I invested in a Cineform workflow so I could use plugins on a pc as well. I own a Remaster license on a mac as well as a Neoscene license.

I wish to use Virtualdub + Deshaker plugin. The simplest option without shelling out for another license is to encode to Huffyuv avi on a mac and then use that as a transcode format.

How can Cineform allow me to do this ? Clearly I cannot bring my .mov files to a pc and expect it to work without another license.

Is there a way for me to bypass the Cineform workflow completely and work with Huffyuv as a transcode format ?

Isn't Cineform a registered codec within Vdub??

Only with an avi container.
With a mov container, I cannot get video - just a black screen.
Also, with a mac-only license, I cannot re-encode to CF anyway, so might as well move to Huffy.

Only with an avi container.
With a mov container, I cannot get video - just a black screen.
Also, with a mac-only license, I cannot re-encode to CF anyway, so might as well move to Huffy.

Ouch, I didn't know that. I use PC Cineform AVI with Virtualdub all the time and it is a tremendous asset. I'd always assumed Mac Cineform had the ability to output AVI as well as MOV, but in looking at the specs for Neo it is only MOV.

There is a program called Video Enhancer Video Enhancer: resize video with Super Resolution method from SD to HD (http://www.infognition.com/VideoEnhancer/) that runs Virtualdub filters, and I've used it with Deshaker. As I recall it can input MOV if you use some old version of QuickTime. This isn't a great solution but might be better than nothing.

This isn't a great solution but might be better than nothing.
Here is another idea for a short term solution; a way that will work much better. Download the trial version of Neo to your PC. PC Neo can wrap back and forth between AVI and MOV. So convert your camera files to AVI and use them with Virtual dub. Then use Neo to convert the AVI output files from Virtualdub to MOV. This is good for 15 days while trial version lasts.

Doesnt the trial version create a watermark ?

No. Trial versions when using CineForm as full active for 15-days.

David, I wanted to run this workflow through you. As I know you use Virtualdub a lot.

I wanted to run Neat Video and Deshaker through my clips in batch mode. Hence VD.

I have CF mov files. I bring them over to my PC with 64-bit Windows 7, VD, itunes-64 (I think it uses a 64-bit version of QT) and Cineform studio.
Cineform studio allows encoding.

VD seems to allow 10-bit codecs recently - so I assume it will process them 10-bit internally. If I select 16-bit RGB in VD - hopefully the YUV-RGB conversion will not cause too much in terms of losses.

What settings/workflow would you use to allow VD filters on CF mov files ?
I don't want the clipping that occurs with YUV-RGB obviously.

If you're open to working to working in Huffyuv, then why not use image sequences as a transcode (and master) format? Edit native, and then render timeline as image sequence for further post processing.

Hi Sareesh. I think TIFF allows 16-bit RGB and Adobe can be setup to process 16-bit internally.
How do the file sizes compare ?
Also, if I remember correctly, VD allows us usage of 16-bit colorspace (Have to confirm this)

Uncompressed image sequences have the largest file sizes, especially 16-bit TIFF sequences. You'll need more hard drive space, but lesser processing power to deal with image sequences. Also, while rendering, if your system crashes, you can start from where it crashed, rather than from the beginning. TIFF can go up to 32-bit float if required. A rough estimate is 20MB per frame of 16-bit uncompressed TIFF 1920x1080. That's roughly 1.5 to 2TB for an hour of footage (if my math is right). You need to run your own numbers.

I have given up using container files for my workflow, except for final delivery. I did try Huffyuf and Lagarith (and Cineform, Prores, etc) a few years ago for my film workflow, but couldn't find any advantage to using it in the long run.