Cineform Codec in other apps? at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > Cross-Platform Post Production Solutions > CineForm Software Showcase

CineForm Software Showcase
Cross platform digital intermediates for independent filmmakers.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 9th, 2006, 11:29 PM   #1
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NJ, US
Posts: 183
Cineform Codec in other apps?

I have been working with Aspect HD and Premiere Pro for about a week or 2 now, but I have run into some serious problems:

a) Cineform codec cannot be found by Canopus Procoder 2, Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 or Quicktime Pro. The only application that plays back the Aspect HD AVI footage is Windows Media Player.

b) How can I convert the CFHD AVI files to MOVs? I prefer not to use Premiere Pro, because the quality is absolutely horrible and since CFHD AVI files always crash Sorenson Squeeze, I am left in the middle with no solution.

Thanks,
Aanarav
__________________
http://www.sareen.tv
Aanarav Sareen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 9th, 2006, 11:35 PM   #2
Trustee
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Posts: 1,669
The Cineform HD codec should be showing up for you in Procoder2 - it's working fine here.

Select the "System" target, then select the AVI option: in the drop-down menu for compression you should see several Cineform options.
Graham Hickling is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 9th, 2006, 11:42 PM   #3
CTO, CineForm Inc.
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California
Posts: 8,095
As we support DirectShow and Video for Windows for accessing the codec so there are more options, Sony Vegas, After Effects, Combustion all wrok fine for generating MOV Files. VirtualDub, VLC, and basically any player will playback CineForm AVIs without issue. I'm not sure that the deal is with Sorenson Squeeze, sounds like they have a bug. The VfW windows API is straight forward so it hard to imagine why any QT convertor tools have issues. Canopus may have competitive reasons for not supporting us (i haven't tried), and the QuickTime Pro is never been very friendly to a range of windows formats.
__________________
David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com
blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman
David Newman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 9th, 2006, 11:48 PM   #4
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NJ, US
Posts: 183
David,
Thans for the response. Looking at the codec list again, it appears as if Procoder does support it. Sorry for the false alert.

I have been in touch with Sorenson Squeeze tech suppoert for the past few weeks regarding their export bug, but they don't have a solution. Anyway, thanks again!

PS: Increasing the RAM to 2GB DRASTICALLY helped and solved most of my problems that I mentioned in my earlier thread.
__________________
http://www.sareen.tv
Aanarav Sareen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 9th, 2006, 11:58 PM   #5
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NJ, US
Posts: 183
Since we are on the subject of codecs, has anyone been able to use the HDV footage and encode it as an FLV file? THe Flash Encoder doesn't seem to recognize the CFHD AVI file.

- Aanarav
__________________
http://www.sareen.tv
Aanarav Sareen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 10th, 2006, 10:16 AM   #6
Major Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Belgium
Posts: 695
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aanarav Sareen
Since we are on the subject of codecs, has anyone been able to use the HDV footage and encode it as an FLV file? THe Flash Encoder doesn't seem to recognize the CFHD AVI file.

- Aanarav
I made high quality flash files through Premiere Pro 2.0 with original Cineform files in the time-line.
Marc Colemont is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 10th, 2006, 10:24 AM   #7
Trustee
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Clermont, FL
Posts: 1,520
Just out of curiosity, why convert to Quicktime? It has been over 18 months now that I have been enjoying HDV from my Sony FX1 using Windows Media 9 files and the AVeL Linkplayer2.

I guess I don't know why anyone would use Quicktime except if you have to satisy Mac users, and at this point, Flash seems like a better compromise. At least to me.

And you should see the results I am getting from my new Dual Core E6800 with RAID0 for video and a 10K rpm system drive, with an extra drive for projects and scratch files. The 4GB of RAM I put in this thing makes having Premiere Pro and After Effects play quite nicely together.

By the way, have you tried exporting to uncompressed Quicktime from After Effects and then use Sorenson on that?
__________________
Steven Gotz
http://www.stevengotz.com
Steven Gotz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 10th, 2006, 11:00 AM   #8
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NJ, US
Posts: 183
Steven,
I recently got a client that only wants QT files and hence the requirement. I would rather not take the CFHD files into AE, because exporting from AE takes a VERY, VERY long time. I guess, its time for me to get your system as well :-)

Marc,
I prefer not to use Premiere Pro for FLV encoding, because it doesn't support 2 pass encoding which is a HUGE drawback. At the moment, I am evaluating a 3rd party encoder from On2, which seems to be getting rave reviews.

- Aanarav
__________________
http://www.sareen.tv
Aanarav Sareen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 10th, 2006, 01:29 PM   #9
Major Player
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Solana Beach, CA
Posts: 853
We have a beta release of Prospect HD that supports CineForm QT exports for Windows. These components are NOT yet in Aspect HD or Connect HD. We haven't done comprehensive apps-compatibility testing, but the CineForm QT files work within PremPro and AE just as our AVI files do - same performance. The 10-bit QT files are also compatible with Combustion.

Currently you create CineForm QT files as export options. We don't yet convert to QT in HDLink, but that will happen in the near future.

As many are aware we intend to add support for MacOS/FCP. Our QT for Windows is the first step in this path.

If anybody has a desire to test this send me a PM and I can make a Trial available.
David Taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 19th, 2006, 11:44 AM   #10
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Okemos, MI
Posts: 174
The new version of Sorenson Compression Suite (4.5) supports the Cineform codec -- finally!!! The new Sorenson suite is also very quick and gives some beautiful quicktime files out of cineform 1080 avi files.

You do need to first install ConnectHD then uninstall, to make sure the codec is on the machine running Sorenson.
Patricia Lamm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 19th, 2006, 03:11 PM   #11
CTO, CineForm Inc.
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California
Posts: 8,095
Patricia,

Thanks for the good news. I had it on my schedule to work out why Sorenson products weren't supporting us, now I don't have to. :)

David
__________________
David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com
blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman
David Newman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 19th, 2006, 03:21 PM   #12
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Okemos, MI
Posts: 174
Unfortunately it's an upgrade for which you have to pay. $79 if you have Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.3. However, in time savings (i.e., not having to generate a non-Cineform codec avi first, and the speed of the new renders) it's definitely worth it.
Patricia Lamm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 20th, 2006, 08:11 PM   #13
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NJ, US
Posts: 183
Good to know. I did get an email from Sorenson Tech Support stating that the bug was fixed in the latest release. As far as spending $79, if it can save time, then anything is worth it :-)

- Aanarav
__________________
http://www.sareen.tv
Aanarav Sareen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 26th, 2006, 10:54 AM   #14
Major Player
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 323
I downloaded the Prospect trial today in order to test out the Quicktime export. Excellent stuff, and it's nice to be able to beta-test one of the key components required for FCP compatibility.

I was interested to see that the files cannot be played by the Quicktime player. Is this something that can be fixed? Could the player work with 8-bit Aspect files? And would it be a problem on the Quicktime player on the Mac?

One of the great things about CineForm files is how you can play back stunning quality HD content in realtime just double-clicking on the files.
__________________
Company Website: Digital Foundry Ltd
Video Games HD Blog: Digital Foundry@Eurogamer
Richard Leadbetter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 27th, 2007, 05:15 AM   #15
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Maidstone UK
Posts: 37
Hi,

Im posting here because im not convinced that this issue is anywhere near being closed, in fact I have posted a ticket with Cineform.

Here is my original problem on the Adobe Forums thread and Cineforms ticket

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.3bc39198/4

So I was wondering how people have been achieving a workaround until the fix, everyone doing the After Effects method?

Cheers in advance

Steve
Steve Young is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > Cross-Platform Post Production Solutions > CineForm Software Showcase

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:56 AM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network