Premiere Pro CS3 VS Cineform

[syberfilm]

Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 3.1 is finally actually Pro… It now will edit in real-time with a fast system native MXF files… The file format of the HVX200.


I have been using Cineform since it came out with Premiere and I really like the native support. No more waiting for the Cineform conversion.

Plus the render times with the native MXF files is very fast compared to the cineform codec render times.

I loaded in about 100 files and started to edit and throw effects on. I use the redrock micro so I had to flip all of my shots in premiere. Which takes only a second to do… You can use the vertical flip effect or just flip the image 180 degrees in the effect panel.

The preview screen while editing never bogs down, “at least on my system.”

Even when I added magic bullet looks it still played back smooth.

With Cineform it will slow up to about 15 fps.

One thing I noticed is that when I edit natively there is less grain in my image. I always had a grain issue but when I edit natively I do not see it as much. But have not done any scientific research on this one.. It just seems to me there is now much less grain in my images.

So I think native MXF file editing is much better then Cineform in my opinion. I have been a die hard cineform fan since day one.. back with my old JVC HD10.

It seems to me Adobe has done a fantastic job with the the HVX200 and MXF file support…



Let me know what your experience is with the two platforms.

 

[Christopher Barry]

When you render effects to MXF/DVCProHD, you are re-encoding to a lossy codec. This may or may not be a concern for you and your projects. CineForm can be handy if you are heavily into FX and post.

The alternative is to use the native MXF files, then encode straight to your mastered/output file from within Premiere, say to SD MPEG2 DVD, thus not taking a re-encode hit. If you offload back to tape via FW, your MXF encode is re-compressed, where you render tranistions, CC or do other things in AE, etc, also noting you are re-encoding a file that is stretched at 1.33 aspect ratio for 720p HVX camera, where CineForm can be set to 1:1 aspect ratio, which when re-encoding to what is said to be a visually lossless codec at up to 10bit (P2k), it is nice if you want to push the footage to the max.

Both native MXF and CineForm have their place and there may be a quality level to consider in ones work flow, which may vary for different people and their needs. Premiere is indeed looking good. That is my interpreation of the two codecs. I do think some of the CineForm features would be more useful to me with footage that is sourced more closer to 10-bit uncompressed, yet we all want that for little money. It is coming though, CineForm Recorder.