Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD?

	Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by Nathan Tinsley on Sep 17, 2009 at 4:50:25 pm Having just gone through an HDV only work flow I'm anxious to try to avoid editing native if at all possible in the future. I'm leaning towards an intermediate codec and cineform seems to be the obvious choice. What I can't seem to figure out is what's the difference between their NEO HD product and their PROSPECT HD? Both seem to do the same thing according to their specs but perhaps PROSPECT has better hardware compatibility, say with the XENA products from AJA? I don't have a XENA and would be using FIREWIRE for I/O anyway and Premiere Pro. I come from a long history of using Matrox Real time cards but I'm really beginning to discover that using them really locks you into in a particular version of Premier and that bugs me. I'd like to have more of an "all software" solution that can upgrade with my computer, graphics card, my edit software and not worry about compatibility. Also does CINEFORM work on the fly while capturing from HDV? So if I had 1080i material on tape and captured using this utility would I get full raster 1920x1080i AVI files without ever seeing LONG GOP? Thanks Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by David Dobson on Sep 17, 2009 at 9:11:59 pm So what's wrong with the HDV workflow? I've done a bunch of HDV projects and the only part that was difficult was the output to tape process - otherwise it worked just fine... not the question you asked, sorry. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by Tim Kolb on Sep 17, 2009 at 9:36:15 pm The conversion process does sometimes take some time...you would capture HDV on the fly, which would be written to your harddrive, then the conversion process works on it simultaneously. The speed is dependent on your computer of course. If the software needs more time, it will simply continue processing after the capture is complete. With current systems, this process isn't very taxing. The CineForm codec does run on a computer processor more efficiently than a long GOP format does. TimK, Director, Consultant Kolb Productions, Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by arc nevada on Sep 17, 2009 at 11:55:32 pm I agree with David. Editing HDV on an inexpensive Quad Core is like editing DV-25 on a Pentium D. Even AVCHD edits OK if you do not use any effects. I don't see the need for the Cineform code when using Premiere. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by Nathan Tinsley on Sep 18, 2009 at 11:56:38 am Well I've just finished up four 30 minute shows in HDV I couldn't disagree more. It' s NOT like DV25 on a Pentium D. I've had stability issues like crazy ESPECIALLY when rendering time lapses. Multiple crashes and lost projects. And I'm using an inexpensive Quad Core 2.6 Ghz and CS4 with 3 gigs ram. Now to be fair this edit system belongs to my client and I'm not allowed to tweak the system the way I would prefer. For instance it's running Windows XP instead of Vista, it has virus software on it and it's connected to the net! Ugh! I've also had horrible luck going back to tape. I had several time code breaks and one spot where the stream simply stops coming off the tape for about 1 second. Unnaceptable. I delivered the shows in MPEG2 1920x1080i to a local TV station for air on ther OMNEON server and they hit the air in HD. Pretty cool actually if you think about the fact that a local HD show was produced without seeing an expensive tape deck! I am dissapointed to hear that the processing takes place after capture. I worry about that bogging down but maybe it's OK. I guess I just want to have my cake and eat it too.. for cheap! =) Thanks for the info! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by Tim Kolb on Sep 18, 2009 at 2:47:46 pm [Nathan Tinsley] "I am dissapointed to hear that the processing takes place after capture." Actually what I said was that in can sometimes take longer than the capture...it starts converting if you choose to do so, right away. TimK, Director, Consultant Kolb Productions, Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by arc nevada on Sep 19, 2009 at 12:33:27 am Nathan, I don't think Cinform NEO is going to help you out at all. If the system you use is trashed then the system is trashed. Below are a few examples of how PP CS4 handles native HDV. Like Editing DV-25 or Mini DV on a Pentium D. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by Tim Kolb on Sep 19, 2009 at 2:09:54 pm [arc nevada] "I don't think Cinform NEO is going to help you out at all. If the system you use is trashed" Trashed systems may not be helped, but systems that are below spec to handle HDV native satisfactorily will certainly be helped by Prospect. This I know for a fact. I was editing HDV on a laptop that would have been hopeless for editing HDV on Premiere 6.5 using CineForm software. That should tell you something. TimK, Director, Consultant Kolb Productions, Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by arc nevada on Sep 19, 2009 at 6:46:04 pm Tim Kolb, Tim Kolb, I am not sure what point you are trying to make. He stated he has a Quad Core with CS4. He is not using a Pentium 4 and Premiere 6.5. I know the Cineform codec was usefull for HD editing 5 years ago but any Qaud Core should handle HDV OK. I think we can agree on that. One thing that did pop into my head after your post is that CS4 does work better with Vista than XP. XP should work just not as good as Vista when using PP CS4. I think XP may be bottle neck. I still don't think Cineform is going to help a trashed Quad Core. Perhaps it was just a bad Premiere install. I does happen. I thought about getting the Cineform myself but after buying a Quad Core I realize there is no need (thanks Adobe). Quad Cores rock! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by David Dobson on Sep 19, 2009 at 10:39:09 pm CS4 does work better in Vista. HDV on a Dual core works fine so I imagine a quad is all that much better. CS3 actually handled HDV better then CS4 in my opinion. I think Adobe changed codecs. I have come to like P2 DVCProHD quite a bit more though - just an upgrade to SATA drives was all that needed. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Cineform NEOHD or PROSPECT HD? by arc nevada on Sep 20, 2009 at 1:21:05 am I think CS3 did have more realtime than CS4. I agree with you on that point. The Panasonic P2 codec is better than HDV. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index