I've never tried the Calibrated XD decode software. But I see on their site that they suppprt it only in XP and 32 bit Vista...which even if it does facilitate playback in Pr would make it not very useful as Pr CS4 works far better in a 64 bit OS. The other thing is that Ae has always been more Quicktime friendly in Windows than Pr.

For my use with the RT features of Axio I don't think the MC mov files will work at all as Axio supports MXF.

David
AllinOneFilms.com

Aaron sorry to jump in late here but I have the same problem. I shot with the Nano today at 100Mbps Long GOP in .mov. Could you let me know the steps you took so I can solve this problem and have the editor use PP on a PC?

I was told after our flight that the editor was going to use PP on a PC. Yikes, you should have told me of the change, originally it was going to be editing in FCP.

Hi,

Vista 64-bit is supported with all of our products. The requirements on the website need to be updated.

In regards to realtime playback in AE, Steve are you sure that you weren't using RAM Preview for RT playback - as AE doesnt 'really' play anything back in RT except in RAM Preview.

As for Premiere Pro playback, Calibrated{Q} XD Decode will let you import the MOV files within PPro - but most likely it will not playback in realtime as Premiere Pro does not call our quicktime codec in an optimized way (calling for RGB data instead of YUV, etc). Playback speed would really depend on speed of computer, project settings, etc But you would be able to render any MOV files on a PPro timeline to I-frame only MPEG2 (or whatever compiler you are using in your timeline) for realtime playback in Premiere.

Cheers,
Greg

Cheers,
Greg

Calibrated Software

Premiere Pro DOES support .MOV files (Quicktime files). Remember though, Quicktime is not a codec, it is a container format. The video encoding for the data inside a Quicktime file can be using a dozen different codecs at an infinite number of bitrates, bit depths and color spaces.

Saying that Premiere supports .MOV files is really not answering anything but the most basic question. A better question is "Does Premiere Pro support Quicktime files using "codec" at "bitrate", with "bits per pixel" and "colorspace".

Having said that, Premiere Pro DOES support LongGOP MPEG-II at a maximum bitrate of 35Mb/s (if I recall correctly).

I just transcoded to ProRes422 HQ, which worked fine in Premiere Pro. No extra plugins required. The ProRes422 files are 10 bit and 220Mbs, very high quality.

That is correct and so does AE.

To summarize the situation with C-D MXF files in Windows:

Pr supports them with Axio and the M-C plugin. Ae does not with Axio and apparently not with M-C.


David
AllinOneFilms.com

"I just transcoded to ProRes422 HQ, which worked fine in Premiere Pro. No extra plugins required. The ProRes422 files are 10 bit and 220Mbs, very high quality."

Is this on a Mac or Windows?

David
AllinOneFilms.com

We were using the Quicktime ProRes422 HQ files on Premiere Pro for For Windows. We did not need any kind of plugins to edit the footage.

I installed CS4 on a clean windows system, only to verify that the ProRes422 files would work without any additional hoops to jump through.

I'll also add that in addition to the other codec requirements I mentioned (bit depth, bit rate, colorspace), you can also add frame rate to the matrix. As we've learned in recent testing, sometimes an NLE will only support certain codecs at certain "legal" frame rates.

As an example, in my testing, FCP will support SD IMX MPEG at 23.98fps but fail to import the same codec at 24fps.

So in your testing matrix of NLE vs. container type, codec, bit depth, bit rate & colorspace, you can now add framerate. If you really want to make life difficult, throw in progressive & interlaced tests too.

Am I the only one that thinks the testing matrix for all of these concerns, makes for one huge matrix?

But the transcode to Prores was done on a Mac, correct?

Yes, I edit with FCP on the Mac. It was the other guy who was stuck with Premiere Pro on the PC.

Where he'll no doubt see the error of his ways and turn away from sin to the light :)

Thank you Aaron,

What version of FC and QT are you using?

Appreciate the help since tomorrow I send todays footage off to the PP PC editor.

I have the latest Final Cut Studio. Pretty sure the ProRes422 codec is identical as the older version of FCP though. It should work with any version of FCP that can output ProRes422. I actually used Color to output my files since I sent them over color corrected.

Dan, please let us know if you find out anything about support in Ae for C-D mxf files. That would be my main concern.

David
AllinOneFilms.com

Thanks Aaron for your help.

Dear Friends,

I have been in touch with MainConcept.

They will be testing this shortly, in the next few days.

We will have an answer then.

Interesting the footage I have rendered out from FC on my Mac Pro Prores HQ for my client to edit on their PC in Premier Pro does not look that great. When I view the footage in XDCAM 422 time line it is sharper.

Not impressed at all. Is there a different option since the client will not do the plug in.

Have anyone tried from FCP to PP by XLM? Adobe says CS4 PP imports XLM from FC.

I have to find a better way unless I am doing something very wrong with Prores HQ. There is not a smooth straight line in any clip on the Prores HQ timeline or with the exported files.

I have just talked with the client and looks like they might go for the plugin.

With a few test now I am shocked how much noise is in ProRes HQ. It is not even close to the quality off the CF card or even on the XDCAM 422 timeline.

Hi Paul. I am guessing you are doing something wrong. The prores files I exported are not distinguishable from the source file.

Interesting Aaron I have tried a few other shoots I did with the Nano and with out the Nano and the clips in Prores HQ are very noisy.

Are you exporting the raw clips directly with Compressor or from the timeline in FCP. Also, I solved the FCP XML to Premiere issue too. Premiere is expecting an older XML format so it will choke on new XML format. I have a fix for this.

I imported the clips to FC then put them on a Prores HQ timeline with no render needed. Then I export them out from the FC timeline.

But now I am sending the client MXF from the raw clips and I will buy them the plug in since it has to go Priority in 10 min. But figuring this out so next time I can use XML or other options works for me.

I tried this again right now. I can't see the difference between the original clip and the prores. Can you shoot a short clip and post both versions. I can post my clips you if like.

Aaron,

I was on a shoot all day and again tomorrow. Monday I should be able to post the same clip from both but they will be downgraded for the web. If it still shows well it will at least make my point at what I am seeing.

Thanks for the help.

Paul, you can upload the clips directly to my server. There's terrabytes of storage there. You may want to shoot a short clip, maybe 10 seconds or so. Then the files size of the original and the ProRes will be pretty small.

Compressing them for the web really won't help me understand what's going wrong.

Excellent I have a short clip and maybe tomorrow I will have a chance if not Monday will work. Out the door now.

Did you send my your FTP once before? I will see if I still have it or deleted it.

Thanks Aaron.

Careful in purchasing the plug-in from Main Concept.

You have to make sure they send you the correct link or you will end up paying full price.

Dear Friends,

I will attempt to assist anyone that has a problem with the reduced price offer for the MainConcept Plug-In for Adobe CS3/CS4.

Our contact with MainConcept is very responsive.

Please let me know if I can assist.

Dan,

Astrid helped me out. The problem is they do not have a options for buying with the discount. So they are in the process of adding that options. The store is run by a different company.

Astrid did a great job helping me.

And I have not heard from the client so no news is good news when it comes to how the plug-in works.

Aaron I put two clips in your folder. Thanks for checking them out.

Looking at them right now Paul.

Stay tuned.

Great just getting ready to send the hard drive out today.

Paul. I see what you mean. That ProRes422 file is unacceptable. I'm not sure what noise you're talking about but the jaggies on the building edges are enough for me to reject them.

I'm looking into what might be causing this now.

Well as least I know it is not my machine or monitor. Could I be missing a setting on the timeline or output?

Timeline settings:
Frame 1920 x 1080 HDTV 1080i (16x9)
Pixel AR square
Field Dominance None
Editing Time base 29.97

QT Video Settings
apple ProRes 422 HA
Quality 100%
Compressor Interlaced not checked
Enable 4.4.4. not checked

Video Processing
Render 8-bit YUV
Process Max white at White
Motion Filter Best

Render Control
Filter Checked
Frame Blending Checked
Frame Rate 100%
Resolution 100%
Codec Same as Seq
Mater Templates and Motion Best
Always use Best Quality Checked

Paul, I think I see what your problem is. I'm pretty sure you're output file is being rendered from the timeline and not the source files. There are a multitude of ways to export files out of FCP only a couple of them use the source files at 100% quality. This is why I always recommend using compressor either standalone or from FCP, or use the Media Manager. This always uses the source files at 100% quality.

* Don't ever use "Export Using Quicktime Conversion", ever, for any reason.

* Only use "Export Using Quicktime Movie" if you are exporting the exact same codec, frame rate, etc (for example to trim away garbage footage and get new source files without re-encoding). This is not useful for what we are trying to do here.

I'm uploading a ProRes422 conversion that I did and you can clearly see the difference between the ProRes422 file I made and the one you made, although they are the same size. My ProRes422 file was made using your ORIGINAL media though, not a degraded copy of your media from the FCP timeline.

Check out the file I am uploading when you get a chance and tell me what you think. It'll be a few hours before the upload is complete though. I can do frame grabs if you'd like to see it faster though.

Aaron could you give me a call? 401 481 3811

Aaron thanks for the call. This method looks so much better and very close to the source. The only difference is QT is not as smooth with the higher bit rate.

Also I can not copy the files to the external hard drive. (error code 0) A new problem.

Solved (error code 0) The clip has to be unlocked prior to going into compressor