Experience with Cinema Craft? at DVinfo.net

William Middleton · March 19th, 2009, 10:29 AM

Anyone have any experience using the Cinema Craft Encoder to transcode Cineform files into DVD mpeg-2 files for authoring? I'm trying to convert my Cineform Master 720 x 480 avi files to mpeg2 files, but it stops about a third of the way through. Doesn't give any errors, just stops.

Bill

Todd Giglio · March 20th, 2009, 07:34 AM

Hi William,

I have the Cinema Craft Mac encoder and I've had issues encoding Cineform files. Plain white text on black backgrounds are the only files I've compressed successfully. Color footage ends up with an overall magenta duo-tone look. It looks like a bw image with a magenta filter applied.

I've contacted Cinema Craft but it seems to be an issue with Cineform (according to them) as any other codec (including ProRes) works fine. It's a shame as I had to bypass Cinema Craft (expensive to boot) and use Compressor (though I've gotten pretty good results with Compressor).

Todd

William Middleton · March 24th, 2009, 04:36 PM

Figured this one out. The trial version only encodes the first three minutes.

Todd Giglio · March 25th, 2009, 12:37 PM

William,

How do those encodes look? As I stated, my encodes (regardless on how long the clip is) end up duo-tone magenta.

My process was going from DVCPRO HD (converted with Raylight) edited in FCP, export to Cineform (1280x720). In Compressor I applied the Cinema Craft encoder = weird color encodes.

Todd

Peter Manojlovic · March 25th, 2009, 12:41 PM

Todd...
What software are you playing back your .M2V files on?? Check the settings of the playback software..

William....
Cinemacraft used to give a watermark for a trial version...I can't believe they only allow for three minutes of encode??
Many people used to do a first pass, and not output a .VAF file..Cinemacraft would hang up, looking for this file for multiple passes...

Craig Davidson · March 29th, 2009, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Giglio

William,

How do those encodes look? As I stated, my encodes (regardless on how long the clip is) end up duo-tone magenta.

My process was going from DVCPRO HD (converted with Raylight) edited in FCP, export to Cineform (1280x720). In Compressor I applied the Cinema Craft encoder = weird color encodes.

Todd

This sounds like an earlier problem with smaller decodes in YUV (4:2:2) formats. The scaling would mix up the luma and chroma values. Check your version, you may find the more recent release fixes the problem.

William Middleton · March 31st, 2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Manojlovic

Cinemacraft used to give a watermark for a trial version...I can't believe they only allow for three minutes of encode??
Many people used to do a first pass, and not output a .VAF file..Cinemacraft would hang up, looking for this file for multiple passes...

According to the website, the trial version only gives 3 minute max encodes AND adds a watermark. I went ahead and bought it and did the encoding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Giglio

William,
How do those encodes look? As I stated, my encodes (regardless on how long the clip is) end up duo-tone magenta.

The first one I did was anamorphic (had a wrong setting), but the colors looked fine. My process is as follows--

1. Edit in Premiere (Win), output master CFHD.avi (720 x 480) files.
2. Transcode with Cinema Craft using VBR (2 pass) w/ 2, 6, 9 bitrates.
3. Import into Encore and burn to DVD.

Still testing the results out. So far no color issues. Initial transcode/burn--even though it was anamorphic--looked good.

Todd Giglio · March 31st, 2009, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Davidson

This sounds like an earlier problem with smaller decodes in YUV (4:2:2) formats. The scaling would mix up the luma and chroma values. Check your version, you may find the more recent release fixes the problem.

I have updated all of the software (the last Cinema Craft version was last year). The problem still is present. If I compressed just the ending credits (white text over black) the encodes are fine. I'll do a few other test and see if I can figure this out.

Even now, I'm getting extremely great encodes with Compressor and Cineform. No complaints (other than I dropped $$$ on the Cinema Craft Encoder (hopefully I need a use for it in the future).

Todd

March 19th, 2009, 10:29 AM	#1
William Middleton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Antioch, TN Posts: 67	Experience with Cinema Craft? Anyone have any experience using the Cinema Craft Encoder to transcode Cineform files into DVD mpeg-2 files for authoring? I'm trying to convert my Cineform Master 720 x 480 avi files to mpeg2 files, but it stops about a third of the way through. Doesn't give any errors, just stops. Bill

March 20th, 2009, 07:34 AM	#2
Todd Giglio Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 265	Hi William, I have the Cinema Craft Mac encoder and I've had issues encoding Cineform files. Plain white text on black backgrounds are the only files I've compressed successfully. Color footage ends up with an overall magenta duo-tone look. It looks like a bw image with a magenta filter applied. I've contacted Cinema Craft but it seems to be an issue with Cineform (according to them) as any other codec (including ProRes) works fine. It's a shame as I had to bypass Cinema Craft (expensive to boot) and use Compressor (though I've gotten pretty good results with Compressor). Todd

March 24th, 2009, 04:36 PM	#3
William Middleton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Antioch, TN Posts: 67	Figured this one out. The trial version only encodes the first three minutes.

March 25th, 2009, 12:37 PM	#4
Todd Giglio Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 265	William, How do those encodes look? As I stated, my encodes (regardless on how long the clip is) end up duo-tone magenta. My process was going from DVCPRO HD (converted with Raylight) edited in FCP, export to Cineform (1280x720). In Compressor I applied the Cinema Craft encoder = weird color encodes. Todd

March 25th, 2009, 12:41 PM	#5
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Todd... What software are you playing back your .M2V files on?? Check the settings of the playback software.. William.... Cinemacraft used to give a watermark for a trial version...I can't believe they only allow for three minutes of encode?? Many people used to do a first pass, and not output a .VAF file..Cinemacraft would hang up, looking for this file for multiple passes...