HMC150 / Cineform / Mac Question

[schermr]

Is anyone successfully using Cineform NeoScene to transcode HMC150 footage on a Bootcamp partition and then importing it into PPro CS3 on the Mac for editing?

I have been able to transcode the footage without any issues but the .avi file will not import into PPro CS3 on the Mac. The only method that has worked for me is to use Quicktime Pro to save the file as a .mov or export the file as a .mov. I am concerned that this workflow method might not be considered acceptable with regards to preserving file quality and I have not been able to find any discussion posts that address the issue.

Conversations with Cineform say that their transcoded file are cross-platform and should work and that in some circumstances on a Mac the .avi may need to be "rewrapped" in a .mov shell using their more expensive software. I tried their NeoHD evaluation software on the Mac and it was not able to rewrap the file. I did not try the same software on the Windows side but did not really want to spend the money anyway if not necessary.

In short, I think Quicktime is "rewrapping" the file and it works but I just want to make sure that I will not degrade the quality of the footage. If anyone knows the answer or has a successful workflow they can share with these products I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

Richard

[David S.]

Why not convert to pro res on a Mac?

Why go this route? Or use to Toast to convert to something else on your system?

[schermr]

David,

I would love to convert to ProRes 422 but as far as I am aware that is only an option if you have Final Cut Studio installed on your system. If you know of another way please let me know. Regarding Toast, I have version 10 but the only file format options I can see are DV, HDV, H.264, MPEG-4 and QuickTime Movie which goes back to my original question of which format preserves the highest quality. The benefit of Cineform NeoScene based on what I could understand was that it did an excellent job of preserving quality after transcoding.

I am open to any and all suggestions short of spending large amounts of money on new software. As of right now CS4 sounds like it is more problems than its worth and FCS3 is still in the distant future. Either of those options will cost $600+.

I have the CS3 Master Collection as well as Toast 10 and Final Cut Express 4 which only allows me to transcode to Apple intermediate Codec. I'm just trying to figure out what will work best.

Thanks,

Richard

[schermr]

As an update to my original request, Cineform has released a beta of NeoScene for the Mac which I downloaded. So far everything appears to work well. For those who are interested more info can be found here:

http://www.cineform.com/products/NeoScene.htm

[DaFireMedic]

Per David Newman from Cineform:

The popular PC tool, Neo Scene, is now available for the Mac. Supports all AVCHD and HDV files conversions, including Canon 5D Mk-II. Automatic pulldown removal for all 24p in 60i sources. Output to either CineForm MOVs or ProRES for those running FCP -- your choice. MSRP $129.

http://www.cineform.com/products/NeoScene.htm

[Gymnut808]

Edit: Thanks for the link.

[Jordan Berry]

I got the trial and every time I tried to load a MTS file it crashes.. ;(

[Retrospective]

If it crashes on the Mac, install/enable "Perian" for AC3 Audio.