CineForm & MacOS play together -- finally!
 

This has been a very long path to port the CineForm Intermediate solution to OS-X. The work became practical since the release of the new Intel Macs, so now it was up to us. So CineForm, without much support from Apple, completed the port of the core CineForm compression, and you are welcome to try out the public beta release.

The beta version is fairly capable with full 32-bit float I/O (a must for decent quality from FCP), resolutions up to 2048x2048 in 4:2:2 with an internal precision of 10-bit. The main limitations are speed (we are haven't completed the threading that makes the PC versions so fast), Intel only, and there is a time limit of the beta (May 1st / 60 days.) We are going to be updating the beta regularly for speed/features and to extend the trail period (so we hope to keep a good number of beta users up-to-date for the all the valuable feedback.)

Please read more on the release and get the download link from here:
http://www.cineform.com/products/MacOS-Beta.htm

David - great news but a letdown for all of us with powermac workstations. Will you ever be ppc workable ?

We have always said that the performance experience will be Intel only, you can't replace 5 years of Intel optimization (nor would you want to do that work on a discountinued platform.) However, after the beta we are likely to have a PPC version of compatibility, it just won't be fast -- although even a C code version of CineForm Intermediate will likely be faster than JPEG2000 (a similar wavelet codec.)

Superb news David. Is there an AVI to MOV batch conversion tool available? Are 8-bit CineForms compatible too?

There will be a AVI to MOV conversion tool (likely an upgrade to HDLink.) And 8-bit files work fine, as the decoder can handle all source formats, yet we planning our to create 10-bit or greater under Mac OS (unless there is a sizable market for 8-bit encoding.)

This is indeed very exciting news to Mac users, Dave. Thank you.

David,

It would be fantastic for me to be able to share resources with my Mac/FCP colleagues. Help me understand your latest news.

With the upgraded HDLink that you describe above.... as used on a PC, resident with Aspect, what can I output that would conform to the Mac? A MOV via an Apple codec, a MOV with the Cineform codec?

If so, would these translations be achieved on the fly, as captured (as the CFHD process is accomplished now), or through a separate session with HDLink's conversion capabilities.

Or, are you saying you are developing software for the Mac to ingest existing AVI with Cineform codec. If I understand correctly, Apple treats AVI as a legacy format? No support? Or, you able to provide a Quicktime codec for Macs to install?

Apologies for my lack of understanding... but maybe there are others in a similar situation as I, that would benefit from your workflow description as it relates to PC/Mac interchange of Cineform based resources. I still don't understand how Mac users are ingesting HDV, since the raw M2t files are not readable by FCP.

Marty

We have Quicktime components for the Mac that decode the identical bit-stream to what you are using today on the PC. So rewrapping AVI to MOV and back again is very fast and lossless. With our Prospect HD/2K product lines the MOV CineForm file already works natively within Premiere Pro and AE. Once the work is complete we will offer direct MOV cature within our PC tools, so no converion is required -- the file can be used as is no either platform.

That sounds great David...

Can you give me a better grasp of how the workflow could work?

Would the rewrapping of the AVI to MOV occur on the PC (this is the function of the future HDLink upgrade?), then the MOV file would be compatible on Mac?

Currently support for crossing platform coding is intending for Prospect HD and 2K. Within HDlink and the Premiere Pro capture module you will have an option to convert/capture as MOV or AVI. All operations within CineForm's tools under Premiere Pro / AE don't care which it is. If you have an MOV file that you want to use that in VirtualDub (or any AVI only tool) you load it into HDLink and set AVI as your output, HDLink will detect the CineForm compression and simply rewrap the file from MOV to AVI. If you are planning to send an AVI to a Mac, through it into HDlink first for the reverse operation, lossless conversion to MOV.

....
I/O Precision: 10 bits
Maximum horizontal and vertical resolution: 1920x1080
....

Hey , will you give from scratch to MAC what we have not is Aspect on PC ?
In other word, should i plan an upgrade to mac instead to Prospect for PC ?

Very cool David... and this is a planned, future feature (option) of HDLink?

PC will remain our high performance solution until Apple fixed some issues with FCP (like not supporting multi-stream playback for third party codecs), or until Prospect is ported completely to Adobe Premiere on the Mac. So I would stick with the PC for a while yet.

Yes, HDLink will have this feature in Prospect HD/2K.

But not Aspect?