CineForm and Sony Vegas 8

[James Campbell]

I love Neo; I've been working with the trial and was just about to purchase. I am also going to be purchasing the upgrade to Vegas when it comes out at the beginning of September. I'm assuming that Cineform hasn't given Vegas everything and there will still be the same advantages to purchasing Cineform on its own (i.e., High, Film Scan levels only in Neo vs Vegas)?

[David Newman]

You are completely safe in your NEO purchase with the upcoming Vegas verison, both in features and compatibility.

[Steven Thomas]

Since Sony Vegas 8 supports 10 bit 4:2:2, does Cineform have any plans in
offering an upgrade that will allow this 10 bit color space support?

I realize that NEO (not NEO HDV) offers this ability, but my understanding is the cineform support within Sony Vegas 7 only is only updated via NEO HDV.

[Michael Mann]

I'd like to know that, too.

[David Newman]

NEO HD and NEO 2K also work with Vegas.

In fact NEO 2K adds 4:4:4 and 4:4:4:4 (RGB with alpha) directly in Vegas. So there are already reasons to go beyond NEO HDV with Vegas. As for deeper pixel I/O within Vegas 8, we haven't made any annoucements yet, but clearly if there is interest, CineForm will support it at some point.

[Mark Duckworth]

Originally Posted by David Newman

NEO HD and NEO 2K also work with Vegas.

In fact NEO 2K adds 4:4:4 and 4:4:4:4 (RGB with alpha) directly in Vegas. So there are already reasons to go beyond NEO HDV with Vegas. As for deeper pixel I/O within Vegas 8, we haven't made any annoucements yet, but clearly if there is interest, CineForm will support it at some point.

Just for clarification using NEO HD or NEO 2K in Vegas 8 keep the same bit depth, ie 10-bit 4:2:2, when exporting out of Vegas?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

[David Newman]

Originally Posted by Mark Duckworth

Just for clarification using NEO HD or NEO 2K in Vegas 8 keep the same bit depth, ie 10-bit 4:2:2, when exporting out of Vegas?

I'll repeat my last post :

"As for deeper pixel I/O within Vegas 8, we haven't made any annoucements yet, but clearly if there is interest, CineForm will support it at some point."

"Deeper I/O" means 10-bit or greater.

[Michael Mann]

Originally Posted by David Newman

"... but clearly if there is interest, CineForm will support it at some point."

Good to hear, thanks. I hope there will be enough interest soon.

[Mark Duckworth]

Originally Posted by David Newman

I'll repeat my last post :

"As for deeper pixel I/O within Vegas 8, we haven't made any annoucements yet, but clearly if there is interest, CineForm will support it at some point."

"Deeper I/O" means 10-bit or greater.

Considering that PPro already supports it, I don't think it would be too much to ask to extend that support to users who have been waiting since Vegas 5 for it to go to 10 bit. Since this is the beginning of an upgrade path (software and hardware) to 10-bit for me, I would dearly like to be able to continue to use Cineform in Vegas 8 and not have to switch to another codec in order for my 10-bit footage to use the full color processing of Vegas 8.

Thank you.

[David Newman]

Mark,

All codecs will need to be updated to support the Vegas API for deeper than 8-bit. So we have no competitors yet. We need to support the 32-bit float API, that is what we hope there is sufficient interest for.

[Don Donatello]

"Since Sony Vegas 8 supports 10 bit 4:2:2"

is this true ?
i have read the release but ..but ... it's not really clear to me it is 10 bit - yes i know it states 32bit float video engine but that doesn't tell me after it goes thru that 32bit float it writes me a 10 bit clip ...

[David Newman]

10-bit 4:2:2 only exists at the file level, Vegas doesn't support YUV or 4:2:2 chroma sampling, so it is up to the codec and I/O module to translate to the Vegas internal pixel format. Previously Vegas only had 8-bit per channel RGB, and that limited the usefulness of 10-bit imports and exports (CineForm uses 10-bit YUV with the compressor anyway as there is a slight advantage.) With a 32-bit float internal format the I/O module could take all the 10 precision an map that to 32-bit float.

The biggest advantage to Vegas, is it can now work with RAW cameras, SI-2K, Red, etc. as 8-bit is just too limiting for these camera dynamic range.

[Bill Ravens]

well, there certainly is an interest from me for Cineform to support a 32 bit float.

[Steven Thomas]

You can count me in on this one!

[Don Donatello]

" biggest advantage to Vegas, is it can now work with RAW cameras, SI-2K, Red, "

and speaking of RED raw ... any cineform solution in the makings ??