HDLink Conversion Problem
 

Sorry for the vagueness of my comment.

I used the suggested tool on the original MS-YUV footage and then converted the footage again using HDLink and got the same result. I also used the tool on the convereted Cineform files and the results were the same as well.

The frame rate of the footage is supposed to be 29.97. I'll try the other tool you reccommended

More HDLink Conversion Problems
 

I am trying to convert some AVCHD clips taken with my Sony HDR-SR11 camera as .m2ts clips. I am using the latest version of Aspect 5 and want to make certain I can convert using Aspect before I upgrade to Prospect.

My system has both Premiere Pro CS3 and CS4 installed and I am using the Haali splitter for the conversion.

As soon as I select .m2ts files and try to convert, the following error messages appear every time:

Error M_Media Control Run {} 0x80040212-Dispatch error #18 in Direct Show Graph cpp at 218

Error M_ ConvertGraph StartGraph 0x80040212 Dispatch error #18 (CFF Capture DLG cpp at 2373)

I also tried uninstalling the Haali splitter and the conversion seems to work although very slowly. The clips play in a Cineform preset of 1440x1080 but at an increased video speed. The audio sounds correct.

I tried converting non Cineform HD avi files captured via Premiere Pro and they convert correctly

My system is an Intel QX9650 chip running Windows XP Pro and a single Nvidia GEforce 8800 GT video card.

Any help with conversion of the .m2ts clips would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Marty rahn

More HDLInk Conversion problems-Update
 

I have Aspect V 5. on two computers and tried to convert some .m2ts clips on the second computer that only has PPro CS3 installed. I installed the Haali splitter and using HDLink, the conversion worked without any problem. It must be the presence of CS4 that causes the process to fail.

When Prospect 4 is available, will conversion using the Haali splitter be necessary and will the presence of PPro CS3 interfere with the conversion process?

Thanks,

Marty Rahn

The CS4 compatibility issue will be address. The AVCHD issue has already been fixed, and will likely be in the next v3 release if that comes out before v4.

It Worked
 

I converted a clip using HDLink with no Haali splitter and the frame rate was off although the audio played correctly.

The free fame rate correcter recommended by David worked perfectly. It is a slow process that willl hopefully be superceded by the new Prospect 4.

Marty

HDLink Conversion With Prospect-File Size
 

I installed the latest version of Prospect for PPro CS3 tonight and converted several .m2ts clips from my Sony HDR-SR11 camera. The conversion went smoothly. However each converted Cineform .avi clip was approximately 6 times the size of the original .m2ts clip. That ratio was consistent for each clip converted.

Am I doing something wrong or is it intended for the Cineform avi clip to be so much larger? I also noticed that during the conversion, the blue bar indicating progress did not appear.

Thanks for the help.

Marty Rahn

You don't mention which CineForm product you installed, HDLink comes with all of them. The progress bar is fixed is some versions, not all yet.

From the CineForm web site: "CineForm AVI file sizes vary based on image sizes and frame rates, Expect 1920x1080 24p files to be about 10 MB/sec or 35 GB/hour"

CineForm files are designed for post, AVCHD are compressed to an inch of their life, are not designed for post. AVCHD is stores 6 times the image data in file half the size of an NTSC DV.avi, something has to give. CineForm expands the file you give some more room and speed in editing.

HDLink Conversion with Prospect_File Size
 

David:

Thanks for the prompt reply. You guys are terrific. I am using the latest version of Prospect HD 3.4.8.

I knew AVCHD was highly compressed but had no idea it was THAT much compressed.

The first clip I used was 17 minutes and 2.1 G. The Cineform AVI is 13 G which is consistent with your advice. At least I know I am not doing anything wrong.

I will probably need more storage space to deal with the much larger files!

I am looking forward to the newest version of Prospect that will work with CS4 and enable me (when that feature is available) to monitor my work on an external HD monitor.

Marty Rahn

Neo Scene HDLINK: What does "Convert to 24p" actually do?
 

I recently worked with Cineform's very responsive support team to fix a problem I was having with the Neo Scene version of HDLINK. When I captured from HDV tape via HDLINK from my JVC GY-HD100, I first checked the Cineform website for the appropriate settings for capturing 720 24p material. It said to keep framerate at "Automatic." However, when I did so, captured files would show up on my Vegas timeline as 60p material, with the video way too fast, shorter and out of sync with the associated audio.

Cineform support advised me to simply check the "Convert to 24p" radio button in HDLINK. That seems to work fine, and I haven't noticed any quality loss.

Still that got me thinking. When I check the "Convert to 24p" button in HDLINK, is it simply telling the software to save this as a 24p file? Does Cineform automatically detect the difference between a native 24p video stream (such as transmitted by the JVC ProHD cameras) and a 24p stream embedded in a 60i stream (such as transmitted by Sony and Canon cameras)? Or, is Cineform actually trying to do pulldown on the JVC stream?

If this is, in fact, how this is supposed to work, I would respectfully suggest that Cineform relabel this button to something such as "Save as 24p file," and to update the HDLINK camera-specific settings on the website.

Just a couple of thoughts for future updates. I'm very happy with my Neo Scene purchase overall and with the tech support I received.

That was fixed a few weeks ago. Just get the latest NEO Scene.

Great! I'm downloading it as I write this.

HDLinke.exe has stopped working on Vista
 

I posted that issue a weeka ago and there was no solution from you guys David. But I uninstalled the latest version and went back to Prospect 3.46b188 and it lloks like it is working - my Canon HG-20 .mts files are converting.

I tried the coreavc and ffdshow advice but finally it was the latest version that was giving problems (you should look into it so it does not get into ver 4)

I just uninstalled (did not have to do any reboots) and installed the older one and it works

I had the same problem. I uninstalled Prospect 3, installed Adobe Premiere CS3,restarted, installed Prospect 3.8.6.188 version (only other one I had and NOW IT WORKS! I noticed the log says I am using the Adobe AVC encoder but Graphedit says something different.Maybe all this could help.

Experiencing erratical behavior with HDLink (running Vista Ultimate + SP1):
at times it just crashes @ opening;
at times it opens, correctly captures & converts first file, then starts doing weird things, like splitting a sequence into dozens of "microfiles" & introducing huge artifacts;
sometimes it opens, and then freezes when told to Start job.

(Dell Precision T7400, Xeon E5430, video on a G-Raid 3TB via eSATA, Vista U SP1)

Trouble ticket filed, but hope somebody else on the board might chime in...
Any idea? Thank you in advance

Vasco

Addendum:
while the CF codec clearly deserves five stars
(and lots of kudos to its developers),
HDLink's erratical behavior under Vista is such
a major nuisance, and apparently a well-known one.
If I may, I'll quote David Newman:

"All our software does now work under Vista, however HDLink and Vista still has driver issue will the HDV cameras connection and we don't know why (it doesn't happen on all Vista systems.) While this is an annoying work-around, you can capture using HDVSplit (free) then batch convert in HDLink under Vista." (unquote)
The above quote is dated November 25th 2007 (!)

Absolutely no disrespect intended! The thing is that HDLink's on-the-fly conversion
would be such a great feature, and giving it up in favor of a two-step approach (HDVSplit capture, HDVLink conversion) is really a major disappointment.

My straightforward question To David:
are you still trying to fix this thing, or have you given up?

All the best - and again: the CF codec is a real jewel!

Vasco