HD Video Pro by Neil Matsumoto

Every year, Adobe holds MAX, a worldwide conference that allows attendees to learn new skills, explore up-and-coming technologies, as well as network with their fellow Adobe users. MAX 2010 took place October 23 – 27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and held over 200 informative sessions and 100 hands-on labs for designers, developers and other creative types.

I attended one popular session, “Editing Video with HDSLR cameras in CS5 Production Premium,” which was led by Adobe’s Sr. Worldwide Evangelist (yes, that’s his title) Jason Levine, who gave an informative introduction to Adobe Premiere Pro and the HD-DSLR workflow. [He’s a big proponent of the Canon 7D]. There’s a current buzz in the industry on many Final Cut Pro users making the switch over to Adobe’s Premiere Pro because of its native support for HD-DSLRs. After the session, I sat down with Levine to discuss the impact of HD-DSLRs, and the advantage Premiere Pro has over Final Cut Pro in terms of working with the format’s H.264 files.

HDVIDEOPRO: How do you think HD-DSLRs have impacted the production industry?

JASON LEVINE: A year ago, you began to see a noticeable presence of Canon 5D Mark IIs. You don’t really notice when someone has a point-and-shoot, but you notice when someone has this big DSLR with a really nice prime lens on it.

A few months later, the adoption seemed to be, not only ubiquitous, but you saw people using them in everyday scenarios. In early March, the 7D won best narrative film at South-by-Southwest. Then Phillip Bloom started talking about the 7D and shooting 60 frames. At the same time, you were hearing that Saturday Night Live shot their intro with a 7D and a 5D. And toward the end of April people began talking about the House season finale being shot with 5D Mark IIs—it was just everywhere. Read more...