AVCHD Editing The Cineform Neo HDV Way

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:16 am

So both Sony and Apple have treated their customers with a very valuable internal feature, in my view.

Before you jump to Mac maybe try FCP on a Mac Desktop Pro first. Seems like most of the formats like to use the mov container (and then the codec within the container). Makes transporting the files to a windows based system harder. FCP is based and geared for Studio environments.

I've found the mpeg optimizer pretty nice for PS format, trims, cuts & merging. Keeps things simple for simple projects. I think your projects are advanced and don't apply to this mpeg optimizer feature.

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:25 pm

etech6355 wrote: Before you jump to Mac maybe try FCP on a Mac Desktop Pro first.

I wouldn't bother with FCP...

There's an interesting thread on the issue on the Vegas boards. Mike Jones (a pro in the industry whos teaches and uses both FCP and Vegas) believes that it is not the future.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/for ... Replies=32

TimmyTutone · Post by **TimmyTutone** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:08 pm

Jerry,
I've got a couple questions. Hope you can help me out.

I am a long time Premiere 6.5 user. Bought Premiere Pro and fiddled with it for a week or two before giving up and returning back to 6.5. I just love the workflow of it, and until a month ago only worked with DV, so 6.5 was all I needed.

I just bought a Panasonic SD1 (AVCHD consumer camera) and Ulead Video Studio 11+. I also have the AVCHD codec from CyberLink PowerDVD. I've been seeing lots of things about the Cineform program, and have been thinking about trying it out. They have a terrible webpage though, and I'm not sure which of their products I need. Can you post a URL to the exact product I need, or at least the exact program name. (I don't need super broadcast quality, just normal HD).

Not sure if you can answer this one. Can I use UVS11+ to change my raw AVCHD file into the Cineform avi. Then take that file and edit it in Premiere 6.5 (add titles, logos, edit out audio, and music), and then render it out of premiere into the same cineform avi so I can then import it back into UVS11+ and output it to HD formats? (Premiere 6.5 doesn't do HD).

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:32 pm

Cineform offers three codec products:

1. Neo HDV (most users will want this one): http://tinyurl.com/35felc
2. Neo HD
3. Neo 2K

The "Neo HDV" is the least expensive at $249.

Yes, after installing it, it appears as a codec option in Corel VideoStudio 11 Plus and you can export any video on your timeline to Cineform .avi format using Corel VideoStudio 11 Plus.

I don't own Premiere any longer, but I would guess the codec is fully-supported by Premiere, also, because the Cineform Web site indicates their product works with Premiere.

If you have the CyberLink decoder on your system, and if you buy/download the Cineform "Neo HDV" product, you'll find out after you download it that Cineform provides an application called "HDLink."

"HDLink" can convert all of your AVCHD source files to Cineform .avi as long as you have the CyberLink decoder installed and as long as the CyberLink decoder has the proper "DirectShow" priority on your computer system.

When I first installed my CyberLink decoder, it didn't have the proper priority on my system.

So I downloaded a couple of free programs from the Web.

1. Microsoft GraphEdit;

2. DirectShow Filter Manager (www.softella.com)

GraphEdit lets you drag a sample AVCHD clip into the interface and it then paints a flow chart that tells you if your CyberLink decoder is working or not.

If not, you can open the DirectShow Filter Manager from Softella.com and it will list all of the DirectShow filters on your system and allow you to click buttons to change their priority.

Very simple.

I elevated the priority of the CyberLink decoder and -- VOILA! -- the Cineform HDLink program worked properly by converting my AVCHD files to be Cineform .avi files.

But if you can't get the HDLink program to work on your system, then -- yes -- VideoStudio can do the conversion.

Hope this helps,

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:05 am

Very simple.

Jerry, is this correct?
The way I'm using cineform may be different, I think a setting of medium quality is about 500kBytes per minute (1/2 a gig) and HighQuality=1gig.
Can't remember, I don't leave the files hanging around after final conversions.
People should maybe be aware of the large files that cineform creates.
Worth it to me for frame accurate editing of HD video although I admit I also work with the compressed files directly (hd-mpeg2).

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:58 am

Yes, the Cineform .avi files have two big disadvantages:

1. they consume a lot of disk space;
2. it takes time to do the conversion.

But the advantages are that you no longer have to grapple with the smart MPEG rendering bug, which does impact HD MPEG-2 and -- consequently -- AVCHD in Corel VideoStudio 11 Plus.

In addition, the Cineform .avi files don't put as much stress on one's processor; so scrubbing and previewing are easier.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net