MediaStorm documents 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, like the ability to follow focus and the low-fi built-in microphone, 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 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, MediaStorm has documented our workflow with each of these cameras in two separate PDFs. 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 our submission page: http://mediastorm.org/submissions/index.htm.

Special thanks to Zach Wise for his blog post Lessons Learned Shooting with the Canon 5D Mark II.