Connect HD questions.

[Daniel Moloko]

hi there,

A QUESTION:

can i just use the CONNECT HD with premiere pro as a capture engine and as aVI CODEC??

i dont care about the realtime thing, or even the aspect hd extra tools as the color correction, etc.

i would like to use the VEGAS but im pretending to use the TWIXTOR that its only avaliable for premiere.

so i got to render everything with the codec to get the 24fps.

dont know about there, but here in brazil is not that hard to get a film transfer for free (as we dont have a film
production as the americans have..."they" need us to a lot!)

thanks

ciao

ah, by the way, WHAT is the config on the twixtor that i need to set to get only the 24 frames convertion?

[David Newman]

Connect HD will work with Premiere Pro. Under Premiere you can set up a Video for Windows (VfW) editing mode that is 1280x720 @ 29.97 and then editing using CineForm AVI clips. The VfW edit mode of Premiere is no match for the Aspect HD editing mode, but if real-time is truly not of importance, you will do fine with Connect HD.

Twixtor does seem to be the way to go for 24p exports under Premiere and After Effects.

[Daniel Moloko]

If youre saying that i can use it on premiere pro, it is used as a CODEC ? i can set the premiere to render my project with the connect hd codec?

and, can i capture directly from premiere to that codec?


thanks

ciao

[David Newman]

Yes. Connect HD has an external tool that captures M2T data and converts it (automatically) to a system friendly HD AVI file. These AVIs contain the CFHD (CineForm HD) format data, which can be imported directly into Premiere, Vegas, After Effect etc.

[Josef Crow]

Twixtor worked for me to go to 24p as an After effects plug-in. not premiere. Twixtor does something with premiere (i don't know what), but it didn't seem to be frame rate conversion.

And, as far as i know, Cineform doesn't export from After effects back to Cineform codec, yet. I exported the files as uncompressed AVI to get the best result.

[David Newman]

The After Effects supporting codec is part of the release version of Connect HD and the Aspect HD upgrade -- both coming soon.

[John Gaspain]

Im having two problems.

#1 where there is a vertical blue or negative line on the right side edge of the captured clip, its only on the converted by ConnectHD file. I guess its about 40 pixels wide and looks blueish.

#2...its also rendering all my 16:9 footage as 4:3 for some reason. I did setup Vegas properly in accordance with the ConnectHD manual. {1440x1080 / upper / 1.3333 & simulate aspect ratio}

( The .m2t file loads into vegas just fine- in 16:9, but if I load the .avi Connect file- it loads as 4:3!

Its not on the camera...and only happens upon conversion with ConnectHD

edited to add a screen capture of the .avi in Vegas.
http://aequantum.com/vegasclip.jpg

im running:
XP PRO w.SP2
DX9.0c
Vegas 5.0b
HD link 1.3 (trial)
HDR-FX1

Why is this happening? Is it because its a trial?

Thanks!

[Thad Huston]

#1 sounds like a bug we had in one build of Aspect, but I never heard of it in Connect. Download the new Connect 1.5 and see if you still see that problem there.

#2 you need to look at the very last paragraph in the section of the connect manual about configuring. Once your project is configured, you still have work to do on your clips so they are imported correctly. This is a limitaion of Vegas, but I think they will fix it in Vegas 6. Here's the exerpt from the manual just for other readers who may not have it...

"Finally, when you import your clips into your Media Pool, they may still look like they are 4:3 rather than 16:9. Right click on one of the clips in the Media Pool, and select ‘Properties’. Change the ‘Field Order’ and ‘Pixel Aspect Ratio’ to match the clip you have imported, and then click the ‘Save’ button which is next to the ‘Stream’ field. From that point on, your clips should import correctly, and your project should play those clips correctly as well. The rest of the features you’ll use should work identically to the way you are used to editing DV in Vegas. Consult your Sony Vegas users guide for more information on Vegas editing features."

Thad H.
CineForm Support

[John Gaspain]

excellent! Thank you Thad. That worked! ...but I still get the blue stripe intermittently, it depends on the clip I convert. I'll have to research some more about the cause.

Thanks!

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Hello, this is for you cineform people :-)

First of all, I'd like to pick your brains on a few compositing questions.

1. The connect HD software for AVI applications ($199) How does that work? Would I be able to import the captured clips into premiere or after effects? I'm running after effects 6.0 professional, shooting with the HD10, and I'd like to do some compositing within after effects, green screen chroma key, etc.

2. The cineform website says it is for avi applications. Would it work well within premiere pro? I have 1.0 with the mainconcept mpeg pro codec, which supports hdv 1 and 2. I hear it is very sluggish, but how would it handle?

I'm more concerned with the compositing part right now.

Also, if I can import the hdv footage into after effects, would I be able to export it back as a clip in hdv resolution?

My questions are probably old and probably have come across your screens before, but I'm still trying to get my computer set up to do this stuff. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you again and sorry for the bother.

Carlos Rodriguez III

[David Newman]

Hi Carlos,

I'm the local CineForm guy so I try answering your questions.

1. Connect HD converts incoming camera MPEG2TS streams to a more managable AVI file using CineForm's wavelet compression. This AVI will work in After Effects, Virtual Dub, Vegas, Premiere, anything that uses standard VfW codecs.

2. Connect HD does work with Premiere Pro 1.0, although is it not optimized for that purpose. For that there is Aspect HD ($499) and the 1.5.1 Premiere upgrade that CineForm developed with Adobe (free to 1.5 users.)

For compositing you will need either Connect or Aspect HD, as the free Premiere plug-in doesn't come with components to support After Effects. You can use Connect with 1.5.1 for a low cost solution. Aspect offers greater performance in Premiere, but doesn't accelerate AE.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

That's what I really like about this forum! A fast knowledgeable answer. Thanks for the input.

So just to get this straight, premiere pro 1.5.1 will import the footage into after effects 6.0, but it would still be best to use Connect HD, right?

Thanks again David!

Carlos Rodriguez III

[David Newman]

Not quite. Premiere 1.5.1 fully supports CineForm HD within Premiere, but not for outside applications like After Effects. Connect HD provides a license to use the CineForm HD format in any PC application (CHD also includes the HDV capture and conversion tool -- HDLink.)

Best is Aspect HD with Premiere 1.5.1 and After Effects.
Next is Premiere 1.5.1 and Connect HD for After Effects work.

You don't have to use Premiere 1.5.1 but it makes things much easier (particularly for Sony HDV which has a pixel aspect ratio not fully supported pre-1.5.1.) You can use Connect HD with Premiere Pro 1.0, but the performance is limited.

I hope this helps clarify. The trail versions for all CineForm software is available from the website.

-David

[Carlos Rodriguez]

great, thanks! much appreciated!

[Jeremy Rochefort]

I have been following your posts regarding Connect HD and Vegas hopefully closely enough to allow me to ask the following question.

I am really considering purchasing Connect HD for the abilities as mentioned in your post:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=45329

I have a burning question I need answered. Connect HD creates a "intermediate" avi file to be used for editing. How does one swop out to the original HD for rendering to have quality carried through to the final product - or am I missing the boat here entirely with my philosophy.

At present, I have been using PIC video's mjpeg codec for intermediate work and then using Gearshift to swop out the intermediate with the original m2t in Vegas 6. I would much prefer using a less lossy codec. What is the quality of the intermediate like for output work - hell, in short here, I'm in a quandry and a bit confused as to what my workflow should be since everyone has so many different ideas. Your objective opinion would be appreciated.

I have downloaded the beta Connect HD 1.7 and find it to my needs, especially the scene detection from my FX1E.

ASs you probably have gathered, I am relatively new to HD and the video editing world so any constructive help here would be appreciated.

Regards

Jeremy