Canon DSLR Footage 10-Bit Colorspace Up-conversion Tutorial using Cineform

[David Newman]

Brian,

There is a CS5 configuration file that you will need to modify, we are trying to get the installer to do it, but Adobe's installer overwrite the changes. Working with Adobe on this.

In the this folder
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/

edit MediaCoreQTCodecRulesCS5.xml

Before </MediaCoreQTCodecRules>

Add:
<QTCodec codec='CFHD' vendor='****' platform='mactel' direction='encode' versionlow='0x00000' versionhigh='*' gammatag='false' cvbuffertag='0' deepdecodefourcc='b64a' decodefourcc='argb' />
<QTCodec codec='CFHD' vendor='****' platform='mactel' direction='decode' versionlow='0x00000' versionhigh='*' gammatag='false' cvbuffertag='0' deepdecodefourcc='b64a' decodefourcc='argb' />
<QTCodec codec='CFHD' vendor='****' platform='windows' direction='encode' versionlow='0x00000' versionhigh='*' gammatag='false' cvbuffertag='0' deepdecodefourcc='b64a' decodefourcc='argb' />
<QTCodec codec='CFHD' vendor='****' platform='windows' direction='decode' versionlow='0x00000' versionhigh='*' gammatag='false' cvbuffertag='0' deepdecodefourcc='b64a' decodefourcc='argb' />

Now your CineForm I/O will be 16-bit.

[Brian Parker]

Thanks. That is working great now.

In PPro do I need to do anything other than turn on "Render maximum qualitty"?

Also, is it right to just have it render I frames? That is the default that I left it at.

And, back on topic. I assume that doing the steps outlined in the top post are great for getting the footage ready for work in First Light, but equally you could use the same steps (noise reduction and then sharpening) on any source footage, and then continue to add other effects or color correction before exporting and it would have the same effect of reducing banding etc. before the other effects get applied right?

[David Newman]

That is correct, as we have a custom exporter in Premiere Pro, no need to worry about QuickTime defaults.

[Greg Fiske]

David,
Sorry, I only have neat video for premier. Just to confirm, to get 16bit color depth and trillions of colors, I just use the normal cineform preset when exporting.

[Steve Kalle]

The contrast and saturation settings are very different between the two clips.

Sorry, but the 'new' clip is not 'True' 10bit.

Great video! Cineform should add similar processing under advanced settings to their HDLink. That would be a serious advantage over Pro Res transcoders.

I'd love to find the best way to massage my EX3 + nanoFlash 100Mb L-GOP because the higher bitrate records more noise, and these EXcams have a bit of noise.

[Ray Bell]

Just Bringing this thread back up to the top as its probably more relevant now that we are seeing folks working with Cineform and the Technicolor Style...

Is there a way we could get this to be a sticky...??

[Steve Kalle]

I have begun using a similar workflow with Neat Video, Premiere CS5 and Cineform. However, even with my 12-core HP Z800, taking 280Mb I-frame nanoFlash files and exporting to Cineform 444 & Film Scan 2 takes roughly 15 mins of rendering per 1 minute of video mostly due to Neat Video.

I would absolutely love a program that combines excellent noise reduction (like NV) and Cineform exporting with GPU acceleration. Neat Video costs $100 and I would pay double if it used GPU acceleration and even more if it was combined with a program like HDLink. However, I need the ability to export using Cineform's highest quality settings, 444 and Film Scan 2.

10 bit makes a world of difference when grading in After Effects or Resolve, and 444 adds just a bit of extra precision. However, I guess 444 isn't that big of a deal but I would like the option when needed rather than having to export through Premiere, which takes considerably more of my time compared to HDLink.

FYI, using Neat Video on 280Mb I-frame footage from an EX3 and exporting to Cineform 444 Film Scan 2 makes a large difference in file size. I compared the size with NV enabled and disabled, and with NV enabled, the size was 1/3 the size of NV disabled.

[Arash Sahba]

Is there an advantage to transcoding to CF 444 or even CF 4444 over cf422?

I'm striving for quality over size and space, so that's not a huge issue for me.

Love the codec.

Not happy about the lack of support for OSX LION, can't transcode unless I find a friend to install the trial on. Also had to do some xml editing to get after effects to render out the codec cineform.

Sorry got to complain. Can't have these obstacles in this economy :)

Still love the codec, and I'm getting into first light although nodes / mask would be nice.. maybe it's just meant as a preliminary color tool / looks.

Thanks

[Paul Cook]

Good news - there is a new version of neat video - v3 - out now. It harnesses CUDA acceleration and GREATLY speeds up render times. Neat Video - best noise reduction for digital video

Now to pair it with one of the upcoming dual Xeon 8 core workstations for 16 cores + cude - surely that will get us close to realtime? ;-)

[David Newman]

Arash, Lion support is either out now or about to be. Contact support to Lion compatibility today.

[Paul Cook]

Quick question about the workflow - do you need to convert to cineform before bringing it into AE? I know the issue is the original footage is 8 bit 4:2:0 but once in AE doesnt everything including effects handle at 16bpc? Meaning skipping the first cineform conversion would not only speed up the workflow BUT give you a slightly better end result as its one less transcode?

[Arash Sahba]

I got an email from cineform support about the LION issue with a download link. Now it's transcoding. Thanks.

Also would anyone recommend transcoding 5d footage to CF444 or CF4444 rather than 422? Does anybody do this?

[David M. Cole]

Originally Posted by David Newman

B...Now your CineForm I/O will be 16-bit.

I'm getting a strange result from AE CS5.5 following this workflow.... looks like half the screen is severely distorted (see attached).

System used: 12-core MacPro OSX10.6.8, AE CS 5.5, NeatVideo AE Plug-in V3, Neo3D (Cineform codec V 7.4.1.602).

Any ideas?

[David Newman]

A question for support.

[David M. Cole]

Originally Posted by David Newman

A question for support.

Submitted.

I did notice, in a post from Craig Davidson, that he recommended setting decodefourcc='2yuv' instead of 'argb' in MediaCoreQTRulesCS5.xml for the Cineform entries.

Could this be a factor? Thanks.