We're long overdue for giving everybody an update on Prospect and Neo v4 status.

First of all - why the delay? Our CS4 importer is mostly all working internally, but we're dealing with one Adobe issue that we don't have direct control over, and which needs to be resolved prior to shipping. It's very high priority for us, and it is getting close. We realize this delay is frustrating for you, and it is also frustrating for us.

When will it be available? We can't predict definitively, but we *hope* within a week or so of this post. When will Neo v4 and Prospect v4 be available? As soon as the importer is ready we'll cut version 4 builds of both.

The new builds will include:

* CS4 importer
* new components to work with AVCHD and Canon 5D Mark II sources
* Prospect only - CS3 RT engine and effects
* Prospect only - CineForm effects for CS4 (without RT engine)

What will come later (e.g. what is not in the first builds)?

* CineForm Exporter
* "First Light". We'll offer more details on First Light soon, but as a teaser First Light will expose Active Metadata controls for real-time renderless color workflows into a new standalone application. By analogy, think of "Lightroom" for video/film data, or if you don't know Lightroom, think "Adjustment Layers" in Photoshop. This is a very powerful application, and will be included as part of both Neo and Prospect products. We should have a public beta by around the end of March. All Neo/Prospect v4 customers will get the update for First Light for free.
* Prospect only - CineForm RT engine.
* Prospect only - Blackmagic Decklink/Intensity support
* Other items we won't talk about for now....

So, in summary, we apologize for the delay, and wish it were all under our control. But we're working as hard on this as possible - please bear with us....

Thanks, Mr. Taylor

CS4 has been sitting on a shelf for weeks without much fanfare.

Hearing what Cineform has in store has got me excited about the upgrade.... but it's certainly not due to anything in particular that Adobe is doing.

I hope those guys understand the added value you are providing their product. CS4 would not be a "need" for me were it not for the features I am hearing of from Cineform.

Take your time.... I sure this update is going to be well worth the wait.

I, too, have CS4 sitting on my shelf and I have no intention of installing it until RT acceleration is available in Prospect for CS4. While I'm eager to make the move, I'm happy to let our Cineform guys work everything out and get a rock-solid, stable SW combo.

Ditto for us. Though some of the included CS4 progs have some update value, additional CF possibilities are why we bought a CS4 for our fourth workstation...and why it's just sitting around doing easy Dreamweaver stuff until CF can get Adobe to cooperate.

You listening Adobe? You better, because quite a few in this market are.

Thanks for the information Mr Taylor.

Question though: I've bought Neo HD because it promised 5D MkII compatibility in v4. Unfortunately Neo Scene has that feature already as we speak (while 5D support was listed as a difference between neo HD en Neo Scene, where Neo Scene would NOT have 5D support).

Well, that's partly my fault for being impatient (and Lord knows I've spent money on stupider stuff)
But at this moment I'm kind of worried because I don't see 5D support in the aforementioned features, will that become available as well?

Greetings,

Taroen Pasman

NEO HD v4 is coming next -- very soon. Neo Scene had 5D support added first due to third party licensing issues that get resolved in v4 of NEO HD also. You will not be disappointed in your selection of NEO HD for 5D post production.

Any thoughts yet about the cost of upgrading from the current Prospect HD 3 to 4?

Likely around $200 for long term users, any recent purchases get upgraded for free (last 90-days is typical.) The details have not been finalized.

Say David, do you have an idea of really when you will release the cineform premiere importer. I have a baby coming late this week and would love to try this out with the new CS4??

One or two bugs to fix and it will be out.

Great News David! I can't wait to use it with CS4.

Likely around $200 for long term users, any recent purchases get upgraded for free (last 90-days is typical.) The details have not been finalized.

I sure hope those of us that upgraded from Aspect to Prospect in January are included in the free upgrade to 4 as it was listed. I realize 90 days has not passed but I am past 60 and it seems that Prospect 4 might not actually get released within my 90 day window. I realize you have run into issues with CS4 that are causing the delays, but I purchased Prospect specifically for use in CS4 and it was stated that we'd get the free upgrade. Can you clarify that for us?

David, if that is true, you truely made my pregnant wife a happy woman if I get CS4 importer before the week is up!! Otherwise it was nice knowing you guys!! hahahaha... Ahhhh... Pregnant wife strangeling me..

It was promised, so I'm pretty sure you'll get it. I ordered it myself and expect it also. They haven't since led anyone to believe otherwise.

Say David, do you have an idea of really when you will release the cineform premiere importer. I have a baby coming late this week and would love to try this out with the new CS4??

Using Cs4 while having a baby has not been confimed compatible. Under certain circumstances you could be beaten or even killed for using CS4 during childbirth. I highly recommend waiting until after to start using CS4. :)

Additionally, this is only an importer and as such, will not assist in the delivery of your child. You'll need to keep the baby in utero until Cineform released the Real-time birth engine which should be closer to NAB I believe. :)

I sure hope those of us that upgraded from Aspect to Prospect in January are included in the free upgrade to 4 as it was listed. I realize 90 days has not passed but I am past 60 and it seems that Prospect 4 might not actually get released within my 90 day window. I realize you have run into issues with CS4 that are causing the delays, but I purchased Prospect specifically for use in CS4 and it was stated that we'd get the free upgrade. Can you clarify that for us?

CS4 support is an free part of that upgrade.

Hahahah, yes the baby will be on hold. I do have a unusual dent in my head that I believe is from the baseball bat my wife has in her hands at the moment. Say David, does Cineform correct any imperfections in ones cranium region with the new importer?? One wouldn't want to reach for CS4 until the cineform importer is on flash drive. ... Dang I think I feel another dent!! David, Cineform PLEASE

I think my patience is close to expiring :-(

I excitedly installed CS4 back in November after reading Cineform were hoping to offer support in December. This became early January. Then in January, late January. Then early February... Now here we are in March, and the latest update is that it should be out last week. I've been religiously checking for this update on a daily basis for over 100 days now ready to leap upon it so I can start a biggie project I've had on hold, for 100 days or so. I did think about going back to CS3 to make use of cineform as it is now, but once you've tasted CS4 there's no going back I'm afraid! I understand cineform may not be so keen.

I don't mean to moan, and I have been holding off, but it is getting very frustrating. Given there was originally mention that it might be out in December, and it's now March, I just don't know how much stock to put in the current "week or so" projection. If I'm still holding off on this project come christmas I'll might be mighty miffed!

I know Cineform is a small company but if the notoriously slow to update "Matrox" can get CS4 working months ago with their hardware/drivers/acceleration/dvi timeline monitoring. I don't know exactly what is the hold up either.

disclaimer: I have no idea if its harder to integrate a software only solution vs. a Hardware/driver solution.

But it is frustrating because I sold my RTX.2 to go with the Cineform solution right before the updated drivers came out. Arghh!

It's Adobe's fault though.
I thoroughly HATE them as much as Autodesk.

They have complete and utter moron's in charge.

It's Adobe's fault though.
I thoroughly HATE them as much as Autodesk.

They have complete and utter moron's in charge.


I agree with what your saying Rob, but that doesn't explain how Matrox accomplished this feat months ago with the same horrible Adobe support.

I want to know if its harder for Cineform because its software only vs. Matrox Hardware/driver/acceleration.

It's mostly strange, I find, since it's their flagship product. But alas, it seems like most of the delays have been outside of Cineform's control.

That said, I'm annoyed also to have spent many months constantly refreshing pages and scouring forum posts for updates. The end seems to be near, however.

True, it isn't the most convenient thing to have, as I do have 2 large projects that require the very efficient use of the cineform cs4 importer working in conjunction with Premiere. I have been checking numerous times as well for the integration and nothing. David said within days, and that was Tuesday. So I am hoping tomorrow, or Friday at the latest. David will make EVERYONE VERY happy when they post the beta. We are at your mercy David, we are keeping our eyes on the posts and your website!

For those refreshing pages, get a news aggregator (I use Bloglines.com) and subscribe to our news feed. We annouce all sort of things on that.

As for what is hard to do, doing CS4 support (changed a lot from the API) while doing NEO 3D (very cool), FirstLight(tm) (just as cool), and stuff you never knew we did (and may never.) Prospect HD/4K v4 will not be v3 + CS4 support, we have no interest is just doing Adobe patches, we want advance the workflow further. Other companies like Adobe, Apple and Avid to withhold features for 18 months, we don't do that we really features when they are done. Unfortunately we can't control when Adobe products are released (4.0.1 was delayed and had the API we needed it,) when it arrived were simply in the middle of doing other extremely important tools. All complicated by our predictions of CS4 support where based on previous Adobe updates, this has been harder. CS4 importer is going public beta tomorrow I expect.

David, I think you are going to make ALOT of people here very happy with the new Beta tomorrow. We all have such a strong following with you and Cineform because we believe in the software that you create. It's such a strong tool for u, that allows us to breathe easy and let our minds be creative without frustrating limitations. You break that limitation apart with the ease of workflow from our HD and HDV and beyond streams.... Oh and my pregnant wife also said in the background.."You are the MAN!"

Also follow my twitter feed. This is the first to post new info.

Twitter / David_Newman (http://twitter.com/David_Newman)

Adam, Thanks

David, now I can say, "Your the MAN!" The CS4 importer beta version, works great, and is as smooth as butter in premiere!! Also the video does import into after effects as well. So excellent work getting the beta out!! Thanks! Boy I tell you, nothing beats Cineform for HD workflow!!

Where do I find the customer beta for Prospect HD?