Installed build 211. Opened a PPro project, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Exported the sequence to Adobe Media Encoder using the Cineform preset, high-quality, same as always. As usual, the ImporterProcessServer crashed about 1 hour 45 minutes into the encode. So, that hasn't been fixed yet.

I haven't tried editing the project, yet--I'd already replaced the CFHD with the original M2T to get my project built out to DVD. If I have time, I'll get in there and scrub timelines, play timelines, etc., to see how long it takes to get the ImporterProcessServer crash.

We have GOT to get this fixed--the color and clarity provided by First Light-enabled clips far outshines (and is easier) than what I can get with PPro's color correction on M2T! (there's a backhanded compliment, I guess...)

Anyhow, that's my initial feel for build 211.

Thanks,
Matt

I'm not getting any crashes with CS4, so that's better. Unfortunately, the dual installer (CS3, CS4) problem is still there for me (both install logs emailed to Cineform, as previously requested). CS4 is fine, CS3 gets nada. There's also a new issue, the build 211 version of the VFW Codec now crashes Vegas 9.0 Pro consistently on my Vista x64 box. The error report was automatically generated and sent to SCS.

Jay, that is old about CFHD.dll as nothing should have changed, and it is working fine here. If the there is a particular clip, please upload it. Are you using First Light? If you changed the development rules (look controls), just whiching the color database to see it is a combination of look a clip.

I'm also a bit curious about why the encodes take so long. Exporting to CFHD from CFHD, a 1:35 with only First Light treatments applied will take about 7.5 hours (if it ever managed to finish). CPU usage during that time is only about 11%, which seems extremely low. Exporting the same, from M2T to DV AVI, takes about 1.75 hours, with some minor color correction applied, and using about 65% of the CPU.

Why isn't the Cineform renderer/encoder/whatever grabbing more CPU and pumping through more fps? Intel i7, 12GB RAM, RAID0 video source writing to a SATA (3Gbps) dest. It just seems like the Cineform encoder is grossly underusing the computer's resources.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt is not the encoder which is more than real-time. We have to treat CS4 with kid gloves until we resolved it importer issues, then we will work on the speedup.

Get it working right. Then make it work faster, if need be. I preach that to my developers. Need to look in the mirror and say those words once in a while. Thanks for the response.
Matt

Jay, that is old about CFHD.dll as nothing should have changed, and it is working fine here.

It was all 1920x1080 and 1440x1080 CFHD AVI clips. CFHD MOV clips were fine.

I fixed it myself, though. I started playing with the settings in Vegas 9 and there is one in the Project--> Properties to "Adjust media to match project settings". I turned that setting off and now there's no crash. SCS has the error report, so let them worry about it.

Just a quick simple question. All my footage still has yellow render bars. Is that still because the RT engine isn't completed yet, or is it because my aspect HD footage being 1440x1080 is not set up correctly for Prospect HD now which is 1920x1080 (is that right?)

Just a quick simple question. All my footage still has yellow render bars. Is that still because the RT engine isn't completed yet, or is it because my aspect HD footage being 1440x1080 is not set up correctly for Prospect HD now which is 1920x1080 (is that right?)

If you are referring to CS4, the RT engine isn't part of build 211, so you are getting yellow bars in PP.

I have created a project in CS4 imported my captured files using HDLINK Files import fine.. Then I create a mini time line and go to Export/Media set my settings and AME opens. I tell it to start Que and Nothing happens? AME just sits there in waiting Status.. ANy suggestion?

Here is a screen shot of whats not happening with ADOBE Media encoder. Encoder will not encode with builde 211 export just sit there.

I still can not get AME to encode CF file from Project here is the error I am getting.

- Source File: C:\Users\Bruce\AppData\Local\Temp\TEST.prproj
- Output File: D:\Media output\211TEST.avi
- Preset Used: Custom
- Video:
- Audio:
- Bitrate:
- Encoding Time: 04:16:17
5/24/2009 8:09:05 PM : Encoding Failed
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not read from the source. Please check if it has moved or been deleted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seem like a link is broken. Anyone else having this isse?

I still can not get AME to encode CF file from Project here is the error I am getting.

- Source File: C:\Users\Bruce\AppData\Local\Temp\TEST.prproj
- Output File: D:\Media output\211TEST.avi
- Preset Used: Custom
- Video:
- Audio:
- Bitrate:
- Encoding Time: 04:16:17
5/24/2009 8:09:05 PM : Encoding Failed
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not read from the source. Please check if it has moved or been deleted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seem like a link is broken. Anyone else having this isse?

Bruce,

I had this problem before and posted the solution in a previous thread. This is an Adobe issue and not a Cineform issue.

Here's the fix:

Error: "Encoding Failed. Could not read from the source" (Adobe Media Encoder CS4 on Windows) (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/407/kb407106.html)

Apparently, there is a glitch that still needs to be resolved (hopefully with the next Premiere update) where on some systems with CS3/CS4 installed or CS3 uninstalled and CS4 installed some files or pointers get mixed up. The link from Adobe tech support above should fix your problem. Just follow the instructions to the teeth. Make sure when you create the shortcut you just name it "Premiere" and not "premiere.exe" or "adobe premiere.exe" - No *.exe.

Hi James it worked.....

Dave Build 209 210 I did not have this problem and now with 211 it appeared? I have had both CS3 and CS4 installed with 2 previous builds?

I am evaluating a trial version of this software (build 211), and I am using it in conjunction with Vegas 8 and one of the most recent versions of Virtualdub. So far I love Firstlight and the quality of the resulting files, but this release seems to be quite buggy. I have had several crashes in both Virtualdub and Vegas 8 using a variety of files. The Virtualdub error report is limited but says that there was an out-of-bounds memory issue with module CFHD on thread cpp:163. I never had issues like these with Neo HDV. I have also had issues with the preview window in Firstlight going blank during switching between software windows. I can usually bring it back by minimizing Firstlight and then restoring it again. I thought this was one of the problems that was resolved in Build 211. Build 211 has also crashed my ATI graphics system about 4 times this weekend.

Pat

I Played with this new (build 211) all day yesterday, and I successfully rendered with AME about 10 times using various settings, including CFHD output. I had zero (0) errors! (build 210) was a guaranteed crash every 2 to 3 minutes of render and never got one video completed.

I also spend about 4 to 5 hours of scrubbing and editing, not errors there too. It just worked as intended. However, the RT engine is needed to get good fast results, I had some studder and choppiness, and at times it would temporary freeze, but after hitting the tab key again it would eventually stop and come back. No crashes!!!

There was one problem, however, and this was also there in (build 210). I did not figure it out until (build 211). When I was importing my 5dmII .MOV to .AVI I would get an error at different places. If I was importing 10 videos, the HDLink would crash randomly. I decided something different; I copied the .MOV to my "C:" drive and imported them to my "D:" drive and that did the trick. No more Crashes! I believe HDLink is so fast in converting, that a single drive cannot keep up with the conversion of reading and writing. Therefore, a crash occurs. My drives are fast, Raid 0 on my "D:" and 10K speed on my "C:" so I knew it was not due to just a slow drive.

The funny thing is that (build 208 and 209) did not crash when importing from the same drive, but the conversion is fast now, super fast, in comparison to 208/209.

I used First Light on all of my compositions and had no problems, and the results were amazing! I primarily did white balance and color saturation corrections, and it works super.

I can't wait for the RT engine and Adobe's CS4 4.1 update. That will finally get me what I started 4 months ago, CS4 with Cineform!!! working together as they should and saving gobs of time.

Thanks Dave and Cineform Team. Things are coming together.

UPDATE build 211 well after Matts fix because AME did not know where the file was I sucessfully exported (PPCS4) a 40min project transition,titles, even juice drop files!!!!!!!!!!!!export setting were 1920x1080 square progressive..

next problem ENCORE is now choking on the and can not create SD DVD it keeps crashing.

Project #2 Encoded to 1920x1080 interlaced 40min Titles transitions,music oh and multi-cam used. Encoded no problem..

Bruce, has you managed to use hdlink to convert the hd to sd clip? Are you using 29fps or 25fps. My exported clips are causing hdlink to choke even though i can play them fine using media player.

Hi Anish,
I am using 29.97 I have not tried HDLINK I exported from PPCS4 uisng export to media/Cineform.avi 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 progressive. Then it took it to adobe media encoder. You Migh want to let it run over night because it took 5 hours for 40min time line.

Thanks for the info. Yes, it does take a while to encode..my 2 hour timeline takes about 10 hours so it sucks when you find things dont end up to what you want it to be. I do 25fps but cineform doesnt seem to want to do that and keeps doing 29fps messing my audio at the same time. Also, seems like it somehow corrupts the file as well for some reason. Perfectly playable in media player but any further transcoding fails using hdlink or tmpenc. Have cases open with cineform but it hasnt got anywhere yet.

Anish,

I am trying tmpenc 4.0 express right now for SD DVD transcoding (trial) wow I almos feel off my chair when I saw how good it is!! ADOBE can not touch it! Do you use Encore to author? Also I could use any pointers for tmpenc you might have I am just learning now. You can send me an email at bagrubes@hotmail.com

I do not have any Idea why CF 25fps is crashing. So you were able to get your master file but when you try to go futher nothing likes the CF master?

tmpgenc express is pretty good and they update it quite often. I have been using it for 3 years now and it is part of my workflow. i get the cf master but i cant do much with it..i exported only a tiny bit of the clip and i could do stuff with it but if i export the whole timeline it craps out. I have a feeling either cf is stuffing up with a frame somewhere while encoding or adobe is stuffing something up in media encoder. I tried using after effects to transcode the file but it threw an error about not being able to process a frame.

The irony of all these issues is that i paid for the software to basically beta test it. I wouldnt really mind that but it gets annoying when i dont have a log file to send to cineform to look into the issue and fix it asap. If i get stuck with a issue, its either spend hours trying to find a workaround or spend two to three days waiting for support to get back to me with some question which i reply to and wait for more days to get a response. It would be good to even send the file through but my first export is 14 gigs and my other one is 70 gigs so yeh that rules it out a bit :)

Now that my ranting is finished, i believe in cineform that they have a very nice product and they would eventually fix the issues but there is a thing called beta, final release and decent support. At the moment, the final release seems like a beta while the beta felt like a alpha.

My earlier problems using build 211 with vegas 8 and Virtualdub continue. Both systems crash with this latest build. I just upgraded from neohdv, after a pretty thorough uninstall/reinstall I am still dead in the water. The crashes always occur near the end of rendering. I have submitted a ticket, and hope they can help soon. I have a film festival deadline coming up soon.

Pat