Vegas 8 won't read Cineform????

PerroneFord

PerroneFord

Deals in Lead
So in working on a project for a client, I wanted to ship back master files in an archival format. I did a render (overnight) to the Cineform codec. output went fine, and I can open the file in Windows Media player and see the output just dandy.

I clicked on the file in the Vegas explorer, and it didn't list the video codec used for the file. So I dropped it on the timeline. Nada. Audio only. I went into virtualdub, opened the file, and just as beautifully as you please, there was the video and audio.

So what gives? Vegas lets you export Cineform but not READ it? Mind you, I am talking about the bundled Cineform, not the standalone product.

-P
 
Re-install Vegas and make sure you don't have too many old versions of Vegas installed or weird codecs. Vegas can read its own Cineform you see, so it's a codec conflict what you get there.
 
Vegas shipped with a very old version of the codec. I had trouble exporting with it. I downloaded a newer version and was able to export just fine. Now it just won't read it, though everything else on my system can read the files just fine.

At this point, I am tempted to just export cineform for archival purposes, and if I want to get back into Vegas, I'll use virtual dub to go to a lossless codec like Huffyuv and be done with it.

I really like Vegas but sometimes it's just a royal PITA.
 
Once you installed a newer codec, you can't the old codec Vegass ships. There is a bug in Vegas 8 in which it choose to use the old version even when a newer codec has been installed. Go into the Program Files/Sony Vegas Pro 8 directory (something like that) and rename or delete "CFHD.dll", it is old and you don't need it if you have updated the CineForm components.
 
Hey David,

I just wanted to say thanks for the Cineform codec - I know there are a few reported problems but it literally is the only way I can work in Vegas 8 with Canon .m2t files. We just produced two large training DVDs and it literally saved my bacon. Thanks for you continued support and constant monitoring of the forums for those that need help.

mike
 
Darn, wish I had seen this when I was at my office today. I'll try this tomorrow and report back with results.

Thanks David!

-P
 
This worked like a CHARM. And the difference in file size is nothing short of remarkable!

5:58 file was 9.8GB as a 1920x1080 Photojpeg MOV
file was 12.4GB as a 1280x720 Huffyuv AVI
file was 1.87GB as a 1280x720 Cineform AVI

The file is now undergoing de-noising, and will be recompressed to Cineform to see what kind of difference it makes in file size.

I am a happy camper this morning. Except I'd REALLY like to be able to write cineform from Virtualdub now!
 
I thought I would update this thread as a potential warning to anyone who uses the internal Vegas version of Cineform.

Vegas 8.0b ships with the Cineform codec 2.8.7 build 148. If one intends to only render Cineform files from Vegas and use them inside Vegas, there is no need to do anything further. For those who'd like to be able to read Cineform files in other applications like Virtualdub, you need to download the free Neo Player from Cineform.

When this is done, and Neoplayer is installed, it installs a new codec version. Essentially a DLL. Until recently, there was a workaround that allowed you to go into the folder where Vegas 8.0 was installed, and rename the cfhd.dll file. When Vegas opened again, you'd see the new codec available, and you could render. And other applications on the system could open AVI files that were encoded with the Cineform codec from Vegas.

This week, Cineform upgraded their codec version to 3.5.9. While this codec still allows you to open Cineform encoded files, it breaks Vegas in such a way that the workaround no longer applies. To get Vegas to encode in Cineform again, you must UNinstall the Cineform update. I tried to work with Cineform on this but was told it's a problem with Vegas. Perhaps it is.

Luckily, I found a way around the problem. I still had the older 3.3.0 version of the codec (CFHD.DLL) on my other system. Installing the new version of Cineform, and then replacing it's newest codec with the slightly older 3.3.0, worked perfectly. Vegas can now operate with that verison, and so can my other applications.

I had hoped to purchase Cineform Neo HD in the coming months, but until this type of issue can be sorted out with Vegas, I cannot risk spending $600 and not being able to use the software.

I am still a fan of Cineform, and it works tremendously well for my workflow. I am just disappointed at it's integration with Vegas at the moment. Perhaps those of you who own the HDV or HD version of the product can give assurances that this problem only plagues those who have the freebie codec. I'd be quite relieved if that was the case.

Thanks for your time and attention.
 
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