Prospect HD, Adobe Products, and 10 bit Workflow at DVinfo.net

Rob Johnson · July 14th, 2007, 08:57 AM

Greetings all,

I'm a new user of Prospect HD (trying it out), and rather than asking a long laundry list of questions, I'll just lay out how I assume things are working, and somebody in the know can correct me where I might be wrong. My main concern in this is that I want to make sure I'm always working in a 10 bit workflow.

What I'm using: Prospect HD, PP CS3, AE 7.
File types: AVCHD, converted to CF.avi using HDLink

I grab the MTS files from my camcorder and convert them to CF .avi using HDLink. Import the files into PP CS3 and edit, then export in the CF format. Import into AE 7, edit and export in the CF format.

Two specific questions I have are, When working with CF intermediate files in PP CS3, does 'Maximum Bit Depth' need to be ticked in the project settings to assure 10 bit processing? Next question is, when importing the then exported files from PP CS3 into AE 7, is this a transparent CineForm import due to the CFHDIO.aex plugin? Or should I see something 'telltale' happening?

The funny thing about it is, there seems to be no difference in importing CF files even when I (for experimental reasons) remove the CFHDIO.aex plugin from my AE plugins folder. Shouldn't I not be able to import CF files without that plugin in there?

David Newman · July 14th, 2007, 09:07 AM

If you remove the CFHDIO.aex, it falls back to using the 8-bit Video for Window decoder. You don't need to check 'Maximum Bit Depth', unless you are using Adobe exporter. CineForm exporters use the depth control in the playback settings (the 32-bit float option.)

Sorry for the brief reply, on a shoot today.

Rob Johnson · July 15th, 2007, 06:17 AM

Thank you for the timely reply, David.

Based on what you've said I would assume I'm in the clear provided that:

1. Prospect HD is installed (CFHDIO.aex available in AE plugins)
2. I am using a CineForm Preset when editing in PPCS3 and exporting in CF format.

As long as CFHDIO.aex in loaded with AE, CF files will be imported at 10 bits automatically and transparently rather than defaulting to the VFW 8 bit import.

What made me wonder is that there seemed to be no difference when importing CF.avi files into AE with or without the CFHDIO.aex loaded, (i.e. scrub, render, and RAM preview times seem to be identical regardless). I may have been erroneously biased to expect something different because of the CF Render Engine used in PP when using a CF Preset. And I wasn't sure if CFHDIO.aex instanced any sort of visible UI or added a context menu for a user requested import option (i.e. CF Import vs. VFW import).

In short, the import process to AE is completely transparent.

David Newman · July 15th, 2007, 09:19 AM

Mostly transparent. The Interpret footage "more Options" is available if you have the CFHDIO.aex module active.

Rob Johnson · July 18th, 2007, 09:48 AM

Now that the Prospect HD installation has been fixed, I get the CineForm Loader UI when launching AE, and also the 'More Options' dialog is now available.

July 14th, 2007, 08:57 AM	#1
Rob Johnson Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ft Myers, Florida Posts: 65	Prospect HD, Adobe Products, and 10 bit Workflow Greetings all, I'm a new user of Prospect HD (trying it out), and rather than asking a long laundry list of questions, I'll just lay out how I assume things are working, and somebody in the know can correct me where I might be wrong. My main concern in this is that I want to make sure I'm always working in a 10 bit workflow. What I'm using: Prospect HD, PP CS3, AE 7. File types: AVCHD, converted to CF.avi using HDLink I grab the MTS files from my camcorder and convert them to CF .avi using HDLink. Import the files into PP CS3 and edit, then export in the CF format. Import into AE 7, edit and export in the CF format. Two specific questions I have are, When working with CF intermediate files in PP CS3, does 'Maximum Bit Depth' need to be ticked in the project settings to assure 10 bit processing? Next question is, when importing the then exported files from PP CS3 into AE 7, is this a transparent CineForm import due to the CFHDIO.aex plugin? Or should I see something 'telltale' happening? The funny thing about it is, there seems to be no difference in importing CF files even when I (for experimental reasons) remove the CFHDIO.aex plugin from my AE plugins folder. Shouldn't I not be able to import CF files without that plugin in there?

July 14th, 2007, 09:07 AM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	If you remove the CFHDIO.aex, it falls back to using the 8-bit Video for Window decoder. You don't need to check 'Maximum Bit Depth', unless you are using Adobe exporter. CineForm exporters use the depth control in the playback settings (the 32-bit float option.) Sorry for the brief reply, on a shoot today. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

July 15th, 2007, 09:19 AM	#4
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Mostly transparent. The Interpret footage "more Options" is available if you have the CFHDIO.aex module active. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

July 15th, 2007, 06:17 AM	#3
Rob Johnson Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ft Myers, Florida Posts: 65	Thank you for the timely reply, David. Based on what you've said I would assume I'm in the clear provided that: 1. Prospect HD is installed (CFHDIO.aex available in AE plugins) 2. I am using a CineForm Preset when editing in PPCS3 and exporting in CF format. As long as CFHDIO.aex in loaded with AE, CF files will be imported at 10 bits automatically and transparently rather than defaulting to the VFW 8 bit import. What made me wonder is that there seemed to be no difference when importing CF.avi files into AE with or without the CFHDIO.aex loaded, (i.e. scrub, render, and RAM preview times seem to be identical regardless). I may have been erroneously biased to expect something different because of the CF Render Engine used in PP when using a CF Preset. And I wasn't sure if CFHDIO.aex instanced any sort of visible UI or added a context menu for a user requested import option (i.e. CF Import vs. VFW import). In short, the import process to AE is completely transparent.

July 18th, 2007, 09:48 AM	#5
Rob Johnson Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ft Myers, Florida Posts: 65	Now that the Prospect HD installation has been fixed, I get the CineForm Loader UI when launching AE, and also the 'More Options' dialog is now available.