BUMP-

I wanted to update this in hopes that it might help me get a response cause something is not right.

In short, when I export HDV from Premier Pro 2.0 with the Aspect HD 4.0 engine, and I import the AVI into either DVD Archietect, I'm seeing a 4:3 project and not a 16:9 project despite the project settings being setup as 16:9.

To confirm my export settings:

Export Movie> Select Cineform HD Export> (Video TAB) 720x480, Frame 29.97 and PAR to D1/DV NTSC Wide 1.2> (Keyframe and Rendering), I select progressive (for this project) and when I'm done I'm getting a 4:3 project...

When I play this in Media Player it's widescreen and perfect, when I import it to DVD Arch, it thinks it's 4:3!

Has anyone seen this?

I don't know about DVD Architect, but I do know that getting your DVD player to switch to 16:9 is as easy as pie.

Is the footage appearing in DVD Architect tall and thin? If so, if all else fails you could simply author as normal (ie 4:3) and reset the aspect ratio flags on each VOB file using the freeware tool IFOedit. This will override DVD Architect's default 4:3 settings on your final 'ready to burn' files and tell your DVD player to run the footage in an anamorphic format.

If, however, DVD Architect is physically cropping the sides of your footage, another solution will be required.

The export from the PPro Timeline with the CFHD Aspect 4.0 is coming out 4:3, when I play it back in Arch it's pillarboxed and stretched thin, DVD arch will allow you to force the aspect of the source file to 16:9 but to no avail.

What's buggin me is that if I use the Premier Pro HDV preset to start the project and export it using the 720x480 x 1.2 it's dead on perfect. So there is something different about the Aspect that is not the same as the version of Cineform that Adobe is using. I can however take the raw CFHD Avi in 1440 x 1080 and import it into DVD Arch and it will run a re-compression and it will be just fine, that's what really odd, the issue only manifests itself when I reduce the exported file to 720 x 480.

Miguel

Tried demo of aspect hd 4.0 Crashes on m2t export
 

After installing Aspect HD everything works so far except m2t export which gets to the end and crashes premiere with an error Runtime error microsoft c++ r6002 floating point not loaded

Any Ideas all other exports work including cineform HD avi's. Thanks

Using Premiere 1.51 alone on a system with little else.

There is a patch available for systems that do that particular crash, please contact support at CineForm.

What exactly does Aspect HD and Connect HD do?
 

If my understanding is correct, the m2v HDV files are not that performance friendly, so this software wraps it in a lossless codec that's easier to edit with? Is Aspect HD simply for Premiere while Connect is for Vegs?

Both Aspect HD and Connect HD use our CineForm Intermediate codec. Files captured are compatible and interchangeable between the platforms. HDLink, our MPEG I/O and conversion utility is also part of both packages.

But the architectures of Premiere and Vegas are different, so we have different components with each. For Vegas, we have done some special interface work between our CI codec and the application to provide an accelerated editing environment using the various preview capabilities within Vegas. (Wavelet transforms, which is the technology used in our codec, have some unique characteristics that can accelerate the editing environment).

In Premiere we also have our own RT SW engine that literally displaces the RT engine provided by Premiere (and which also includes our CI codec). This allows us to get to a very high level of performance, about 3X-4X greater than the RT engine in Premiere achieves. When using our RT engine, Premiere is operating as a comprehensive GUI issuing commands to the CineForm RT engine.

So, both include the CI codec and HDLink, but Premiere has the CineForm RT engine in addition.

To complete the story, Prospect HD extends Aspect HD by extending the codec and RT engine to 10 bits of I/O precision plus extended horizontal resolution. There are some other feature and architecture differences between the two also, but at a simple level the primary difference is the extension to 10 bits.

How cool is it that the CEO of the company answers your questions?

Ah geez, let's keep it in perspective - I'm also the part-time janitor. Now, how cool is it that the part-time janitor knows enough to answer your question? :-)

All joking aside, David Newman (CTO) and David Taylor (CEO) are both hanging out on these forums to help us. There always seems to be a new feature or a bug fix right around the corner. Unlike big companies, Cineform has been able to fix problems almost as fast as we can find them. Sure they don't have the huge beta tester program, but they repond fast enough.

The real issue with Aspect HD is that it is faster to use, offers a higher quality output due to better use of color information when applying effects, and makes it possible to use HDV in After Effects. Even Adobe admits that HDV and After Effects don't mix very well using native M2T.

Aspect HD 4.1 - public beta
 

Last week there was an invite only beta release for adding HXV200 support (which seems to be working well -- more feedback is welcome), now this is beta release for everyone else. I expect no majors changes between now and its official release (other than the manual is being updated.)

So if you want the latest and a last chance to help squash a bug (link removed.)

This version also others 15 days additional trial time for those who have tried Aspect HD before.

Features and Fixes:
• HDLink has been updated to support MXF files from the HVX200.
• HDLink now supports scaling of MXF or M2T files to various standard HD resolutions.
• HDLink now supports deinterlacing of 1080i sources in a progressive output.
• Pulldown removal and deinterlace filters can be combined to generate 24p from 60i sources.
• HDLink can now convert to a separate output directory.
• Export to Frame now better color handling under PPro 2.0.
• Timecode capture within Premiere Pro now working again (bug in 4.0.3.)

Aspect HD 4.1 has been released now at www.cineform.com.

installed (several time) but just a question about the dual premiere 1.5/2.0
lauching prem. 2 shows cineform splash screen with 4.1
launching prem.1.5 shows cineform splash screen with 4.0
how do i know if premiere 1.5 is using the good version or how can i upgrade both premiere ?
(dont tell me to reformat Hard disk....)

Text for HD and SD w/ PPro1.5 & Aspect HD
 

Hi everybody,

I have a workflow issue and I'm curious if others have had similar issues and discovered elegant solutions.

I have an HDV project edited using PPro1.5 and AspectHD. I want my final product available in both an HD format (say, WMV files) and SD DVD.

When I create text and titles in the HD PPro project and create the HD WMV file, they look fine. However, then when I export to a 720x480 CineformAVI for the DVD, the text is aliased/subsampled and ends up looking excessively blocky sometimes. If I export the edited video without titles to a 720x480 CineformAVI and then recreate the titles natively in the 720x480 project, they look much better even though they are the same size resulting in the 720x480 AVI.

Is there an elegant way to create the text/titles once and then scale them appropriately for both projects so that they look clean in both, without having to go through and manually change each and every title file?

Thanks in advance for any tips,
Bill

Go into the plug-ins folder with PPro2.0 and find the CineForm directory, copy that into the same place in 1.5.1. Now you have 4.1 in both.

Bill,

Could you please send me is a frame grab of each example? Maybe there is something we can do.

David.

For what it's worth, I think that this problem is another case of using the wrong field first. I was using native 24p footage in a 29.97 project. When I tried to export using the Lower Field First, it ended up flipped, whereas when I exported using Upper Field First everything looked OK. This seemed most visible in the text, so I thought it was a text only issue, but upon closer inspection I see the problem also in the video footage.

Sorry for the thread...

Bill

Is the deinterlace algorithm in HD-Link intelligent, or does it just discard every other field?

It is more intelligent than that, yielding a higher vertical resolution.

David, You guys ROCK! I just installed 4.1. The deinterlacing and conversion from 1080i to 720p in HD-Link works great. Incredibly fast too.

Thanks for always making a great product better.

Cineform Aspect HD Question.
 

I shot on miniDV using 2 cams. (1 HVX-200, 1 JVC GR-DVL520U...not real hi-quality, I know,
but the only other storage media I have for the HVX is 2 4GB cards - WAY too little for
what I needed).

File Props for all footage =
Type: AVI Movie;
Image Size: 720 x 480
Pixel Depth: 32
Frame Rate: 29.97

Am editing with Adobe Prod Suite, and have Aspect HD installed.
Some shots I need the Zoom effect, (not the PPro transition), to cover some camera flubs.
While PPRO seems to NOT have Zoom as an effect, the Aspect HD Link has a
"Pan, Zoom, Rotate" effect. I've used that, and got what I needed, but I lose sharpness in the resulting "Zoomed" clip.

I need to retain sharpenss, and I did NOt capture using Aspect HD. Should I have used Aspect for capture? Can I? Would it help retain sharpness?

Addendum:
I just realized this may not be entirely clear. In simple terms, will/can Aspect HD do anything to help if I did NOT shoot in HD?
All input appreciated.

Unfortunately...
 

Aspect HD won't help. Whatever you do, you will always lose some sharpness when zooming-in on an image during editing.

By the way, Premiere CAN zoom: go to "distort" in the video effects bin and you will have a way of scaling your images.

If you have "InstantHD" from Red Giant, you could upconvert your images to HD and then zoom them out. It could produce better results.

THANKS for the reply.
 

I expected to lose some sharpness, but was hoping Aspect HD might somehow save me from myself.

Thanks for the tip. I'll play with that a bit. Wiley's "Bible" mentions a "Magnify" effect. Haven't checked it out yet, but I presume that's what you mean.

Don't have that, and know little about it. Will have to read more...and find a price.

THANKS again.

what size does aspect hd capture at?
 

1920x1080 or 1440x1080? leaving settings at default cept ticking on deinterlace. I thought it did it at 1440x1080 auto but I see a setting in the resize video to change it to 1440x1080.

All 1080 HDV is 1440x1080. Aspect HD without a resize is 1440x1080. The resize option is to upconvert 720p or for P2 users to upconvert 1280x1080.

so if I capture and let hdlink convert to cineform avi and put a checkmark in the "deinterlace" setting. when I start a new project in pp2 should I use the aspect 1440x1080 60i preset? but if hdlink is deinterlacing the footage is it still 60i? If I'm wrong which preset should I be using?

For you are deinterlacing 60i you get 30p. And you should use a 30p preset, although the 60i preset will still work.

David,

Concerning HDLink's new ability to upscale DV/HDV, do you have any information as to how it compares with upscaling in avisynth or VDub? I know this might be too general of a question, but I'm hoping I can get you to shed some light on what might produce the best results given the willingness to involve many more applications and make things a bit more complicated.

Thanks again,
Juan

Try it, it is very good quality scaling. Based on an interlaced award Lanczos scaler that work in the source and destination YUV 4:2:2 format (no colorspace errors.) Plus it is much faster than avisynth or VDub.

Problems 4.2 Aspect HD trial
 

Just installed the new trialversion but converting m2t files in HDlink don't take place. [Error message]
Tried installing on another machine and upscaling an avifile. Another error message.
Previous trialversion worked fine, so installed 4.1 again.
Works oké with the next 15 days trial.
Too bad, new version of HDlink promises a lot of good and interesting possibilities.
Could it be systemrelated, or are there other people having this problems?

There was an installer problem on some systems that has been fixed and 4.2.1 will be available today.

Much obliged!

Digital Projection of Aspect HD video
 

I've just finished a half hour actionsport video that I intend to project digitally on a 2K projector. When I talked to the person in charge of the projection I was told that they would need the video on HDCAM tape to load on to their servers. Does anyone have experience with converting Aspect HD files to HDCAM or any other format for digital projection?

HDCAM can't be converted directly as it is not a file format. You will need to play out the sequence via HDSDI to a HDCAM recording deck. Deck rental for a recorder is between $500+ per day. So you will need someone with Prospect HD (with an AJA card) and a HDCAM deck (if we had a deck I would have offered you the service.) Alternatively you can export to an uncompressed QT/AVI file and find someone with a uncompressed HD system and rent the deck again (120-180MB/s totally 300GBytes for your half hour production.) Tape delivery of HDCAM or D5 are common deliverables for HD productions. There are likely post facilities that take uncompressed AVI/QT files to output to tape for you, but I don't know the costs for that service.

Output Quality Using CineForm Aspect HD
 

Hi Eveyone,

I am in the process of reasearching the components for a new computer but in the mean time I am using a Pent 4 3.6 HT, 2.5 gig RAM, with a separate system drive and video drive (both SATA 7200 rpm), a Matrox APVe card, and Aspect HD ver. 4.22. The camera is a Canon H1, and PP 2 for editing. The monitor is a Sony 36" CRT High Def using component out on the Matrox.

Here's what I did for comparison. I captured the same clip in both Adobe Native and Aspect using HD Link. When capturing the clip in HD Link, I used the large file size. I brought the clip up in the Program window of Premier and brought the Adobe Native clip up in the Source window. The playback settings on Aspect were set at De-interlace Video While Scrubbing unchecked, and the Disable Preview Mode Playback was also unchecked. You don't really even need the Sony CRT to see it, but the Adobe Native image was noticably cleaner when comparing the clip on the Source and Program screens of Premier...especially if you use the View Zoom Level settings.

At this point, I'm happy with Aspect HD because it's the only way to view the clips smoothly. Even though my current system exceeds Adobe's minimum requirements, I get studdering video playback, but even studdering, It's closer to playing back the tape right off of the camera and into the CRT, than Aspect is.

Am I asking too much, and it's just the nature of the beast, or are there other things that I can try to get a cleaner picture through Aspect? Lastly, if anyone out there might know where the bottleneck is in my current system with respect to studdering video on Adobe Native, I'd sure like to know. The drive will capture all day long without a dropped frame, but playback jumps.

Thanks very much,
Richard

Just to clarify...when you say "cleaner" are you meaning pixellation-type artifacts? Rather than, say, a change in black levels or a color cast or similar?

Hi Graham,

By "Cleaner" I mean more detail in the picture. I can't see any differences in Black Levels or Color Casts. The clip I used was of a home on a shore while I passed by it on a boat. The home had quite a bit of rock work done on the lower foundation. The Adobe Native clip showed deatail in the rock work while the Aspect HD clip showed the rocks more like blobs. In addition, you could see more detail in the landscaping plants whereas the Aspect clip lost detail in the individual branches.

Hope that helps and thanks,
Richard

The source window will look better 99% of the time. Reverse the two.

The bottleneck is poor programming on Adobe's part regarding HDV.

Richard,
You say that you have "Disable preview mode playback" unchecked.
Preview mode playback displays the image at half-resolution. That's why you're seeing less detail.
You should be seeing no difference in quality between the source M2T and the resulting CineForm AVI at full resolution -- we pride ourselves in that.

Previous Aspect Version Downloads
 

Is there a means of downloading previous versions of Aspect?

Marty
OnQ Film