Hi everyone,

I just wanted to tell everyone that will be at NAB to look out for LumiereHD. It's an application for the Mac that allows you to completely edit HDV via Final Cut Pro. It's awesome and it's definately worth buying when released. (I've used the beta.)

Just wanted you to look out for it...the guy who is creating it seems to really want to create a great solution and it's working great. There seems to be a lot of activity out there for HDV now, so I wanted to speak up about the LumiereHD product before we get to NAB. It's a solid app and works!

Murph

Thanks for the plug Chris...

I promise, he's not getting commission...maybe he should ;)

We plan on releasing the first version of Lumière HD on April 19th at NAB. We will be on the JVC booth.

The target price for Lumière HD is $179 with a show special running all week for $149.

It's true, I am not getting commission!

I was lucky enough to be asked at the time to help beta test his upcoming product. It was a great opportunity for me and for Frederic, so here we are quite a while later after some great developments.

It's very important to note that Frederic and his team are not throwing this together. There has been a lot of care put into this product and its very apparent they've scoured the forums all over the web picking up information about what people want in a HDV for FCP solution. These guys are professionals that care for their customers and you'll see it relected in the product. I've already had one bad experience with buying an early HDV for FCP solution (you can guess), so it's great that an alternative solution that includes top notch support from Frederic and his team is almost available. Support these guys...please.

To top this off, I am being told along with everyone else about the price right now in his post above...totally reasonable pricing!

It's great to see product development across many companies, so I hope we support them because they're supporting us.

Special thanks to all the posters who help make developments happen and to the free forums that exist out there like DVinfo....my personal favorite is DVinfo even though I moderate elsewhere. (shh, don't tell them)

Murph

Any URL where we can see more about this product?

That's an awesome price! I can't wait to to buy it. Does it have a chroma noise filter?

The url is http://www.lumierehd.com

Only a logo for now. But more coming very soon.

Chroma noise filter, hummm...perhaps.

Louis, Frederic, a free FCP chroma de-noise plug in would be a great way to attract customers to the HDV solution. When using stib's curves to make my clips more 'film' like I usually end up with some unwanted noise in the shadows and that is usually mostly chroma noise... I sometimes use an Apple plug to desaturate the shadows and it looks great but it would be much more versatile to have a real chroma denoiser :D

Can someone explain the basic methodology of LumiereHD?

Steven

Steven,

Lumière HD gives MAC users the ability to edit the new HDV 720p format on Final Cut Pro using all the features and benefits currently available with DV. Lumière HD manages the complete workflow; including video capture, file conversion, offline/online workflow, and print back to video, all in one user-friendly interface.

Lumière HD gives editors multiple editing format choices, whether they prefer uncompressed High Definition, DV, or any other QuickTime compatible codec. It is the solution for editing HDV on any MAC hardware with Final Cut Pro.

The official release date is Monday, April 19th at NAB.

The retail price will be $179.

Will this be only the 30P JVC version of the DVHD format, or will it support 60P as well, and even 1080i when it comes out?

Lumière HD manages the complete workflow; including video capture, file conversion, offline/online workflow, and print back to video, all in one user-friendly interface.

So this sounds like an offline workflow. Is this converting to DV or OfflineRT and then, doing a conform on the MPEG2 stream?

My company has been shooting a bunch of footage with one of the JVC cameras, but with no way to edit the footage as of yet, so I am really interested in Final Cut Pro solutions.

Johah,

Version 1 will support 720 30p only.

Soon after, it will support other MPEG2 HD formats such as 1080, 1080p, 720 60p.

You are absolutely correct, it is an offline workflow and you can choose the timeline codec of choice (DV, Offline RT, etc.)

Because of its streamlined workflow with batch processing and optimized encoding, Lumiere HD will save editors (and assistant editors) hours of work.

On our short film, I'm estimating that Lumiere HD would have saved me approx. 1 week of pre-work.

Thank you for the info. That is very helpful. Editing in DV would be nice, as long as the final product comes out at HD quality.

Jonah,

That's the key, to make sure the final output is in HD.

Most of HD and Film editing in the business is done offline today. It's no different with Lumiere HD.

But if one chooses to cut HDV in HD in the timeline, it can also cater to this approach.

Frederic,

Can you please explain the workflow!?

Steven

Steven,

Here's the print on the back of the box. I hope this is helpful:

Lumière HD gives Mac users the ability to edit the HDV format on Final Cut Pro.

Using the offline/online process, users can edit their HDV footage in the codec of their choice (i.e. DV, motion JPEG, etc.), while keeping all of the real-time benefits they enjoy today with Final Cut Pro. Lumière HD also converts the final edit in full resolution HD for output back to HDV or DVHS tape.

Features

• Captures video from the following HDV cameras and decks via IEEE-1394 FireWire:

• JVC JY-HD10U • JVC HM-DH30000U
• JVC GR-HD1 • JVC CU-VH1

• Allows the logging of information from captured clips and transfers these logs to Final Cut Pro

• Converts the captured HDV clips into QuickTime friendly HD MPEG2 video format (online), via lightning-fast batch processing

• Offers editors their codec of choice to edit in Final Cut Pro's timeline, with all of the real-time benefits, such as transitions, composites, and FX, without rendering. Also provides real-time playing and NTSC monitoring in DV.

• Automates the complete migration of captured HDV footage into Final Cut Pro, including:

• Offline FCP project creation
• Importing clips
• Anamorphic (16:9) setting
• Importing logging information
• Sequence video settings
• Merging of audio & video tracks
• Online process optimization (Clip naming, remove anamorphic, etc.)

• Encodes any HD output from Final Cut Pro into HDV MPEG2 transport stream and transfers back to HDV cameras and decks

All of this in one package for $179 (NAB Show special $149)

<<<-- Originally posted by Frederic Haubrich : The url is http://www.lumierehd.com

Only a logo for now. But more coming very soon.

Chroma noise filter, hummm...perhaps. -->>>

I'm pleased to notice that the Lumiere HD website is now more than just a logo. It's sort of fleshed out. Way to go! Now the only big thing left to add is a link to buy the product.

When is the Lumiere HD software going to be available? I have gone on the website but you can't purchase it yet. Wasn't it supposed to be available this week?

Louis,

We are just back from NAB...exhausted and thrilled with the incredible response we received.

We have a couple of big announcements to make early next week, at which point we will announce when the product will be available for purchase.

Thanks for you interest.

But had to send it out to the guy who is actually aquiring the footage. He is going to test it out and let me know how it is working, and what the quality looks like.

I'd like to know if it's possible to convert the HDV TS to DVCPRO HD. Now that FCP can handle DVCPRO HD similarly to DV (on a G5), maybe it's possible to have a more "online" process the whole way through. This would be important for accurate previews of graphics and special effects, especially if you're doing any chroma keying.

Murad,

Yes the new DVCPRO HD codec allows for an HD editing workflow and it is completely compatible with Lumiere HD.

Having said that, I see only one reason for editing in HD in the timeline: If you have an HD monitor to view your edits as you are editing.

Now, the DVI to ADC adapter with the FCP HD will allow you to use your second monitor as an HD monitor. So if you have an HD resolution monitor extra, I highly recomend this solution.

Finally, I still recomend bringing the project online (it's only 3 clicks with Lumiere HD) in order to use the source Quicktime Friendly MPEG2 Program Stream to render your final output.

Just a note to add that FCP HD actually also allows you to use your Main monitor as your HD monitor, so if you don't have a second HD resolution monitor, you can use a standard VGA monitor connected to your second video output, put your timeline on this and use your Cinema display as your HD monitor. Or you can switch back and forth as you feel like.
I've been using this setup and it seems to work quite nicely.
Lumiere also converts material to the DVCPRO HD format for editing very well.

Paul,

Furthermore, I hear there is a quick key that allows you to play your timeline in HD res, realtime, even if you have only one monitor!

Does anyone know what the quick key is?

Dear Lumiere Folks - Any updates on the when Lumiere HD might be released? Some of us stand ready with cash in hand - and stacks of unedited HD tapes. Is the delay due to problems with the app or with packaging and production? My Final Cut Pro eagerly awaits this plug-in. DCS

Frederic, the quick key is Apple-12

Paul

David,

We made an annoucement on our website http://lumierehd.com

The target date is June 1st.

There are many reasons for the delay. Including, establishing reseller relationships, manufacturing and a new version 1.1 with a new and improved MPEG-2 encoder.

We are very excited about version 1.1...

Frederic - Thanks for the reply. All I've found on the web site is "Coming Soon" but I appreciate the additional information. Can we order now or do we wait until June 1?

David,

No need to order in advance. You can see the announcement I mentioned and other topics regarding Lumiere HD in the sites forum. "Click on the support link".

Thanks for your patience. Another factor for the delay is that we REALLY want to make a good product and our team has a tendency to be on the perfectionism side...:)

Thanks for the pointer to the FAQ. Now I'll just count the days to June 1. Incidentally, we potential purchasers are glad your developers are perfectionsists.

David,

We are on schedule to release the new version version 1.1 on June 1st.

In the meantime, take a look at the QuickTime training movies describing the workflow on our site:

http://lumierehd.com

More coming soon...

Thanks so much for the continuing updates. I'll savor the workflow while awaiting June 1 and my download. It will be a pleasure to finally deal with my JVC HD-1 footage in FCP.

Frederic - Don't know if you're monitoring this thread during the holiday but, at the risk of sounding like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can't help but wonder if you guys are still on track for release tomorrow. I just watched the QT parts of the workflow completed on your website and am eager to start working on my own, stockpiled footage. DCS

David,

So far so good.

I'm not promissing what time zone however...;)

Frederic - In any event, good luck with the launch. While I'm waiting, I do have one question: How much RAM is necessary to optimize the LumiereHD/FCP combo? Is 1 Gig enough?

David,

Thank you.

Yes 1 GB is enough. What system do you have?

Panther, G5, 1GB RAM, FCP4

You'll have fun wih that machine.

I have a feature film sitting on my shelf so I can't wait for Lumiere. I have FCP4 on a 1ghz G4 powermac Mac, 1gb ram and I have installed a SATA controller card and added 2 250gb sata hard drives. If I attach a Cinema display is editing in HD DVC Pro a possibility or is my computer to slow? Or should I edit in DV and then for final output go back to DC30?

I would edit in DV. Especially for a feature length program.

David,

A quick update on our launch for you.

We've run in a bit of a snag with our online store...just a temporary set back.

We'll be online within hours.

Thanks for your patience everyone!

Frederic - Thanks for the note. As of this morning, I'm still getting a "Coming Soon" page on the site. I'll continue to check until this afternoon, when I have to depart for the airport and a two-day biz trip. I've provided my email address to your "notify me when it's ready" alert, in case I miss something. Anyway, I appreciate the communication.

David,

We just released the software.

You can purchase it at:

http://lumierehd.com/lumiere_hd.php

Thanks for your patience!

May I be one of the first to congratulate you on the release, I can't wait to try it!

Al the best

Paul

I have it installed, but I have no HDV footage, all of it is with my shooter on location, so I can't make a report.

Lumiere HD version 1.1.3 will be released soon with the following improvements (free upgrade to Lumiere HD owners):

- Faster MPEG2 Transport Stream Encoder
- Enhanced MPEG2 Program Stream QT compatibility
- Faster demultiplexer
- Improved Sound Sync
- Optimized XML workflow

Frederic

Thank you.

Frederic - I've received two auto-emails from LumiereHD that version 1.1.3 is to be released. Is this upgrade available yet and, if so, where is it on the site? Do I simply download the complete software package as though I was buying it, then fill in my registration info? Or is there a specific upgrade path? Thanks. DCS

David,

The update isn't available yet. It will be shortly.

David,

New releases can be accessed through the application's "Check for Updates" feature under the file menu.

Frederic