Cineform VS Avid SDxHD, Which Is Better? Look For Yourself, Video Comparison!

Faymus Media

Faymus Media

Well-known member
i really wanted to see the difference, so i took some raw footage from my current test short, and compared...

there are 3 parts...

1st is the raw h.264 .mov from the camera
2nd is the cineform neoscene .avi files
3rd is the mpeg streamclip using avid SDxHD codec...

i cropped to cinema, and added grading...the grading is identical..

same clip, same spot, same grading...only difference is codec!!

then exported to a mpeg 2, maximum bitrate at 1080p 24p with 3:2 pulldown...

here ya go!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXYAz9H0ZXs
 
Video not yet processed, it's telling me.

However, I doubt that any differences are going to survive the MPEG2 compression, and youtube's subsequent compression.
 
i don't think it has anything to do with the resolution size, it's the compression that will kill the comparison. But in terms of look, the cineform reflects more accurately the original while the other, as i've experience, got a little more washed out and in your case lost some of it's yellow and moved towards blue.

Nothing that can't be fixed with a slight grading.
 
Craven, you may be missing the point here. As I see it, the advantage of Cineform or similar, is

1. To make the clips play in the timeline
2. To minimise degradation across numerous exports

It's not going to make your footage look any better! But it will help to prevent it falling apart

Try exporting and reimporting the same footage a couple of times and then make a comparison. The intermediate codecs will allow you to do this with very little loss of information. MPEG2 and H264 will begin to fall apart.

So if you were exporting your footage for grading, and then re-importing to your editor to add some titles, before finally exporting the finished piece, you would want to use a lossless codec.
 
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it seems the cinefrom looks best...

however why when i export to cineform .avi or cineform .mov from premere pro cs4 does the file disappear? i can search it within widows but it finds it as a missing file shortcut..?

i can never use it as an export....i may just export as uncompressed avi from now on...
 
hmm I thought the AVID looked the best. Honestly I wouldn't really notice any difference if I wasn't looking for a difference.
 
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