I was playing with Adobe Premier Pro CS 5.5, and thought I'd give multi-cam editing a try.

Here's what I did to set it up:

1) I created a CF 1080p 29.97fps project
2) I loaded 4 1080p 29.97fps CF AVI clips that were created using Neo from my 5D mk II
3) I put each clip onto its own track on the timeline
4) I created a new sequence and dragged the first sequence into it
5) I right-clicked on the new sequence and chose "Multi-Camera Enable"
6) I displayed the Multi-camera window, which showed all 4 cameras on the left, and the output on the right

When I pressed the Play button in the multi-camera window, the 4 cameras were replaced by one camera, which took up the entire left side of the window. There was no way to see the other cameras, or to switch between them. Eventually, after playing for a while and randomly clicking on the left side of the window (in the hope of switching camera views), Premier Pro crashed.

I repeated the same steps several times, and got identical results each time.

Next, I did the exact same procedure, but used the MOV files straight from the camera. Premier Pro worked fine, with no problems.

This is a brand-new computer, with a brand-new installation of Adobe Production Premium CS 5.5, and Neo 5.5.1.323.

It seems to definitely be a problem with the CF components, as everything works when CF is taken out of the equation.

Any suggestions?

I don't have CS5.5, but there is the same problem in 5.0. The Cineform renderer can't deal with multicam. There is a simple solution, though.

Create new source and multicam target sequences: File\New\Sequence. Choose the appropriate Cineform preset for your footage, then click the GENERAL tab, and in the Editing Mode box, choose Desktop, not Cineform RT. Name the sequence, then click OK.

Now copy paste the footage from the old sequences into the new, delete the old, and you're ready to go.

Bill,

Let me see if I've got this straight. When creating a new project, I should do the following?

1) Create a CF 1080p 29.97fps project
2) Create a new sequence and set its Editing Mode to Desktop
3) Load 4 1080p 29.97fps CF AVI clips that were created using Neo from my 5D mk II
4) Put each clip onto its own track on the timeline
5) I create a new sequence (for the multi-camera)
6) Set its Editing Mode to Desktop
7) Drag the first sequence into the new multi-cam sequence.


The problem is, in CS 5.5, when I create a Sequence, there is no "Desktop" setting in the Editing Mode Dialog.

I tried the above workflow, but changed the new (multi-cam) sequence's Editing Mode to "DSLR". That worked, but Premier Pro is still somewhat unstable.


As a further test, I tried something a little different:
1) I created a sequence with 4 tracks
2) I loaded some CF clips onto the timeline, each on their own track
3) For each clip on the timeline, I right clicked the clip and selected Edit in Audition
4) From inside Audition, I did some noise reduction and saved the clip, creating an Audio Extracted.wav file
5) I created a second sequence (with the Editing Mode set to DSLR) for my multi-cam sequence
6) I dragged the (noise-reduced) sequence into my multi-cam sequence and enabled multi-camera

When I turned on the Multi-Camera window, the window turned completely green! I could select each of the 4 cameras and Premier tracked the edits, but I couldn't see what I was editing!

So, it seems, we have several problems with Cineform AVIs and Premier Pro CS 5.5, at least when it comes to multi-camera operations and interaction through dynamic link with Audition.

I know Cineform is trying to be the big dog when it comes to First Light, and 3D editing, but when there are significant problems integrating CF AVIs and the RT engine with the more basic features of the Adobe products, maybe Cineform should concentrate on getting those fixed first and add the bells and whistles later?

Just as an update (and it's covered here too http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/cineform-software-showcase/494448-cs5-5-compatable.html), my trouble ticket withh Cineform Technical Support was answered "It's an Adobe issue. They are aware of it, and have told us they do not intend to fix it."


Update:

Just got done with a remote session with Jake from Cineform.

It appears that there's an issue with the Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration in Premier Pro CS 5.5. When it is changed to "Mercury Playback Engine Software Only", I'm able to do multi-camera edits normally (using "Custom" as the Editing Mode on the source and multi-camera sequences).

I wonder if this is only a problem with the nVidia GTX 570?

Anyway, thanks to Jake, it appears I have a workaround (switch the MPE to software while doing multi-camera edits).