Latest Neoscene 1.3.2 and its Problems with CS4 ...

[Clyde DeSouza]

I'm all for small indie companies and their products.. but unfortunately now Cineform Neoscene is becoming more and more of a burden for some reason or the other with every upgrade.

I do wish there is a more dedicated (or larger) team to troubleshoot than the end-users having to file tickets.
Do pardon my gripes a bit.. its just that it's going on for a while now...and against my better judgement i upgraded from the previous version of Neoscene.

The problems:

1) The newest version when rendering from Premiere Pro CS4 intermittently is rendering a Green frame inbetwen
I unistalled the update, went back to the old Neoscene but then Adobe Media Encoder started quitting in between a render saying "unknown error"

2) So i had no choice but to un-install the old CF and re install 1.3.2
This time around when I rendered .. no Green frames and all seemed ok.

Then I decided to take the rendered videos in AE .
Now AE keeps popping up an error and not recognizing any CF rendered footage!
AE error (4) and below (86::2 ) error

Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

The CF_AVI_Importer.prm, CF_AVI_Exporter.prm and CFRenderProc.exe are correctly installed in the Common / MediaCore directories.

Im using Vista 64 version of CS4

HELP!

[Clyde DeSouza]

..So Even as AE is now in the midst of a render.. I'd thought I'd better let in others on a seeming solution..

What I did was completely clear everything that was "cineform" on my PC. deleted the directory and even one or two places which i could find in the Registry that has a Cinform folder.

(I dont know at this stage if I re install Neoscene encoder, whether it will make me go thru all activation procedure again..thats for later for me)
So i dont recommend clearing any registry stuff related to Cineform.

Anyway.. next what i had to do was download the latest NeoPlayer ver 4 i think.
Once this was installed I had to run the register components script in the Cineform--->Tools

Now at least I can see my precious footage in AE.
For now Im just gonna avoid installing Neoscene again, until after I finish the project.
(Im at the last stage so luckily and "hopefully" no more intermediate rendering necessary.. just the final mpeg output)

will report more as my trouble-shooting progresses.

I think Cineform's website should document these procedures.. sorry if they are already up there somewhere, i could not find them

Regards
Clyde

[Clyde DeSouza]

and perhaps I spoke to soon..
Because It's still playing up in AE.
I setup an AE composition which was 2800pix in width as I had to layout two 1920 x 1080 streams side by side ( for stereoscopic 3d rendering) along with a resize ofcourse (1400 x 2)

When I hit the render button in AE... It starts off and then renders only the "right" side of the view. It's as though the CFdecoder can run only once and not twice .. that's the only explaination I could come up with..

...Long story short .. Im dissapointed :(
I have now just resigned myself to use the already encoded source CF videos on a timeline in Premier Pro Cs4 and use TARGA as the intermediate.

I will have to *avoid* using CF (Neoscene) as an intermediate until these *bugs* are quashed

My lesson is ... just as im kicking myself for delving into Vista 64 (just so I can use more than 4 gb ram) .. Im having to nod my head in disbelief that CF is acting up so erratically.

I suppose those who spring for the more expensive versions of CF have better luck?
Neoscene in my humble opinion is not ready yet as an intermediate codec

Sadly :-(

[David Newman]

Please fill a ticket with support, as I'm not understand what is happening. AE is working fine.

As for the green frame, that is fixed in the beta: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/cineform-...eta-vegas.html

[Clyde DeSouza]

Thankyou David for replying.
Please don't get me the wrong way. but I'm really busy in the middle of a project to help troubleshoot.

Even the Vegas-green frame is almost a call for public beta-testers.
I had chosen Neoscene after the bold banner saying "slumdog millionaire"
and while the other versions of CF I am sure may be stable, i can't at this point dedicate time to trouble shoot Neoscene.

Will eventually return to it once this project is over and a more stable version is out.
All the best, and still a believer.
Clyde

[Gary Brun]

I think there is nothing wrong helping in beta testing products.
Many of us have pestered for the release. People do have a choice to wait for the full 100% working version... which I think many do. Just think how long we would have to wait for the product if people didn't help to test.... and how much would the final product cost due to having no testers as everything would have to be in house.
Adobe, Sony and many other companies are saying things are final... when we all know they are not. CS4 is a disappointment even after 4.1
We pays our monies and we take our choice.

To be honest I have learnt a lot using the beta software to Cinneform... following the threads you learn and pick up a lot about video and the skill and how it works.

I'm happy with the support and the quick turnaround and I know the guys over there must be hard worked at the moment. People who help beta test help deliver a better product for all. I like to be a part of that.

[David Newman]

Also the betas now posted, are only betas for the installer, all the other code it considered production and stable, and it includes the green flash fix for CS4.

[Clyde DeSouza]

Gary,
Point taken. I completely understand what your saying. In fact, from the one or two tickets that I've posted on Cineform support, they actually did confirm two bugs. so yes I did do my share of beta testing.

What I only wanted to say (perhaps out of some frustration) is that I am in the middle of a project, choosing Neoscene as the intermedite codec, and unfortunately its not holding up with all these problems.

So, not having the time to test out more workarounds is all i'm saying.
I have paid for it so yes I will be using it when it's all shrink wrapped in a newer all working version.

Regards
Clyde