Timeline monitoring - CS5
 

I am just wondering if there is any word from the cineform folks on what video interfaces will be supported in CS5 using Cineform presets for timeline monitoring? Will currently supported cards/devices in CS4, CS5 be supported or will there be develpment time needed to intergrate these drivers?

I am particularly interested to find out if AJA XENA LH(e) will be supported and the Matrox MX02 using cineform presets?

I'd also be really interested to know if anyone is working with Cineform and the Motu interfaces...
Ian

I think its high time an AFFORDABLE monitoring option is provided, especially in light of the real time power CS5 supposedly brings to the table. I mean if something like the Matrox or Intensity cards that can be had for as little as $199 work well with CS5 and the new realtime Mercury engine - cineforms 'you gotta spend $750 for our codec PLUS an additional $1500 on a Xena' for the same work-flow would be very hard to swallow.

Just saying...

.....and what about Blackmagic Design - has the prospect of support for this major hardware supplier been forgotten altogether? At least we can monitor with first Light.

I was referring to Blackmagic with the Intensity card - that's the cheapest way to monitor from the timeline - all but useless if you're using cineform however. I seem to remember that black magic support has been on the 'we're looking into it' cards for over 3 years now... maybe a lot longer...not good

Blackmagic & CineForm
 

We can play back CineForm files in First Light and see the output on our external monitor by selecting the Blackmagic Multibridge as playback device, which is great. The images look super. This works SDI or HDMI

We can also open a Blackmagic sequence in CS4, within a CineForm project and, by copying the our working cineform sequence into it, play it back using the multibrigde - but it's pretty poor - stuttering, freezing etc.. (Basic Quad core PC).

Thanks for the info Geoff, I am hoping that Cineform will weigh in with what cards/devices are currently supported in CS3/4 and to what level (either cineform preset or device preset). Also what plans are there to get them ported to CS5 and how quickly this may happen.

Would be great if there was a complete list of all supported cards for each version of PP for timeline monitoring. I am still interested mostly in the Matrox / AJA products and am wondering if any there is any word on the MX02?

I have no inside info, but my understanding is that all the "power" of CS5 and the "Mercury Engine" is dependent on a $1000+ Nvidia Quadro, and only the massively parallel Quadro. Price/performance should be better with the next round of Nvidia graphics engine (gf100) that is likely to be debuted at NAB in April.

Perhaps you should do a little more research before posting then Don? The very first result after googling 'adobe mercury engine' reveals video and copy that shows how it works and also states it works with a sub $300 GeForce GTX 285!!

And even if it dropping $1k on a graphics card was the only way - still leaves you $500 better off than with a Xena and $1200 better off if you figure out you really dont need cineform at all anymore..

Mercury with a nice Gfx card doesn't replace a Xena card, nor does it replace CineForm, they are all complementary.

David, do you chaps have a list of supported cards anywhere?
Whats supported currently in CS3 and will be in CS5 - also any work on the Matrox MX02?
Thx -

FWIW,
I have been playing wth the Cineform Neoscene trial on Premiere CS4 on two machines. I have a Matrox MXO2 mini attached to a Dell Dimension 4400 workstation laptop. When I start Premiere with a Matrox project in the format I want (720p usually so far) and import my Cineform transformed files, they play quite nicely on my external HD monitor via the HDMI connection. This worked for CS3 as well, without the Cineform test.

This seems to work fine for me, and I would assume (although we all know wat "assume" means) that the CS5 workflow would be similar.

Hope this helps, if not, sorry about muddying the waters!

Good point Bob. While CineForm support some cards within tools like First Light, cards vendors also support us. CineForm is a good fix for MXO2 if you use the Matrox presets.

Thanks for the Info Bob. David, any word on when/if it will be supported with cineform presets? - thx.