Sony V1 + Intensity + CineForm
 

All of CineForm products have just been updated with several Sony V1 related enhancements such as :

* support for capture via the Black Magic Intensity card (http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/) within HDLink (currently a beta feature.) This includes pulldown extraction from 1080p24 cameras like the Sony V1, allowing effects shooters to bypass MPEG camera compression and go directly to 4:2:2 CineForm files. For those with Intensity cards with would like your feedback (and yes we are adding live preview.) Read more details here http://www.cineform.com/products/Tec.../Intensity.htm

* Other major upgrade include features designed for the Sony HVR-V1 and the HVR-DR60 drive unit. Batch converting files from the DR60 and P2 media is now much easier.

More info at www.cineform.com

Hi Dave,

I have a few questions about your new HDLink Intensity ingest function in Aspect, Prospect and Connect HD. Does HDLink allow you to flip the image for the RedrockMicro M2 like it does with HDV capture?

I also see that you will be adding a monitor window in the final release. Will this monitor window provide a flip feature for the M2?

What do you expect the latency or delay between live and monitor output will be? Do you think it will be adequate for follow focus or is the delay too long for follow focus to be responsive in real time?

Thanks in advance, Dave.

These are good questions.

The flip feature like all processing features are available to you in real-time (if you have a sufficiently fast PC.) The flip is not very compute heavy. You can flip, de-interlace, scale (1280x720, PAL, NTSC etc.), bump to 10-bit (Prospect HD) all in real-time with Conroe class desktop.

We are adding the monitoring and it should reflect all the filters than have been applied. So shooting 24p with pulldown over 60i will show the extracted 24p.

There can be annoying latency if your PC is on the edge of enough CPU power, otherwise it is only a few frames.

Hi David, I have a couple of questions too, which I hope are good ones.

On your webpage, you mention 60i, 30p & 24p capture modes.

Am I safe to assume that the final release will include 50i? And more importantly 25p?

Does capturing via the Intensity card to Cineform produce 1440x1080 footage or 1920 x 1080 footage?

Yes, they are good ones.

Yes, 50i and 25p are supported although not extensively tested. In is habit that we forget to add the 25/50 modes to the web site.

Capture resolution depend on the CineForm product : Connect HD and Aspect HD captures the HDMI output as 1440x1080 and Prospect HD captures HDMI at 1920x1080. There are plenty advantages to Prospect, yet for the V1 resolution isn't one of them, as the V1 processes at 1440x1080 4:2:2 and upscales to 1920x1080 HMDI output, we simply "reverse" this back to the camera original 1440x1080 in our entry level products. For those who must have 1920x1080 but you don't need the full Prospect HD package for Premiere Pro, we do sell the PHD Codecs Kit for $699, this get you 1920x1080 10-bit and HDLink (basically Connect HD on steroids.)

David,
Since I haven't worked with the new software from CineForm yet, can this be used with the Intensity as standalone capture software, files to be imported to whatever application I'd like to import to? (specifically Vegas and Avid Xpress).

Yes, that is the Connect HD (or Prospect HD Codec Kit) model, these tool have no direct NLE integration. The HDLink utility which was used for HDV capture and file conversions has been updated to support Intensity as a real-time capture device. It operates very much like the existing HDV capture. For Sony Vegas and 99% of PC video apps you are all set. As for AVID products, they have a policy of not supporting third party codecs in playback, so Avid I think will force you to render everything to DNxHD -- yet another reason their market is shrinking.

And this device is part of the Aspect HD package, yes? Meaning I only have to purchase Aspect HD and I get the HDLink software with it, right?

Yes. HDLink is included with every software package CineForm sells.

Hi David,

It would be interesting to see some comparative shots between the HDV picture and the HDMI-through one at 4:2:2 (cineform), as the acquisition process on set is not very practical. It would be nice to see if it's worth the effort and the problems !

Maybe you have samples taken during development. Please ?

Thanks

Kristin

I would second what Kristin suggested, I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison since I'm also thinking about going this route.

We will try to work on some examples in the next weeks. Because of the demand for this feature the marketing is will behind the technology.

Mac support?

Not related to this subject. Mac-Intel codecs will be in public beta within weeks (fingers crossed.)

Well, I have the Intensity Card and a V1 so I guess my question , while not directly related to your post, is still relevant.

DSE has been teasing us Mac users with the possibility of Cineform support for awhile now.