CFHD Export to Tape Work-Around at DVinfo.net

Robert Young · October 7th, 2007, 07:49 PM

I discovered that Procoder 2 will convert CFHD.avi files to M2T HDV files. When I import the converted M2T clips into a Premiere CS3 HDV project, I am able to export the timeline to tape as HDV into a Sony M-15 HDV deck. Premiere gives a "Render and Record" dialog box, click OK, it does some "rendering", then starts the deck and records. On playback from the deck to an HD TV monitor it all seems to look as it should.
I need to test this on some longer segments, but it sure looks pretty straightforward.
Seems like you could export your finished Cineform HD project to a single 1080i CFHD.avi movie file, use Procoder to transcode the avi. movie to 1080i M2T, import the M2T movie into a new PPro HDV project, and export the HDV timeline to tape. Then with an HDV deck, or camera, via component output into HD TV, or HD projector, you could exhibit the edited movie in High Definition.

David Newman · October 7th, 2007, 09:20 PM

HDLink with export M2T files directly, saving a rendering step within Premiere Pro.

Graham Hickling · October 7th, 2007, 10:18 PM

I don't have access to Procoder presently HOWEVER I do have TMPGEnc Xpress 4.2 ... and your post reminded me that it has an HDV2 transport stream export option.

So I used XPress to encode an .m2t file from a 1080i Cineform avi and then tried exporting back to my Sony HC1 camera using HDVLink as David suggested.

It worked perfectly!! (I feel so stoopid I never tried this before).

And just for the heck of it I tried the same thing with an m2t file produced using CS3's media encoder - but that didn't work. (Bitrate get set with a manual slider control in adobe media encoder so I assume my setting didnt precisely match the bitrate spec the camera was expecting.)

Graham Hickling · October 8th, 2007, 08:26 PM

Robert, which build number of Procoder are you using?

And, is there a particular named template you are selecting for your 1080i transport stream?

Robert Young · October 8th, 2007, 10:50 PM

Graham
I am using the most recent update of Procoder 2 which is actually a couple of years old now- v 2.04.02.00
For Target you select mpeg2 HD NTSC.
In the target settings menu re the type of mpeg data stream, use the pull down menu to select HDV type 2. That will configure the output as 1440 x 1080 60i .m2t.
Also please note that Procoder defaults to "lower field first" field order setting for both Source and Target. Both CFHD and HDV are "upper field first". Using the wrong field order settings results in some pretty wierd video output.
I did a 5 min project with 20 or so clips, edited, transitions, some color correction, etc. in CFHD project, did the transcode, imported to PPro HDV project, exported to tape, played back on a 42" Sony HDTV and it looked great- almost identical to the original raw footage- maybe a very slightly softer image is all I thought I noticed.
I also just discovered, as David Newman points out above, that you can do this entire process using Cineform HD Link, skipping PPro entirely- probably a faster workflow. I must say, however, that Procoder does work quite quickly, particularly with a quad processor, and the results are outstanding.
Now that I'm cued in, I will try it with HD link as well.

Robert Young · October 9th, 2007, 12:44 AM

Correction: I think I misunderstood David Newman's post in this thread. On looking more closley at what he actually said, and at HD Link itself, it looks like you need to do the HDV transcode with third party software regardless. Once you have the movie as an m2t HDV file, you can skip the steps of importing into a PPro HDV project, the additional PPro render and export to tape. Instead, you can open the "export" section in HD Link, import the m2v movie file, and export to tape without any additional rendering, or need to open new PPro HDV projects, etc.
So, probably the most efficient workflow at present is:
1) Export your finished timeline to a CFHD.avi movie file.
2) Transcode the movie to HDV.m2t file (1440 X 1080 60i, upper field first, PAR 1.33). It looks like Procoder 2 does this very well. (I am getting about a 1:4 render time- 30 min movie= 2 hr render.)
3) Import the resulting HDV.m2v file into the "Export" section of HD Link
4) Export to Tape
Not bad at all!!

Graham Hickling · October 9th, 2007, 11:28 AM

And I can confirm that the same 4-step workflow will work with TMPGEnc XPress 4 substituted for Procoder.

October 7th, 2007, 07:49 PM	#1
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	CFHD Export to Tape Work-Around I discovered that Procoder 2 will convert CFHD.avi files to M2T HDV files. When I import the converted M2T clips into a Premiere CS3 HDV project, I am able to export the timeline to tape as HDV into a Sony M-15 HDV deck. Premiere gives a "Render and Record" dialog box, click OK, it does some "rendering", then starts the deck and records. On playback from the deck to an HD TV monitor it all seems to look as it should. I need to test this on some longer segments, but it sure looks pretty straightforward. Seems like you could export your finished Cineform HD project to a single 1080i CFHD.avi movie file, use Procoder to transcode the avi. movie to 1080i M2T, import the M2T movie into a new PPro HDV project, and export the HDV timeline to tape. Then with an HDV deck, or camera, via component output into HD TV, or HD projector, you could exhibit the edited movie in High Definition.

October 7th, 2007, 09:20 PM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	HDLink with export M2T files directly, saving a rendering step within Premiere Pro. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

October 7th, 2007, 10:18 PM	#3
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	I don't have access to Procoder presently HOWEVER I do have TMPGEnc Xpress 4.2 ... and your post reminded me that it has an HDV2 transport stream export option. So I used XPress to encode an .m2t file from a 1080i Cineform avi and then tried exporting back to my Sony HC1 camera using HDVLink as David suggested. It worked perfectly!! (I feel so stoopid I never tried this before). And just for the heck of it I tried the same thing with an m2t file produced using CS3's media encoder - but that didn't work. (Bitrate get set with a manual slider control in adobe media encoder so I assume my setting didnt precisely match the bitrate spec the camera was expecting.)

October 8th, 2007, 08:26 PM	#4
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	Robert, which build number of Procoder are you using? And, is there a particular named template you are selecting for your 1080i transport stream?

October 8th, 2007, 10:50 PM	#5
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	Graham I am using the most recent update of Procoder 2 which is actually a couple of years old now- v 2.04.02.00 For Target you select mpeg2 HD NTSC. In the target settings menu re the type of mpeg data stream, use the pull down menu to select HDV type 2. That will configure the output as 1440 x 1080 60i .m2t. Also please note that Procoder defaults to "lower field first" field order setting for both Source and Target. Both CFHD and HDV are "upper field first". Using the wrong field order settings results in some pretty wierd video output. I did a 5 min project with 20 or so clips, edited, transitions, some color correction, etc. in CFHD project, did the transcode, imported to PPro HDV project, exported to tape, played back on a 42" Sony HDTV and it looked great- almost identical to the original raw footage- maybe a very slightly softer image is all I thought I noticed. I also just discovered, as David Newman points out above, that you can do this entire process using Cineform HD Link, skipping PPro entirely- probably a faster workflow. I must say, however, that Procoder does work quite quickly, particularly with a quad processor, and the results are outstanding. Now that I'm cued in, I will try it with HD link as well.

October 9th, 2007, 12:44 AM	#6
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	Correction: I think I misunderstood David Newman's post in this thread. On looking more closley at what he actually said, and at HD Link itself, it looks like you need to do the HDV transcode with third party software regardless. Once you have the movie as an m2t HDV file, you can skip the steps of importing into a PPro HDV project, the additional PPro render and export to tape. Instead, you can open the "export" section in HD Link, import the m2v movie file, and export to tape without any additional rendering, or need to open new PPro HDV projects, etc. So, probably the most efficient workflow at present is: 1) Export your finished timeline to a CFHD.avi movie file. 2) Transcode the movie to HDV.m2t file (1440 X 1080 60i, upper field first, PAR 1.33). It looks like Procoder 2 does this very well. (I am getting about a 1:4 render time- 30 min movie= 2 hr render.) 3) Import the resulting HDV.m2v file into the "Export" section of HD Link 4) Export to Tape Not bad at all!!

October 9th, 2007, 11:28 AM	#7
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	And I can confirm that the same 4-step workflow will work with TMPGEnc XPress 4 substituted for Procoder.