best workflow going from PHD to 16bit tiff files for Digital Theaters? at DVinfo.net

Obin Olson · October 24th, 2006, 10:09 PM

Hello CineForm crew. Our Feature is done. shot on VariCam edited using PHD in 10bit. Now the distro for a big theater chain is asking for 16bit tiff files. what is the best way to get from a 2hour14min timeline of the film to 16bit tiff files?

thanks for the help.

David Newman · October 24th, 2006, 10:26 PM

Most straight forward way is to using After Effects. From Prospect HD under Premiere, flatten your feature into reels of 10-bit CineForm Intermediate (set quality to Filmscan), drop those into After Effects and export out as a 16-bit TIFF sequence (likely per reel also -- ask for film-out house.) Remember 16-bit TIFFs are big -- 1TB per hour of 1920x1080.

Note: make sure you are using the CineForm I/O module within AE (for 16-bit support), not the VFW decoder (8-bit only.) If your not sure hold down "Shift+Ctrl" while AE is starting to force the CineForm requestor to ask to whether to use the 16-bit importer. Also set AE into 16-bit mode.

Obin Olson · October 25th, 2006, 09:05 AM

awesome.

rock it

David Newman · October 25th, 2006, 11:48 AM

Going public with you private requests again? Just call to talk through these matters, but don't call me, I have too much engineering to do.

When do we get to see your movie?

Robert Sanders · October 25th, 2006, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obin Olson

Hello CineForm crew. Our Feature is done. shot on VariCam edited using PHD in 10bit. Now the distro for a big theater chain is asking for 16bit tiff files. what is the best way to get from a 2hour14min timeline of the film to 16bit tiff files?

thanks for the help.

Are the 16bit TIFFs for a film out or for digital cinema projection? Just curious.

We're starting a shoot in March with two XLH1s tethered to dual Wafian boxes.

Obin Olson · October 25th, 2006, 01:10 PM

David, you really do need to slap me about! ok guess I will do it for you.

Slapping done. ouch that hurt, please use the other cheek next time...opps...I didn't just say that did I?

LOL

:0

sorry David. my bad(again)

Obin Olson · October 25th, 2006, 01:11 PM

DLP projectors 2k

Obin Olson · October 25th, 2006, 01:31 PM

David, any reason to go 16bit tiff from a Panasonic DVCPRO HD 8bit file? I don't see any, seems a jpg set at 100% would do the trick jsut fine...thoughts?

David Newman · October 25th, 2006, 01:45 PM

As you have color corrected with 10-bit processing there is an advantage to the 16-bit out vs 8-bit output. So yes you are loosing data to truncate to 8-bit, even with your 8-bit source. However Prospect HD will give you the best 8-bits, as it now dithers 10-bit to 8-bit outputs. So Targa (TGA) exports are also common film out deliverables (half the size of 16-bit TIFFs -- almost as good.) Use the Premiere Pro's export->movie->Targa to get dithered 8-bit outputs. JPEG is risky, as 100% JPEG doesn't always mean no quantization (depends on the implementation.) Dithered 8-bit TGA files is often preferred for E-Cinema encoding (which is typically 8-bit today.)

Obin Olson · October 25th, 2006, 01:49 PM

Thanks, so that would mean smaller files and no AE workflow? this would be VERY nice!

David Newman · October 25th, 2006, 02:37 PM

Note: it is stilll worth producing CFHD reels first. A very good reason is you can easily review these before exporting the flattened reels to TGA files. I know this is an extra step, but it is best for your film's output quality.

October 24th, 2006, 10:09 PM	#1
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	best workflow going from PHD to 16bit tiff files for Digital Theaters? Hello CineForm crew. Our Feature is done. shot on VariCam edited using PHD in 10bit. Now the distro for a big theater chain is asking for 16bit tiff files. what is the best way to get from a 2hour14min timeline of the film to 16bit tiff files? thanks for the help.

October 24th, 2006, 10:26 PM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Most straight forward way is to using After Effects. From Prospect HD under Premiere, flatten your feature into reels of 10-bit CineForm Intermediate (set quality to Filmscan), drop those into After Effects and export out as a 16-bit TIFF sequence (likely per reel also -- ask for film-out house.) Remember 16-bit TIFFs are big -- 1TB per hour of 1920x1080. Note: make sure you are using the CineForm I/O module within AE (for 16-bit support), not the VFW decoder (8-bit only.) If your not sure hold down "Shift+Ctrl" while AE is starting to force the CineForm requestor to ask to whether to use the 16-bit importer. Also set AE into 16-bit mode. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

October 25th, 2006, 09:05 AM	#3
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	awesome. rock it Last edited by Obin Olson; October 25th, 2006 at 02:09 PM.

October 25th, 2006, 11:48 AM	#4
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Going public with you private requests again? Just call to talk through these matters, but don't call me, I have too much engineering to do. When do we get to see your movie? __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

October 25th, 2006, 01:45 PM	#9
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	As you have color corrected with 10-bit processing there is an advantage to the 16-bit out vs 8-bit output. So yes you are loosing data to truncate to 8-bit, even with your 8-bit source. However Prospect HD will give you the best 8-bits, as it now dithers 10-bit to 8-bit outputs. So Targa (TGA) exports are also common film out deliverables (half the size of 16-bit TIFFs -- almost as good.) Use the Premiere Pro's export->movie->Targa to get dithered 8-bit outputs. JPEG is risky, as 100% JPEG doesn't always mean no quantization (depends on the implementation.) Dithered 8-bit TGA files is often preferred for E-Cinema encoding (which is typically 8-bit today.) __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

October 25th, 2006, 01:10 PM	#6
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	David, you really do need to slap me about! ok guess I will do it for you. Slapping done. ouch that hurt, please use the other cheek next time...opps...I didn't just say that did I? LOL :0 sorry David. my bad(again)

October 25th, 2006, 01:11 PM	#7
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	DLP projectors 2k

October 25th, 2006, 01:31 PM	#8
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	David, any reason to go 16bit tiff from a Panasonic DVCPRO HD 8bit file? I don't see any, seems a jpg set at 100% would do the trick jsut fine...thoughts?

October 25th, 2006, 01:49 PM	#10
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	Thanks, so that would mean smaller files and no AE workflow? this would be VERY nice!

October 25th, 2006, 02:37 PM	#11
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Note: it is stilll worth producing CFHD reels first. A very good reason is you can easily review these before exporting the flattened reels to TGA files. I know this is an extra step, but it is best for your film's output quality. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman