Read the full press release here:

GoPro Boosts Entire GoPro CineForm Studio Product Family - lower thirds (http://bourkepr.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/gopro-boosts-entire-gopro-cineform-studio-product-family.html)

We have essentially combined the features of the tools within HDLink/Remaster/FirstLight into the easier to use integrated CineForm Studio application.

Hi, David. Exciting news! I'm looking forward to playing with the new interface, but I have a few questions for you before I jump in.

1. Are you rolling this out as a NEW product? What I mean is, will current users of NEO and NEO 3D have a free or paid upgrade path or will it be a full price purchase?

2. Since Firstlight is no longer stand-alone, can I upgrade in mid-project without causing problems with my current color grade?

3. Does the encoder allow for higher audio bit depth than 16bit yet? Ask Kevin about this. He might remember helping me through some 24bit audio problems I was having over a year ago. For archiving I'd love to see Cineform allow 24bit audio embedded with the video stream.

Thanks!

Chad

Thanks for the update. I'll have to to try this out later today when I get home. Question though. I have not tried any of the betas and/or GoPro Cineform Studio (Neo user here) but with this change is HDLink capture functionality with Blackmagic/Aja still there? Also is this a required purchase upgrade for current users of Neo?

HDLink functions as it always did. Recent purchases for Neo or Neo3D (within 90 days) get upgraded for free, other upgrading from Neo to GoPro CineForm Studio Premium is $49 (same for Neo3D to GCSPro.)

Do you notice HDLink looks so dated like a windows 95 application?

Whta's the procedure to upgrade an older than 90 days Neo to Studio Premium?

David, the price on the on-line store for upgrading from Neo to GoPro CineForm Studio Premium is $250. That is quite a difference to the price you announced.

Taky,

Yes HDLink was very dated, that is another reason it is being replaced by features within CineForm Studio Premium.

Lauri,

Select the product you would like to purchase at CineForm Inc (http://estore.cineform.com/index.aspx)

The select the product you have to do an upgrade from. Discounts will be applied.

David, the price on the on-line store for upgrading from Neo to GoPro CineForm Studio Premium is $250. That is quite a difference to the price you announced.


Carlos, that is minus $250, so you only pay $49.

Your explanation appeared while I was submitting my comment. Sorry.

Has the activation process been changed/improved from NEO?

David, I purchased my Neoscene about a year ago. Now if I want to upgrade from Neoscene to GoPro premium how much will cost me exactly? what options do I have?

Thanks
Matthew

/* edit: Sorry, I mixed Neo and NeoScene.*/

NeoScene is still available... Will NeoScene with Cineform codec be continued?

Is there a trial version Dave?

Has the activation process been changed/improved from NEO?

Not today, it is the same as before right now. In a couple of week time there will be some improvements, particularly for managing upgrades -- we are test to new procedures internal now.

Is there a trial version Dave?

We have 15-day full trials like always.

Get all our trails here: CineForm Product Downloads (http://estore.cineform.com/downloads.aspx)

/* edit: Sorry, I mixed Neo and NeoScene.*/

NeoScene is still available... Will NeoScene with Cineform codec be continued?

NeoScene will be continued, although it is off the front page of CineForm.com and will be deemphasized. It will back in the product matrix next week, and you can't still by it today.

You can directly upgrade NeoScene to CineForm Studio Premium for $170 -- it is a deal.

Love it, I'm sure instructions will follow but 'till then any keyboard shortcuts other than ctrl +C,+V,+shift+V?

One more thing... If I upgrade, will I be issued new serial? And will that serial be retroactive to previous versions of Neo? Reason I ask is if I need to go back and open projects in Premiere I created using Neo (without desktop mode), can I do it? Another words for whatever reason, will new serial work for old Neo?

Love it, I'm sure instructions will follow but 'till then any keyboard shortcuts other than ctrl +C,+V,+shift+V?

The undated manual for Premium and Professional is being finalized, but we could wait any longer.

Currently other than spacebar for play, no other shortcuts, yet more are coming.

One more thing... If I upgrade, will I be issued new serial? And will that serial be retroactive to previous versions of Neo? Reason I ask is if I need to go back and open projects in Premiere I created using Neo (without desktop mode), can I do it? Another words for whatever reason, will new serial work for old Neo?

New serial are for new products only. Premium contains the same Premiere CS5.x support as Neo. Try it, no risk.

David is there any "real" benefit to upgrading to GoPro CineForm Studio Premium from Neo at this point? Is it more than just a logo change? Was the black-out issue in Sony Vegas resolved?

Yes there is real benefit.

Visual conversions, instead of running blind in HDLink and Remaster.
Trimming (set in and out points) before conversion.
Audio playback while editing Active Metadata.
Much easier access and controls over Vectorscopes, Waveforms and histograms.
Integrated MP4 for web exports.
Better overall stability.

Yes, Vegas issues are solved.

I recently purchased Neo, do I need to do anything to get the free upgrade or is it just a case of uninstalling and installing GoPro Cineform Studio Premium?

Do you have any price or update policy for prior users?

Since I purchased neo 3D Last april, a month before the new price policy in effect.

I was expecting to get extra licenses and complete GoPro 3D camera rig...

I recently purchased Neo, do I need to do anything to get the free upgrade or is it just a case of uninstalling and installing GoPro Cineform Studio Premium?

Contact support@cineform.com and they will issue you your new key for Premium.

Do you have any price or update policy for prior users?

Since I purchased neo 3D Last april, a month before the new price policy in effect.

I was expecting to get extra licenses and complete GoPro 3D camera rig...

$49 a seat is the upgrade fee. If you didn't collect your bonus licenses back then, you can still do by contacting support@cineform.com, support will work out who you need to contact regarding cameras (we don't have any at the CineForm office.)

Congrats CineForm!

Very cool!

Simon

OK.. installed it. I'm sold. Everything looks great. I like the new cleaner consolidated more responsive interface in Cineform Studio. This is much better than the separate FirstLight and HDLink interface. I still need HDLink though because there is no capture utility in Studio. I remember reading an older post that you guys wanted to phase it out and have either Blackmagic or Aja support it natively. I haven't heard or seen anything on their end so far, so I hope you guys keep HDLink around (regardless how ugly it looks) until they get a solution... If you guys decide to integrate capture feature here or within NLE support or just keep as is and change the look then that be great too.

As far as reverting back to old projects (from Neo 5.5.2), they open in Premiere only under "Desktop Mode". I can playback and scrub the timeline and everything seems normal. CF dissolves, transitions all seem to work fine as well. But am I missing something? Is there anything different underneath the hood without the CF preset? (i.e. CPU optimization, utilization, etc...)

I notice I got the yellow render lines again which I havent seen in a while but I know that's just cosmetic and not an issue. Overall, this is nice improvement. To keep my copy current at $49 and get the good ol support, that's a no brainer...

Just thinking, regarding capture of HDV,
Is there any difference in capturing in Vegas, then converting to Cineform from the Vegas timeline.
as opposed to,
Capturing and converting with HD Link since HD link captures an M2T file first then converts it to Cineform?
Is there a quality difference?
Or is it just a time saver since the capture and convert is automated?

I do not seem to be able to use Tangent Wave any longer. Is it an issue on my side or was the support dropped?
Yes there is real benefit.

Visual conversions, instead of running blind in HDLink and Remaster.
Trimming (set in and out points) before conversion.
Audio playback while editing Active Metadata.
Much easier access and controls over Vectorscopes, Waveforms and histograms.
Integrated MP4 for web exports.
Better overall stability.

Yes, Vegas issues are solved.

Is the $49 upgrade only available as a promotional period? I am in a middle of a big project so I don't want to mess with my current Neo install.

I do not seem to be able to use Tangent Wave any longer. Is it an issue on my side or was the support dropped?

Tangent wave has not been ported (it scheduling allows with will be,) but it should still work under First Light.

Is the $49 upgrade only available as a promotional period? I am in a middle of a big project so I don't want to mess with my current Neo install.

It is planned to be for sometime, so please complete your project first.

How do you turn on "NLE Sync" in CF Studio Premium?

NLE Sync is still coming for Premium (working in house I understand.)

Purchased and Downloaded the upgrade yesterday, still waiting for my Serial number to be Emailed...

David and others.


Does this new studio do 3D under Premiere CS5.3 or is there another separate Cineform product I need to chase for this? I am on Neo presently.

Also, is there a method for separating a muxed ?? 3D SI3D recording sourced from a 1-Beyond recorder into two separate streams, or can the muxed frames be played back and rendered/exported as a side-by-side with no frame edge showing in between.

I want to do a bit of 4K ( probably closer to 3.5K ) trickery cheatery and set two cams up in panorama, recording in sync and to stitch the L and R frames in a sort of cinemascope in a 4096 x 1152 or thereabouts project to try and get some top-to-bottom pixels back in a cinemascope style project.

Yeah I know, parallax and all that but fixing that is for later and I might only want the higher apparent resolution for detailed wide shots anyway and use conventional 2K cropped for normal pretend cinemascope.

Any hints by other users on how to feather the adjacent frame edges of stitched frames without all remaining frame edges being also feathered would be much appreciated.

Did everyone get their license Emailed to them in a quick manner, I have yet to receive the license Email and its going on 2 days....

If you didn't include your existing serial number in the order/customer notes, then the upgrade has to be manually processed. This appears to have been the case with your order. I just processed it for you so you should have gotten your serial number by now. If not, contact support.

Just got it , Activated on my PC and laptop and good to go....Thanks....

When I click on "Import New Files", the dialog box gives me the option of looking for "MPEG2 Sources (*.m2t, *ts, *tc)", but the software will not import these files (I have folder upon folder of m2t files from Canon XH-A1 video, captured with HDV Split). The dialog box sees the files, but the program doesn't add them to the list of files for conversion.

In Cineform Studio Premium:

When I shoot video with my GoPro Hero HD2, import the MP4 file into the software, and convert it to an AVI while changing the frame rate, the preview window in the Edit screen frequently goes totally white after the clip is selected. If the screen is white, then pressing the Play button does nothing. If you scrub forward, then back to the in-point, it'll display the preview properly and pressing the play button works correctly. Sometimes it flashes white during playback, but if you scrub back to where it flashed, it won't do it again!

If I shoot a clip at 120fps on the GoPro, import it into the software, convert it to AVI at 10fps (to show an arrow's flight) and try to export this frame-rate-changed AVI video to MP4, it freezes before completion, usually at 82-93%, and CPU usage drops to zero.

See the attached pictures.

System Details:
Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit with all patches applied.
24GB RAM
i7-970 3.20GHz
NVidia GTX 570 GPU (latest drivers)

....If I shoot a clip at 120fps on the GoPro ....

Hmm, gotta upgrade to the HERO HD2 so I can run 120fps!!

Just an idea, if you are running your clips from RAID, try running them from the C: drive and see if they don't freeze up. This sometimes worked for me on Studio - don't know about Studio Premium.

Upgraded to the Studio today. Now cineform AVI is showing a yellow render line on timeline on Premiere CS5. Is it normal?

Taky, hasnt it always been yellow though?

I don't recall the yellow line before when using NeoHD

Well i use Neoscene with Adobe CS5.5 and it has always been yellow. As long as its not RED, you're in good shape!

NeoScene doesn't provide timeline preset to be used in Premiere Pro. It's the Desktop mode. But for NeoHD, it has several Cineform timeline presets for better editing performance.

hmmm......if your talking about Cineform presets, Neoscene has always had them in my Premiere Pro.