Glitch/bug when importing Cineform files into Encore?
 

I exported a Cineform 1920x1080 23.976fps file from Premiere Pro so I could import it into Encore DVD, add chapter points, and render for DVD. Encore seems to interpret my 65 minute file as a 51 minute and 6 second file. So my film cuts off abruptly 15 minutes before the end. I could transcode with Adobe Media Encoder, but then I can't have frame-accuracy when I add chapters in Encore is that correct?

Is this a bug that has been mentioned before? I can file a bug report with Cineform, but I worry that they would need a sample but my rendered file is 46.2GB large. Other Cineform files I import into Encore don't seem to have that problem, however.

I have never tried importing AVI files into Encore, only m2v and m4v. However, I am wondering if the Encore transcode presets are causing this problem. The default is 8mbps for a DVD project which at a constant bit rate might now allow 65 minutes. Try setting the bit rate for 7mps and see what happens.

By the way... PPro export to Encore DOES allow you to define chapter marks. It has been a long time since I have done that but I think that the icon on the PPro sequence looks like a DVD/CD disk where the chapter marking is done.

24/30 * 65 = 52. Your problem is related to frame rate. 24 fps is not an allowable frame rate for an NTSC DVD, so the problem is Encore not being able to create a disc in the format you're attempting. Encore just tried to make a standard 29.97 fps DVD from 23.97 fps video.

The Adobe project flow was changed. In CS2, you'd export video to a DVD compliant format from Premiere. Now, you open Encore and import timelines from Premiere, and do the transcoding from Encore. That way you preserve the chapter marks entered in the Premiere timeline. Encore would be able to handle it, if your video is HD and you're trying to create a BluRay.

Since I upgraded to HDV, I learned to change my work flow to importing Premiere timelines into Encore. I author the disc initially as a BluRay disc. When I create the discs, I can burn the same project to both a BluRay and a DVD without changing the Encore project. I just let Encore decide how to do the encoding for the discs.

Ahhhhh. Interesting. Thanks!

I thought it was best to export to Cineform from Premiere first because of David's explanation of how scaling works in Premiere and how to maximize quality when down converting HD for DVD. But you're right, it's not compatible with Encore really, not for long projects anyway.

To reconcile both views, should I render a Cineform master and then import it back into Premiere and THEN import the sequence into Encore? Or should I just use Media Encoder first and take my M2V file into Encore and forget about frame accurate chapters?

Any qualitative advantage transcoding with AME over Encore over Premiere?

When I first tried Cineform, I took an existing Premiere project, took the source m2t files and converted them using HD LInk. Then I replaced the original files in the project with the new CFHD files, so they just dropped right into my Premiere project. Then I opened my Encore project, which already were linked to the Premiere timelines, rather than exported transcoded video files. Then I let Encore run AME again to create the BluRay and DVD. The Adobe Media Encoder in Encore is the same one that you can invoke in Premiere. Now the only reason I use AME in Premiere is to create other format files, like WMV.

You want to import the timelines from Premiere or AE inside Encore. That way any adjustments you make inside Premiere or AE are automatically transferred to the Encore timelines, without doing another transcoding. That's the only way to export chapter marks to either a BluRay or DVD. That also saves me time when I forget to add a half-second of black video to the end of my timelines, which blanks the video on my BluRays and DVDs on branching back to the menu. To me, it just looks more professional to fade out the video to black at the end of the timelines.

Since AME is AME, no matter where it's invoked, there is no qualitative difference in using it inside Encore over Premiere. My work flow is just faster, because I wait to transcode for optical discs I've really finished editing.