can still make it!
wow. I would so shoot with this, the HV20 and the M2 rig. What a smart piece of gear, I really hope cineform makes this happen. Now if someone would just put all these pieces together into a single rig, it'd be the afforable Red.
Yes, hv20 + redrock + this = bliss
And yes, it would be amazing if some company put all of the pieces together. But that never happens. I'm not sure why.
I'm an old CineForm user - through 3 generations of their products over 2 years. It is a very innovative company. They made HDV work when not much else did and they do it all well. I don't doubt it will be a good product. If you can't make a movie with Cineform and Magic Bullet Looks, you can't make a movie.
Looks like they read the RED marketing handbook on how to build buzz about future products. RED had better 3D renderings when they pulled the covers off though.
I don't really see the benefit of using a HDV camera to get uncompressed HD output. The lenses are so cheap, they will never match the quality of a proper HD camera - even if the video format may.
There is a difference between saving money and being cheap.
@modifoo - I think that's why everyone mentions the Redrock/M2 adapters with it. While it's not as good - of course - as high-end glass on a primo sensor, it's maybe... 75% as good (what do you think, Stu?).
If you're making a small, indie production, then this combination of equipment gets you most of "the look" (shallow DOF, uncompressed video) for much less money. I think most viewers won't notice the difference if the material is well-lit and handled properly.
I am impressed with that HV20; I was skeptical, but the images (friend just got back from a shoot in Cairo) look great.