Prospect HD would be able to encode (in real-time) YUV 4:2:2 (10-bit) data coming from any source even 3D resolutions like 1280x1440p24. We can encode 1920x1080p30 on a dual Opteron 252, which is 62M pixels per second. 1280x1440x24 is only 44Mp/s so it will work well. The Premiere capture tools are of course only setup for HDSDI or HDV inputs, but the DirectShow encoding components are available to do much more if you create your own tools.

I agree
 

I agree David. Your input on this forum was a major consideration in my purchase of Aspect HD --- Although I hope to know more than you in a week or so... :)

Does HD Connect use video card processing power?
 

I am considering getting an nVidia 7800 to speed up Magic Bullet effects rendering in Vegas 6. Would that new video card (versus my nVidia 5700) have any postive impact on HD Connect performance?

Compression and conversion is not impacted by the performance of the graphics card. None of CineForm products rely on the GPU to achieve its performance.

Is it technically possible for HD Connect to tap the GPU and could it significantly improve performance?

It would likely slow things download. Bouncing data two and from a GPU is overhead we don't need. CineForm products are heavily optimized to not need GPU acceleration.

Quick Cineform Connect trial version question.
 

Hello David. I downloaded the ConnectHD 15 day trial version yesterday, installed it, and got it running. Before using the software to capture any footage I thought I'd try converting an m2t clip I'd downloaded a while back. The clip is only about 100mb in size, and I had 3gb left on the drive I was using. I tried the conversion a number of times, but it just didn't work. I'd get a message after just a few seconds telling me the conversion was complete, but there'd be no completed file. Is this feature disabled in the 15 day trial version? My camera wasn't connected at the time aswell, if maybe that stops it from working?

Also, in the manual it's mentioned that a minimum 2.8ghz P4 with HT is required for decent performance. Now I'm running a 3.06ghz Dell notebook with HT, but I've disabled the Hyper Threading because when turned on, it lowers the overall performance of the computer dramatically. So much so that DV avi files can't even be played full screen at their full frame rate. So I'm just wondering if HT is really a necessity? I'd rather leave it turned off.

There is no reason I can think of that should prevent your trail version from working, it is a full version with no restictions. The only unknown is that M2T file. Try downloading one of these m2t clips (as I know they are good) -- http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/jvcp...ini35test5.php

As for Hyper Threading, it isn't required but it will improve performance for threaded applications like Connect HD which is multiple CPU aware. Older non-threaded tools can't directly benefit from HT.

Many thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I might try a different file. I have those ones from the JVC, but they're on another computer.

As for the Hyper Threading, if that is supported I may end up giving it a try. It's easy enough to turn on or off in the Bios.

Anyway, I thought it was about time I tried capturing some footage from my HC1. After reading the system requirements for ConnectHD, I realised the Windows SP2 update was required. So I downloaded that and installed it. Now the computer won't even recognise the camera or any other Firewire device! Of course SP2 adds a firewall to all network devices, so I disabled that for the 2x Firewire connections. Unfortunately I still can't get it to work. Hopefully I'll get it sorted out. There's a Microsoft fix file I've just downloaded. Maybe that will work.

Try uninstalling the Firewire driver, then search for new hardware devices. When it finds the FW the camera should be visible also.

Actually I'm now quite certain it's the Firewire socket on the camera that's blown as I've tried connecting it to 5 computers, and not one will work. Plus I've even tried connecting it to an old Canopus card. Very disapointing, especially considering I've only had it a week. The power switch is faulty aswell. As soon as I turn the camera on it switches off again, and then back on, off again and so on continuously. I can usually get that to stop. I thought it was a bad battery for a while there, but it happens with just the power supply connected also. Seriously, making the switch from a Canon XM2 to the HDV Sony HC1, I thought my biggest concern would be deinterlacing the footage. I honestly never expected anything like this.

Anyway, I look to trying your software once again David as soon as I get this camera repaired. Thanks for the replies.

XP SP 2 & connect 2
 

i'm using connect 1.5 with XP SP 1 .. also using V6c ... ( windows media player will NOT play any clips using the cineform codec 2.0 but those clips will play in Vegas TL )

i see that connect 2.0 states use XP SP2 ... the problem with updating to service pack 2 is it cripples 1394B (s800) ..in fact in knocks it down to s100 ( 1394a =s400) ..yea microsoft has a fix but that just gets it back up to s400 and NOT s800 speeds .. 1394B difference = SP1 60MB/s reads & 45MB/s writes.. SP2 35MB/s reads & 24MB/s writes ... BIG difference...

soooooooooo is it connect 2 just will not work with sp1 or it just slower, locks up ?

Connect HD will work fine with SP1. We only (strongly) recommend SP2 as the setup is much easier because the camera drivers are ready to go in SP2 (so it is only a customer support issue.) As you are already running 1.5 under SP1 you should have no issues.

Connect HD Error
 

Has anyone else experienced an error like the following:

This error shows up in the log has soon as I turn on my A1U. The error is pretty much printed in between every status message.

i.e.
It will say
Welcome
Version
Error
Camera not in playback mode
Error
Ready to Capture
Error
Capture
Error
Converting
Error
Ready to Capture


Etc, etc, etc....

It doesn't actually capture anything though. It correctly shows the timecode of the tape, and I can control the camera just fine. I just can't use the software at all.

I opened a support ticket, but haven't heard back from them yet. I was just curious if anyone else here has seen this.

There is a post about this in the Cineform Disscussion forums, but nobody seems to have resolved this problem yet.

No idea. You are running SP2? You will need to wait on support for this one, as I have never hard of it. That error means the camera device doesn't support MPEG2 transport streams. Maybe the camera is trying to output DV.