Which flavor of Nanoflash file for Premiere?
 

I saw the announcement that Adobe Premiere CS3 and CS4 are supporting XDCam MXF files now but they aren't able to open the 23.98p 50Mb long-gop files I recorded on a commercial job from last weekend. These are just my dailies from that job and I'm using Sony's MXF viewer to watch them but I also have Premiere CS3 loaded on my system and would like to play around with this material a bit.

Is there a bit rate that Premiere can handle or will Premiere be announcing universal Nanoflash support in the future?

Dear Paul,

Sorry, but I have not seen that announcement from Adobe. I may have just missed it.

At this precise moment in time, our 35 Mbps 4:2:0 files may be used in Premiere.

We are told, by MainConcept that they expect to ship their codec support package for CS3 and CS4 in approximately two weeks. This will allow you to use our files in CS3 and CS4.

It would also be very nice if Adobe natively supported our files. We have been promised that CS5 will support our files.

The Nanoflash doesn't produce 35 Mbps 4:2:0 files does it? I'm assuming that's an XDR-only file type.

Dear Paul,

Yes, the nanoFlash does produce a 35 Mbps 4:2:0 XDCam EX type file.

This is intended to be the same as produced natively by the Sony EX1 and EX3.

All of the bit-rates, modes, formats, etc. between the Flash XDR and nanoFlash are the same.

We have not crippled the nanoFlash in any way. The difference arise from any basic differences in the hardware. And all of these differences, which are very few, arise for the desire to have an extremely compact sized HD/SD-SDI and HDMI recorder.

For example, we do not have XLR inputs on the nanoFlash as there is no room for them.
The nanoFlash does not have the same audio circuits as the Flash XDR, as the extra power supplies in the Flash XDR take up substantial room.

But, do not be deceived, the nanoFlash records quality audio. For embedded audio, it is identical to the Flash XDR, for analog audio it is 24-bit/48K.

Just to confirm,

The Nanoflash is recording 4:2:2 at 50/100/160/220Mb/s (I-frame or Long-GOP) but at when the bit rate is set to 35Mb/s it switches to 4:2:0?

I've clicked though the menu's but haven't found any options to change 4:2:2 to 4:2:0

Thanks in advance Dan.

Dear Paul,

All of our formats at 50 Mbps or higher are 4:2:2.

To be identical to the Sony EX1/EX3 internal format, we record our 35 Mbps format in 4:2:0.

There are no menu items to specifically select 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, it is inherent in the mode/bit-rate you select.

Our ".MPG" at 19, 25 and 35 are also 4:2:0, in order to conform to the Blu-ray standard.

Brilliant! Thanks Dan.

Update for PPro CS4 and nanoFlash users:

Main Concept replied to an e-mail to say that their current version of MPEG Pro HD does NOT support Convergent Design files. They went on to say that their next version will support the Convergent Design files. The new version (version 4.1) is currently in a beta version and they will send you the link if you want to test it.

Alan

For a simple and inexpensive solution, use the Calibrated{Q} XD Decode for OSX & Windows. I downloaded and tested it in Premiere and AE CS4 and it works. The only thing you can't do is export to XDCAM. I wouldn't wait for Mainconcept as Dan Keaton has said for over a month that Mainconcept was about to release the plug-in.

CS5 should be out around March or April and will probably cost only a couple hundred dollars more than the Mainconcept pug-in.

Dear Steve,

We have been working closely with MainConcept.

They have provided us with a Release Candidate for their upcoming release, version 4.1 of their "MPEG Pro HD 4", which is a Plug-In for Adobe CS3/CS4.

I shared this version with one of our friends yesterday. He tested it and was very happy.

As of yesterday, MainConcept told us that the release date is two weeks away.

MainConcept and Convergent Design will have a nice surprise for owners of the Flash XDR / nanoFlash. Stay tuned!

Paul, if you're running Matrox Axio or RTx2 the CD mxf files are supported in Pr CS4.

Thanks for the tip David, I think I'll wait for CS5 and full Nano MXF compatibility. I only use the Nano to record dailies for myself, any playing around in Premiere that I'd want to do is just for my own amusement so the wait isn't a killer. Looks like a 64bit OS upgrade will be needed as well.