Aspect HD questions -- all versions

[Steven Gotz]

It sure is nice being able to edit HDV properly again.

And I tried it in After Effects - no problem there at all.

I think David Newman deserves a day off, but two? Hmmm. :-)

[Gary Bettan]

Aspect HD version 4.0 is now available with support for both Adobe
Premiere Pro 2.0 and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5.1. Although Premiere Pro 2
now supports editing of "native" HDV transport streams, Adobe and CineForm
remain strong business partners because Aspect HD offers substantial
workflow and feature advantages beyond those available in Premiere Pro
2.0.

Aspect HD literally quadruples the performance of Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0
and Premiere Pro 1.5.1 to offer real-time editing of multiple HDV streams
on affordable desktop PCs.

We have put together some amazing deals that include CineForm Aspect HD
and the new Adobe Production Bundles. For those just looking to upgrade
Premiere, we offer Premiere Pro 2 upgrade bundles with CineForm Aspect HD
for just $599.95!! If you are looking to purchase, or upgrade, to the
Adobe Production Studio Standard or Professional we are including both
PopDrops vol 1 and Shuttle Xpress – a $150 value – for FREE as part of our
CineForm Aspect HD / Adobe Production Studio bundles! To learn more or to
order go to http://www.videoguys.com/cineform.html

Gary

[Jari Pakkanen]

Hello

I have footages recorded by Firestore FS4 HD to m2t format.
On m2t files audio sync works but after converting to CF AVI sync is
gone... Any idea, is it v. 4.0 or what.

m2t format is 720P25 (JVC GY-HD101E PAL)

Jari

[Michael Stewart]

I like the look of cf 30, some jitter, anyone have a great workflow for this? help get rid of some jitter? capture settings, any ideas? We are doing a concert shoot for a Habitat for humanity fundraiser, I have solicited the help of many local videographers who own the FX1 ( we will have around eight cameras going) We also are doing a live recording of the band (thanks to Dan Humann (Stanley Clarks audio genius) anyway I really want to get the most out of the shoot, any tips?


Thanks
Mike

[Jim Montgomery]

Michael

I use Cine 30 all the time. Capture with AspectHD, as progressive, medium file size. Treat it as progressive from then on. When you render it out, render it as progressive.

Shakey footage. The only way I know how to fix that is not have it shakey in the first place. Lock the cameras down on tripods or mono pods. John Rofano (VASST) has posted a link to some software he uses, but I have yet to try it, but know whatever you do in post to correct handheld footage will affect the resolution.

[Michael Stewart]

Thanks Jim, what I meant by jitter was the framerate when there is semi quick movement.

Thanks
Mike

[Ken Hodson]

I can't seem to find AspectHD 3.4 on the Cineform site. I understand you are promoting AspectHD 4.0 now but we don't see a benefit to upgrading at this point in time, and think it is unusual that you would no longer provide a link to v3.4 for those who have already paid for it. Can you post a link for all us owners of versions 2+.
Thanks
Ken Hodson
Rain Shadow Productions

[David Newman]

Go to the support link on cineform.com then click on "Knowledge Base" then "downloads" to get Aspect HD 3.4.

[David Taylor]

The link is on the Aspect HD product page in the upgrade notes, but it's easy to miss.... The following link has a few less steps than going through our support site. http://www.cineform.com/products/UpgradeAHDStart.htm

[Ken Hodson]

Thanks very much guys. I searched and searched, to no avail. Everything kept turning up v4.02. Glad it is still up. I've been meaning to upgrade for a while. Good to know I still can.

[Derek Serra]

I built a new system about 9 months ago, and bought the Nvidia PNY 540 video card bundled with Aspect HD from Videoguys. I note that Videoguys still sell this bundle. After installing everything I noticed that when using PP1.51 with AspectHD there was a 4 second loss of video overlay every time I played back or stopped playback from a HD timeline. I reported this to Cineform, Videoguys and Nvidia. Everybody promised to look into it. Thereafter everybody tried to avoid taking responsibility for the glitch.

Cineform claimed it was the Nvidia card which was not switching resolutions quickly enough between preview and playback quality. Oddly, if I edit using the built-in Cineform HDV presets in PP1.51 playback is perfect - no jump at all. I thus suspect that it is the Cineform software which is at fault. Videoguys nevertheless continue to bundle the two incompatible products, knowing that this problem exists. To date Cineform has not been able to offer me a solution.

My editors scream at me on a daily basis over this, and I'm now seriously considering dumping the system for a Canopus NX or Final Cut Pro option. All in all I'm VERY disappointed with the way this has been handled by all of the suppliers involved.

[David Newman]

Derek,

We know exactly what it is up, as a result we do favor the Matrox Parhelia AVPe card, and other cards coming to the market may also do better. The problem is a combination of factors, no one is particularly to blame, although it might be nice if dealers bundle a preferred card. The FX540 card's overlay is setup in a way that is inefficient for use by the playback accelerator within Aspect HD to use; it is awkward to work-around. If you have no acceleration there isn't a problem (a.k.a. the stock mode in PPro 1.5.1.) Many HD content creaters are moving up to Prospect HD Edit which supports the AJA Xena HS/LH/LHe cards, these are cards designed for one purpose, pro video, as a result there are no overlay issues, scrub to playback is seamless (these card don't have "overlay" which it really a mechanism for general purpose cards to show video.) So addressing the fault of the FX540 has to be balanced with everything else, this is an annoying issue, impacting a small number of users, but ultimately it doesn't not effect the final output quality, so as result this has not being prioritized above camera support and any bug that impacts quality. NVidia has informed us that we can't completely eliminate the flash with FX540 without disabling our acceleration, or without a driver change for the graphics card, which CineForm is simply not big enough to make happen at NVidia. We believe the start time can be reduced, so the bug remains in our database, but I can't promise that will be investigated anytime soon. I'm sorry this isn't a nicer solution, and I know you have otherwise been a strong supporter of Aspect HD. If you do look beyond Aspect HD, do at least consider a Prospect HD Edit with an LH card, see if we can find solution that works for you.

[Derek Serra]

Hi David. Does the Matrox Parhelia also have a jump? If not I'll just dump the PNY540. However, if playback is not seamless with Matrox, I need to know. As you say, I do support Aspect HD, so this bug is annoying as it also makes it difficult to promote AspectHD here in South Africa, where I often run HDV Masterclasses and workshops for filmmakers from all over Africa. Once they see the jump on playback using AspectHD many roll their eyes, as you can imagine. I'm pushing AspectHD here as it's an inexpensive option for a continent where independent filmmakers work on very small budgets. I fear that Prospect HD will be too expensive, as will the AJA Xena cards. I ran a Masterclass for about 50 filmmakers in November and we had FCP systems, Edius NX, Sony Vegas and Premiere Pro with AspectHD. More than half the participants clustered around my system, as its affordable and familiar. In South Africa FCP and Apple are very expensive, with limited support. Vegas and Canopus are not well known. Adobe Premiere is what poor filmmakers tend to use.

I really do think that Videoguys should stop bundling the PNY540 with AspectHD though if this is a known issue.

[David Newman]

There are still a few frames of black is the playback launch of the Parahelia, but it is far-far less annoying than the 540. The 540 tries to display the desktop, which you can't normally see, as it throws the monitor out of sync. The Parahelia doesn't do this, so it playback start is much cleaner.

Users of the Parahelia please add you comments.

[Robert Young]

Looks like the latest version of Aspect is available on the Cineform site. My understanding is that this version allows export to m2t in PPro 2.0.