Cineform Decoder for Other Computers in the Workflow

[Joseph Clark]

David,

I believe I read that the Cineform decoder can be downloaded for use on other systems in the workflow, but I can't find the reference to that information.

What I'd like to do is send a Cineform AVI to one of the other computers on my system, so that it can render to an MPEG4 HD file while I continue to work on my main AspectHD system.

Doable?

[David Newman]

YES! Download and install the Connect HD trial. If you only need the decoders (i.e you don't need HDLink or the encoders) then uninstall Connect HD and answer yes to keep the decoders installed. Soon we will have just a decoder installer, but installing Connect HD 2.1 works very well for now.

[Joseph Clark]

Originally Posted by David Newman

YES! Download and install the Connect HD trial. If you only need the decoders (i.e you don't need HDLink or the encoders) then uninstall Connect HD and answer yes to keep the decoders installed. Soon we will have just a decoder installer, but installing Connect HD 2.1 works very well for now.

Thanks. I thought I read it somewhere, but couldn't find it.

[Joseph Clark]

Originally Posted by David Newman

YES! Download and install the Connect HD trial. If you only need the decoders (i.e you don't need HDLink or the encoders) then uninstall Connect HD and answer yes to keep the decoders installed. Soon we will have just a decoder installer, but installing Connect HD 2.1 works very well for now.

David,

I just installed Connect HD on one of my systems and after uninstalling it (to have the decoder on the system, as per your instructions), I got a CFHD error message that accused me of trying to change the clock on my system to avoid security. The little nag dialog has come up several times. What gives?

[David Newman]

Well that is not correct. DirectShow decoder is not even protected, so that can't be doing it. The VFW codec is a decoder and encoder, that is protected for encoding only -- so you can't encode without a license on that PC. However I have never seen that message, it shouldn't even come up if you try and encode. It might have something to do with the encoder is licensed for the 15-day trial, and it thinks you are trying to extend that -- sorry I don't know why. Did your clock change at some point? Even so we are planning to simplify a codec installer that doesn't require the installation of the Connect HD trail, to eliminate issues like this totally, and get the codec into the hands of more users. We will look into it.

[Joseph Clark]

Originally Posted by David Newman

Well that is not correct. DirectShow decoder is not even protected, so that can't be doing it. The VFW codec is a decoder and encoder, that is protected for encoding only -- so you can't encode without a license on that PC. However I have never seen that message, it shouldn't even come up if you try and encode. It might have something to do with the encoder is licensed for the 15-day trial, and it thinks you are trying to extend that -- sorry I don't know why. Did your clock change at some point? Even so we are planning to simplify a codec installer that doesn't require the installation of the Connect HD trail, to eliminate issues like this totally, and get the codec into the hands of more users. We will look into it.

I didn't change my clock. I just installed and immediately uninstalled, leaving the decoder. Thanks for checking into it. I'm sure it thinks I'm trying to extend the time for Connect HD, or at least that's what it sounds like.

[Patricia Lamm]

I downloaded the Aspect HD trial to another computer and then uninstalled, choosing to keep the Windows codec. But whenever I try to play an avi file that was exported from cineform hd on another machine (via Aspect HD in PP), the video has lines through it. This is true whether I play it using RealPlayer or WMP, or ask Sorenson Squeeze to convert it to quicktime . I don't have these problems so long as the trial program is installed, only when it's uninstalled. Is this expected behavior? (I've also had these problems after installing/uninstalling Connect HD).

[David Newman]

No, not expect, it is the first I've heard of it. It this PC an AMD, P4, PD or PM? It might help me understand this one.

[Patricia Lamm]

It's an AMD Athlon x2 4200 with a Quadro FX 1300 graphics card.

[Don Donatello]

if i understand HD connect correctly - that even when it is used as a decoder it reads 10 bit cineform clips as 8 bits clips = it drops 2 bits ...

[David Newman]

Patricia,

We have solved the issue. It turns out the Connect HD build uninstalled one too many components. We have just updated the Connect HD installer (no active components change) so that the uninstall now leaves the latest DirectShow decoder installed (by user request.) This trick for installing then uninstalling to get the latest decoder components, only applies to Connect HD build 15 posts Dec 30th 5pm PST (or later.) So download the latest. Sorry for any frustration this may have caused you.

[Patricia Lamm]

Yes, it works! Thanks to you and to Thad for the help in getting this bug figured out.

[Patricia Lamm]

Actually, David, my success in installing/uninstalling build 15 was in being able to play a cineform avi file in Windows Media Player on another machine without getting the lines in the WMP window or the codec error. But when I bring the same file into Premiere Pro (with the intent of converting to mpg) the lines reappear in the PP monitor window. Any ideas?

[David Newman]

Yes, I gather this is a non-Aspect HD Premiere Pro 1.5.1 installation. The non-update Premiere contains very old codec components (any time you see those lines, old 1.5.1 components are being used.) Unfortunately the installer didn't consider that users will have one Aspect HD system and a Premiere system without Aspect. Here are three solutions:

1) On the non-Aspect HD system, delete "...\Premiere Pro 1.5\Plug-ins\en_US\HDV\im-CFHD_File_Import.prm", this is the old decoder that Premeire has, this will allow the newer VFW to be used instead. This is not a great solution for projects with many AVIs as VFW engine is a memory hog under Premiere. This is fine of projects with less than 50 AVI files.

2) Copy this component "..\Premiere Pro 1.5\Plug-ins\en_US\cineform\im-CFHD_File_Import.prm" from your Aspect HD system into the Premiere plug-ins folder on the non-Aspect system. This will upgrade the decoding of CineForm files on the second system.

3) Purchase a second copy of Aspect HD. ;)

[Patricia Lamm]

Thanks, David. Instead of (1) and (2), I just tried installing/uninstalling the demo of Aspect HD and this fixed the problem as well. For (3), I'm waiting for some long lost uncle to die and leave me with a nice trust fund. ;-)