CineForm

Andrew,

The 1280x1080 is a camera mode, not an Aspect HD/Prospect HD default editing mode. You can create your own preset to use 1280x1080 directly, or scale the source to a more standard project format. I have made the argument that 1080p from the HXV200 should down-res'd to 1280x720 for the best workflow (see http://cineform.blogspot.com/2006/08/hvx200-resolution-options.html). For 60i I would upscale to 1440x1080 (Aspect HD) or 1920x1080 (Prospect HD) -- again as 1280x1080 is not a distributable resolution whereas both 1440 and 1920 are.
 
Thanks David.

That's what I thought the 1280x1080 was; but wanted to make sure.

And thanks for the pointer to your blog article. Interesting about the camera's sensor resolution formula you pointed out.

About conversion; how long does it take, roughly, to convert the P2 data to the Cineform spec. so the footage is ready to edit?
 
Conversion times depend greatly on your PC as all our tools have a significant amount of threading. With a old P4 class 720p is real-time or faster, 1080p is a little slower than real-time, add the scaler wil add 15-20%. On dual core or better it is all very fast.
 
David, what will you be adding for Aspect HD 4.2?
May I request a couple features?

I'd love the ability to convert/upres any frame size (and/or file type). For example, upconverting 720x480 footage for a 1280x720 project. (Sure, you could drag anything into Premiere, but it would have to render...)

Also, being able to save and load different sets of preferences would be nice.

And is the color shift when you play video a side effect of nVidia cards, or is that something you could fix?

Thank you!
 
Hey David,

i'm working on Premiere Pro 2.0 and used CineForm Aspect HD 4.1.3 to convert my HVX200 files to useable avi's. When I'm watching my clips, they show up fuzzier than when they are still, then they're crisp. You mentioned the readme.txt file and what to do with the videocard settings. I followed those, but then it just shows up somewhat brighter but still the same fuzzy thing happens when I click play in the timeline.

Is this just in the way my computer shows the material? If is shows up as crisp as the still image on the final DVD render I will be making, then I can live with it. But if it doesn't, it's a shame to see that high quality 720/25pN image go to waste.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. all programs are official bought ones.
 
Mr. Brown,

Another easy question, thany you. :) The default mode for Aspect HD is to have the preview mode set on -- this make things very fast, particularly on lower end PCs. However, 720p25 is an easy mode to play on most PCs, so you can turn the preview of and see full quality at all times. Go to the "Playback settings" control panel (menus Project->Project Settings->General click Playback Setting...) and check "Disable preview mode playback".

Of course your DVD will look crisp is either mode.
 
Thanks a bunch! I can see the difference!

There is one thing kind of bothering me still a bit though, don't know the fault is, but the image keeps 'dancing around a bit'. We didn't use lights, but even outside footage isn't quite as still as I imagined it, or saw sample footage from.

Maybe I can post a clip to show what I mean.
 
David: Here's a question for you!

Saturday I shot a wedding and the couple wanted it on MiniDV so they could edit it themselves.

Yesterday I went to Muscle Beach to shoot the athletes on the traveling rings. I put my HVX back into P2 mode and I was in a bit of a hurry so I popped into the menu and noticed it had gone back to 720 HD and didn't notice it was on 30fps.

When I realized what I had done, I was half finished with my shoot!

I put them on my hard drive and, it should be no surprise, all the footage is in slow motion!

Can I make this 24p in Premiere or do I need to use the magic bullet?
 
Mr. Brown,

Maybe if I can see a short clip I can know what you mean. It is very likely to be in the source.

Mike,

30p to 24p is one of the hardest motion changes to do well, we don't attempt that. Give Magic Bullet a go.
 
David Newman said:
Mr. Brown,

Maybe if I can see a short clip I can know what you mean. It is very likely to be in the source.

Mike,

30p to 24p is one of the hardest motion changes to do well, we don't attempt that. Give Magic Bullet a go.

I'll try to get one up when I can but I think it's because I shot in the 25p F6 scene file setting, as opposed to CRYSTAL clear F1 50p. It's the 'film look' fuzz maybe? Thanks for the help, I'll look into the clip when I get the chance tonight.
 
David,

Can you explain more the nvidia issues if possible ? I beleive (I am possitive) that I am getting from my Geforce Go 6800 some artifacts and noise that it is not realy there on my footage. Strangly my image is clear when I see my footage frame by frame on the Premiere monitor window. When I hit the play button everything looks ovesaturated and noisy... :( I love to find a way and calibrate my 1680X1050laptop monitor... any clues ?


Thanks
Andreas
 
And because someone migh thing that I am a little of topic... Lets put it this way: my nvidia card stands in the way of enjoing the delyghts of real time color corecting that Aspect HD provides :)

best
Andreas
 
Andreas,

Nvidia is really bad for their default YUV overlay settings, and it is worse on laptops. I would certainly look more noisy and more saturated as NVidia default the overlay saturation to 114%. [ Please someone at NVidia offer a good reason for this. ] Almost all NVidia graphic cards need to be calibrated for correct video levels. Unfortunately they change the interface enough between software versions and graphics cards, I can't tell you which control to use. Somewhere it the NVidia control are the levels for the overlay. Saturation should be set to 100%. The readme for AspectHD discusses NVidia setup.
 
Hey David,
finally checked out aspectHD and it worked fine so far, but somehow it won´t convert one of my mxf files properly.
It either aborts after around 130 MBs or after 2,1 GBs, leaving me with 7 seconds of footage with sound or with a longer clip (2,1GBs) without sound!
The mxf file is originally 3,1 GB in size and plays perfectly and with sound on the P2 viewer.
All the other files converted flawlessly.
Since this is an interview sound is crucial of course but anyhow I really need to be able to rely on the post workflow...
Is this a known bug or did I do sth wrong?

Edit: The log says EC_ERRORABORTION 0x80040228
 
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David Newman said:
Andreas,

Nvidia is really bad for their default YUV overlay settings, and it is worse on laptops. I would certainly look more noisy and more saturated as NVidia default the overlay saturation to 114%. [ Please someone at NVidia offer a good reason for this. ] Almost all NVidia graphic cards need to be calibrated for correct video levels. Unfortunately they change the interface enough between software versions and graphics cards, I can't tell you which control to use. Somewhere it the NVidia control are the levels for the overlay. Saturation should be set to 100%. The readme for AspectHD discusses NVidia setup.


Yes, the readme covers the subject perfectly, following the instructions I did see a major improvment in saturation and overall image color, but the noise and artifact are still there, and because of increased latitude even worse then before ! Still, when scrubbing the artifacts and noise diasapear, so I know there are not there (gladly). Any thoughts ?


Thanks
Andreas
 
Spartacus said:
Hey David,
finally checked out aspectHD and it worked fine so far, but somehow it won´t convert one of my mxf files properly.
It either aborts after around 130 MBs or after 2,1 GBs, leaving me with 7 seconds of footage with sound or with a longer clip (2,1GBs) without sound!
The mxf file is originally 3,1 GB in size and plays perfectly and with sound on the P2 viewer.
All the other files converted flawlessly.
Since this is an interview sound is crucial of course but anyhow I really need to be able to rely on the post workflow...
Is this a known bug or did I do sth wrong?

Edit: The log says EC_ERRORABORTION 0x80040228


Any chance you could put that P2 "Contents" on a DVD for us to test? It would be nice to learn why that isn't working.
 
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Andreas said:
Yes, the readme covers the subject perfectly, following the instructions I did see a major improvment in saturation and overall image color, but the noise and artifact are still there, and because of increased latitude even worse then before ! Still, when scrubbing the artifacts and noise diasapear, so I know there are not there (gladly). Any thoughts ?

As it is not the compression, in must be the YUV overlay surface itself. I never heard of them being extra noisy. Sorry, I don't know any more about this one. Here is a trick to force playback not to use the overlay:
Open any video clip in MediaPlayer and pause on a frame -- now that M.P. owns the one overlay surface, leave M.P open so that playback within Premiere is forced to use desktop RGB. Does this look any different?
 
Well,
I´m in Europe and it´ll take a while I guess...
Only thing is, we´ve been postponing our decision about which postpro workflow to settle on for ages now.
We really need to make decisions soon, so don´t you have any clue...?
I´m still hoping IBC might bring some surprises but who knows?
 
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