Thank you David for your prompt response as always.

I shall try the re-install.

It may well be my mismanagement of the software. I normally capture via HDLink and previously have capture-converted quite long files without problems, imported into Premiere Pro 2 and simply marked ins and outs and inserted to timeline and exported.

I don' t think there is too much wrong as the computer hasn't given up and asked me to phone home to Uncle Bill (Microsoft).

Prospect won't load now! Help!
 

Okay, I filed a support request with CF, but someone here might have a suggestion faster....help David ...!

I upgraded to Prospect and it loaded to the Premiere CS3 beta I also had installed, not to PP2. When I deleted the Premiere CS3 session, I also deleted CF Prospect, then tried to reinstall it. It keeps stopping halfway thru and saying it can't find the Premiere "Plugins" folder! It is there with the PP2 and working just fine.

I tried to delete anything refering to Cineform in the system hive, but all to no avail.

Any suggestions? Help, I need to work!

Removing CS3 breaks PPro-2 for installers. You need to restore a registry key. The attached zipped registry keys (double click on them) will allow you to select and repair whether 2.0 or CS3 is the current version of Premiere for the plug-ins installer.

Tried the re-install. Things didn't change. However, a test conversion of another long file went fine even with scene detect selected on, so it might have just been a faulty recording.

Oh yeah! David, you get a medal! That's why you guys are on my list of "best in class"!

Thanks mucho, worked great!

Prospect 3 crashing PP2 on stretches...bug?
 

Maybe I missed this somewhere, but is this a known bug?:

ANY time stretch on a 1920x1080 CF'ed clip will crash PP2 when it tries to compile it. It's a showstopper, as it will complete crash out of PP2, disappearing "pop!" It starts to compile, then suddenly freezes and gives me a message about not having access authority or something to the HDD. I switched to another RAID and to a standalone Cheetah 10K drive, but same-o.

Anything I've missed on this?

Working fine here. File a trouble ticket will full details to see if support can help you out.

Problem with Prospect 2K and PPro 2.0 in Vista
 

I am having some troubles with the Prospect 2K v.3 (I obtained an update from Prospect HD). When using any Prospect 2K template with Cineform 1920x1080 AVI files (captured and onverted awhile back using Prospect HD)I cannot render timeline when needed or export movie. At the end of the process I get a warning message (something like "disk is either full or you don't rights to manage it" but in spanish... I live in Madrid). I must say I'm using Windows Vista Bussines but until now I didn't encountered any problems. Using any other template (Adobe HD-SDI, Canon HDV, Adobe SD) I don't get any warning message and everything's working... I am the only user and always log on as Administrator and the issue occurs only, as I said before, in projects using Prospect 2K templates...

While waiting for help I tried to uninstall and install P2K again to see if this helps... Same problem but I've noticed that upon finishing the installation I get around 3 warning windows:

Microsoft Windows Server dejo de funcionar
(Microsoft Windows Server stopped working)

So maybe the install process is bugged somewhat, I also tried to install in Win XP SP2 compatibility mode to not avail.

Furthermore on this issue... If I try to convert existing m2t clips with HDLink as before a get the following error:
cfEncoder.CoCreateInstance(CF_ENCODER_GUID) (0x80040154 - Clase no registrada) in (ConvertGraph.cpp at 1632)

Exporting video using Cineform HD Export (from within PPro 2.0) is no no, when other export formats are working as usual...

Hope this helps.

P.S.: I opened a ticket on Cineform site but until now I have not received a reply.

Ruben, we don't support Vista yet. There are a number of installation problems that occur with Vista that we're working on. Hopefully we'll have something official for you in the next few weeks.

Thank you, David. Will wait then.

Ruben

Prospect HD timeline monitoring
 

I'm ready to purchase Prospect HD for my HD projects, but have some serious concerns about hardware specs and monitoring the timeline in PPro 2.0. I've got an "older" dual Xeon 2.8 ghz machine on a Tyan 2665 MOBO, 2 gig PC2100 RAM, and plenty of quick RAID storage (not the concern). I also need to monitor the Premiere timeline, so I was prepared to buy the Xena HS or LH line to do this. Now I have read of people having problems with these cards on "older" machines.

Is there a work-around for the timeline monitoring with another hardware system (video card etc...)? The Xena cards seem great, but I can't afford the Xena AND a new computer system right now...

Decisions decisions...

Stuart

Xena HS or LH should work fine for timeline monitoring. The only issue we have for the classic Xeon is they where not fast enough for real-time HDSDI capture, yet we had a Xena HS in our old 2.8 dual Xena and it worked fine. When Xena for came out on the PC, 90% of AJA's PC customers would have been old Xeon based, so I don't know where you heard there was an issue.

Here's one thread I found:

http://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/217/541?

It was a single Xeon machine, but it still had me worried considering the expense of the card. I've got an e-mail into the AJA support staff with my machine specs. I've asked for their opinion on the compatibility issue. I'm actually thinking of the Xena LH card so I can monitor directly to a decent LCD 24" to 27" computer monitor.

AJA should give you the best feedback, but I expect it will work fine.

Prospect HD 2K UPGRADE / THUMBS UP !
 

Thank you David and Cineform team !


Took the 2k baby for a test drive / ... In plain Afrikaans / our language -

" Befok " - In English / ..... F...... awesome !


Happy from the Third World.

Herman.

Prospect HD and its HDLink
 

David.

No hurry in this enquiry. It might even be a case of me confusing myself.

When I downloaded the Prospect demo, I think that after I installed it, the HDLink showed or the Premiere project preferences showed a 2k option and there was a 4k to 2k conversion utlity.

However since legitimising the software, I have not been able to find this option again anywhere.

I might also have seen the option on a website somewhere and maybe my recall is wrong.

I took the AspectHD to ProspectHD upgrade month of May $400 meal deal. This apparently includes Neo as Neo does show in the list on the upper left of screen when HDLink is started.

Where I am at is that I have a test of 100 frames of DPX files on two DVD data disks which I have copied onto one of my drives. They are identified as 4K files on the printed disk label.

Neither Premiere Pro 2 or HDLink recognise the files.

In a reply to a previous enquiry there was a mention of a function to convert the 2K files to Cineform yet to come as an update.

So my question is -

Will Prospect HD with Neo eventually be able to convert these files to a Cineform intermediate by similar operator processes that HDLink provides for m2t files or will another upgrade have to be purchased?

My Super16mm/HDV origination project will be finished to DVD-Video so a DPX export is not needed.

Sorry I am not more clear. Computers are not my strong point.

Prospect seems to be doing its job as letterboxing does not seem to introduce occasional bands on transitions like AspectHD sometimes did.

Thank you. Yes 2K with 4:4:4 support is very nice. :)

DXP support is coming and it will be a free upgrade to all current users. In the meantime us After Effects for your DPX conversions.

Ready to graduate to prospect, how to use? :)
 

ok just installed the trial of prospect hd. I know nothing about it cept for reading on cineforms site about how it's better than aspect and that it will improve my quality even from my hdv hc3 and A1. so how do I import and edit so that it's 10bit? use the propect hdlink? I know it's not true 10bit b/c it's from an 8bit source. But the site was showing/saying how it's better than 8bit to 8bit :).

Use HDLink or directly capture in Premiere with the CineForm capture module -- either way is the same quality. The quality advantages of Prospect HD, do not so much occur upon capture, other then support for 1920x1080 and 10-bit sources if you had that. For 8-bit sources the advantage comes when doing color correction, as you now have headroom to support pushing the image around without introducing 8-bit aliasing artifacts like gradient banding or contouring.

Prospect with HVR-V1
 

A while ago I updated from Aspect to Prospect, and I have a couple of comments:

1) Does it take quite a bit longer to convert Sony HDV to the 10-bit Prospect intermediates than it did with Aspect?

2) If so, is this because I'm choosing to upconvert the rez from 1440x1080 to 1920x1080 and/or from 8-bit to 10? These are great features, so no gripes, just curiosity.

3) Hats off to your coders, while the above is processing, all four "processors" (two dual core Opterons) are at 99-100%.

Also, let me re-submit my semi-annual request that ingest of 35 Mb/sec XDCAM HD be added to Prospect. The "prospect" of this (pun intended) is one of the reasons that I spent the extra money to upgrade.

Is there a timeline for full XDCAM HD support?

And finally, good luck with your Mac plug-in. Because of their 422 codec I fear you'll have a tough row to hoe. Please don't give too much of your mindshare to that project and lose focus on your thriving PC base. I noticed the .mov file type and realized how deeply this is going. But of course I wish you well with all you do.

Tip

8-bit versus 10-bit doesn't add appreciably to the conversion time nor does it add appreciably to file size. The extra time for conversion is because we apply an excellent Lanczos filter to the up-sampling process.

It'll be in our next release - coming soon.

There are differences between ProRes and CineForm Intermediate. Many of our customers need a cross-platform workflow. We solve that nicely. Also, the use of HD (and beyond) RGB seems to be increasing, and uncompressed RGB files are massive. CineForm 444 is a perfect solution to that. We're too small to go head-to-head with Apple (even though CineForm Intermediate will probably serve in the long-run to be very competitive to ProRes) but we'll focus on where we can add value. We'll also serve the Adobe Suite on Mac very well, although we haven't yet announced full compatibility yet with CS3 on mac.

Prospect HD / Sony Z1U / Intensity Pro / Cineframe
 

I have a question about using the Z1U in Cineframe mode along with Prospect HD and the Intensity Pro card from Black Magic.

If I capture from my Z1U in Cineframe 24 or 25 using the component out into a Black Magic Intensity card using Aspect or Prospect HD (still trying to save up to upgrade to Prospect) will the capture do the same frame interpolation stuff that it does from tape? IOW, will I end up with a 24 or 25P capture?

Thanks,

Jim

Yes, you will get 24p / 25p captures, with the caveat that Z1U's 24 mode has an non-standard shutter timing. Use CineFrame25.

DPX export problem with Prospect 2K
 

There seems to be a trouble with the cineon exporter filter and Prospect 2K.
I was trying to export some DPX sequences but somehow when loading them in Scratch they were not LOG, I rendered again and same problem. When I open the shot in Photoshop It was linear too.

I did another export from my Laptop, in wich I only have NEO player installed, Same sequence, Same export and render parameters. And that render looks right.

Where you running one in 16-bit and the offer in 32-float AE mode. The importer in NEO Player and Prospect 2K are identical, so the must other operation difference.

Both was in 32 bits, Maybe I had a colorspace applied in one of the compositions, disabling colormanagement did the trick.

I supose AE is confused when your are exporting to cineon and at the same time you have a colorspace applied to the project. And somehow it renders giving preference to the colorspace and not to the cineon exporter values.

Does it sound logical or is another thing?

Your theory is good. The ways of AE sometimes surprise us also.

Hey Sergio, what that looks like to me, is I've seen "linear" from the camera, and your "linear" image doesn't look like a truly photometrically linear image from the camera. Instead what I think is happening is that you're exporting LOG, but the color management in AE is then taking your LOG image and converting it to some type of "print" gamma correction, since that's what the final image resembles . . . it's too bright, especially in the midtones, to be photometrically linear. A photometrically linear (which is a true "linear" image where doubling the pixel value is equal to double the real-world brightness) representation would look VERY dark, in that you would have hard time making out your subject's face, and only the windows would be visible, and most likely hard-clipped (i.e., no knee). I could be wrong, but this is my observation from seeing LOTS of relinearized images from the camera.

Since there seems to be a "knee" to the highlights in that image, and it's only the shadows that are a lot darker (the face is darker too, but the midtones in a photometrically linear image would be much darker than that), it looks to me that whatever was the project working space is re-gamma-correcting the output from LOG to something gamma corrected, like a darker print gamma correction or something of that nature.

Prospect 2K and XP X64... help needed
 

Well to make things short I have tried different OS with my new computer and I've finally settled with WinXP x64 as the most fast and reliable combination, but I have a big problem... HDLink does not see my camera (Canon XL-H1). The camera is detected by Windows (as Canon DV camera) but neither HDLink or Premiere Capture see the camera. Furthermore, old clips cannot get imported by Premiere and AE they freeze and crash (newly converted clips can). have seen that Windows XP Pro x64 has 2 program folders in the C:
Program files and
Program files (x64)

Well, during the installation process I see that by default Cineform installs in the x64 Program files folder but another folder is also created in the Program files folder... I tried to uninstall and install again in the Program files folder but, again, 2 Cineform folders are created: one in the Program files and another one in the Program files x86. Maybe this may give you a clue of what's happening here...

I have already opened a ticket with Cineform support. They are terrific but time goes by and any help would be most welcome. My computer is a Dell Precision 690 (Xenon Dual Quad core with 4GB RAM).

Thanks

ruben

Not seeing the camera could be a Windows issue, particularly if no tool is working with the camera. The camera's device driver must be recognized by Windows before HDLink or Premiere will see it. I don't have a good suggestion for this, although I don't believe it is not an XP 64-bit issue as others are using that OS for HDV work. Ask support to tell what to look for in device manager. As for the bad files, please send a sample file to support.

The strange thing is the device manager sees the camera correctly but HDLink doesn't...

I have updated my ticket with more info about this issue. Hope this helps as I'm stuck with my new computer and not being able to use Cineform for my new projects.

Best

Ruben

Vista 64 and Prospect HD and CS3
 

I'm a happy user of Prospect HD on a Win XP Pro (sp2) dual xeon machine. I also use th Xena LH card along with the CS2 Production Suite. The machine is almost 4 years old and chokes a bit with the large HD files. I'm ready to upgrade to a Q6600 quad core machine, CS3 Production Studio, Prospect HD, same Xena AJA card, and probably an nVidia Quadro Fx card.

I'm also considering a dual boot system with Win XP Pro on one drive and Vista 64 on the other drive. Is this combo of software with Vista 64 compatible with Prospect HD, CS3 Production Studio Premium, and the Xena card? I want to stay a happy user of Prospect HD, so if Vista 64 is a toss-up, it's not worth it. I'm just intrigued by the extra memory I can access with it.

Thanks!

Stuart

Vista-64 is still NOT recommended, as CS3 is a windows-32 application.

Thanks David. Are you saying not recommended or on recommended (meaning it's ok)?

Stuart

NOT recommended.

Proper Settings for Prospect & HDV Footage
 

I'm cutting a project that was shot on Canon XH-A1's the suite that I'm in has Prospect not Aspect, since there is no preset in Prospect for 1440x1080i footage I started to edit a preset for my footage.

The issue is that I've noticed an inconsistency in the Prospect presets and it's thrown me for a loop.

In the "Editing Mode" drop down there is a choice for Cinefrom HD, Cineform HDV 720p and Cineform HDV 1080i, the majority if not all of the pre-configured presets are all using the Cineform HD mode, my project is 1080i HDV so should I select Cineform 1080i HDV?

Next, when I change teh Frame from 1920 to 1440 the pixel ratio changes to 4:3 so I'm changing the Aspect from Square (Default) to HD Anamorphic 1080 (1.333) and this gets me back to 16:9, is this correct, I'll assume so unless otherwise.

On the Playback Settings, when the Pop-Up opens, I'm leaving all as defaults with the exception of Playback Control which I've set to about a 9 of 10 on the slider. I've also checked the De-Interlace while scrubbing since it states to do this for 1080i projects.

Capture remains as Cineform HDV Capture via HDLink

You have done fine.