Has anyone tried INSTANT HD from Red Giant Software? at DVinfo.net

Steve Benner · May 8th, 2006, 04:41 AM

http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/instanthd.html

There is a free demo available, and that may create a great upres of the 480/60P footage. I searched, and saw people use Streamclip for now, but I thought that this might provide better results.

I am getting my HD100 at the end of the week, and should try it out. Also, I have some 24P SD footage I shot in the store when I demo'd the HD100, so maybe I will try it on that later in the day.

Any thoughts, because I have seen some clips, and this puts the nail in the coffin for me regarding the HD200. I really don't have the money as it is for it, and I only want 60P for slow motion effects.

Brian K Jones · May 8th, 2006, 11:31 AM

Hello there. I too have been looking for input from DVinfo members regarding the InstantHD program, but nobody ever gave me any feedback. I can tell you a friend of mine took some 24p footage from an XL2 and used the program, and I have to say, it was VERY impressive.

Mike Teutsch · May 8th, 2006, 11:42 AM

There have been other disussions here about it. See this thread and post by Ash Greyson for one:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ight=InstantHD

A search will turn up others under InstantHD and Red Giant.

I would be interested in trying it out, but I am waiting for a good project to use it on.

Mike

Chris Barcellos · May 8th, 2006, 12:19 PM

I've tried the InstantHD trial version using my VX2000 footage against my FX1 footage. The trial footage has marks in it to make it impossible to use. I use Premiere Pro 2.0. Essentially, the result is definitely better than just "stretching" the DV footage on an HD timeline. And while it does a pretty good job, there is no mistaking the HDV footage from the DV footage- It's certainly a tool for using DV footage in an HDV project, but no one should think its a viable replacement for it.

Steve Benner · May 8th, 2006, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

I've tried the InstantHD trial version using my VX2000 footage against my FX1 footage. The trial footage has marks in it to make it impossible to use. I use Premiere Pro 2.0. Essentially, the result is definitely better than just "stretching" the DV footage on an HD timeline. And while it does a pretty good job, there is no mistaking the HDV footage from the DV footage- It's certainly a tool for using DV footage in an HDV project, but no one should think its a viable replacement for it.

I am using the trial now in FCP, and I can't figure out how to use the plugin. It has the option of input settings (DV 16X9 in my case), and then nothing regarding the output? How does this work?

Ash Greyson · May 12th, 2006, 11:17 PM

In order for it to work properly the footage MUST be progressive! If you are upconverting VX2000 it has to be deinterlaced first which is a drop in quality. Canon XL2 24P 2:3:3:2 footage looks TERRIFIC, as does HVX 24p SD from miniDV.

ash =o)

Ash Greyson · May 12th, 2006, 11:18 PM

By the way I was converting 480p to 720p...

ash =o)

Brian K Jones · May 13th, 2006, 11:37 AM

I saw some XL2 24p 16x9 footage recently that had been lit properly and had been put thru uncompressed color correction. A friend dropped it into Instant HD and several of us were shocked at the quality. It looked better than some HDV footage that I have seen. Not being a huge HDV fan to begin with, I was very pleased to see the final results look as good as it did...

Kevin A. Sturges · May 25th, 2006, 02:11 PM

Being a Magic Bullet fan, I just came across this product. Does it make any difference on SD footage itself? As in, would it give me cleaner footage going from 720/480 DV to 720/480 Mpeg2?

Ash Greyson · May 25th, 2006, 11:12 PM

Not sure about going to DVD.... in my case I was bumping to DVCproHD masters and D5 masters.

ash =o)

Jocelyn Deguise · May 27th, 2006, 01:52 PM

I was converting a Dolby Digital Trailer to HD for use in front of a short film I shot on HDV. I converted the original vob file to AVI uncompressed progressive with Procoder 2 and then, in After Effects 7, I upconverted the AVI to 1440 X 1080 with InstantHD and rendered to Cineform HD.

The quality is pretty good !

I then made a TS with the original 5.1 AC3 audio and dumped it to D-VHS.

It looks great on my 47 inch TV !

Another test I made, and it wasn't very good, was to take an old Digital 8 widescreen tape made with a cheap Sony camcorder. Since the 16X9 source was pretty bad (Sony used a digital stretching method to get the 16X9...) the upconverted footage looks horrible.

I have a 24p DV tape shot with a Panasonic DVX100: I'll try it soon and post the results.

But so far, it's worth the 100$: great little tool !

Ash Greyson · May 30th, 2006, 12:50 AM

DVX does not look as good as XL2 because of the non-native 16:9, still looks pretty good though. I am telling you guys that all this "future-proof" stuff is crap because there will be more and more tools to upconvert SD footage to HD as the need arises... shooting progrssive and 16:9 might not be a bad idea though =o)

ash =o)

Greg Boston · May 30th, 2006, 08:28 AM

After seeing a demo at the local FCP user's group meeting last month, I bought a copy of Resizer (http://www.digitalanarchy.com/resizer/resizer_main.html). The reviewer stated he had used both Instant HD and Resizer. He felt the latter produced a better quality output but at a slightly higher price tag.

I can tell you that the company support for Resizer is excellent. They are a small company and real humans answer the phone and if they can't answer right there, an email comes in from someone else explaining things.

I'm not personally recommending one over the other, just making folks aware of possible alternatives.

-gb-

Ash Greyson · June 1st, 2006, 02:37 PM

Resizer is best for interlaced footage no doubt... with progressive footage, results are similar in both...

ash =o)

Kevin Shaw · June 5th, 2006, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ash Greyson

I am telling you guys that all this "future-proof" stuff is crap because there will be more and more tools to upconvert SD footage to HD as the need arises...

It's all this upconverting talk which is nonsense as far as I'm concerned, because it's logically impossible to create HD resolution detail from an SD video stream. Sure, you can make good SD video look a little better by upsampling it carefully, but you'll never be able to add in detail which was missing in the original image. I've said many times that to prove the quality of upsampling tools all you have to do is shoot the same scene side-by-side on SD and HD cameras and then compare the SD upampled results to the HD source, but for some odd reason I've yet to see this done by anyone advocating upsampling tools. It's a simple enough experiment; you'd think someone would have done it by now...

May 8th, 2006, 04:41 AM	#1
Steve Benner Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: United States Posts: 590	Has anyone tried INSTANT HD from Red Giant Software? http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/instanthd.html There is a free demo available, and that may create a great upres of the 480/60P footage. I searched, and saw people use Streamclip for now, but I thought that this might provide better results. I am getting my HD100 at the end of the week, and should try it out. Also, I have some 24P SD footage I shot in the store when I demo'd the HD100, so maybe I will try it on that later in the day. Any thoughts, because I have seen some clips, and this puts the nail in the coffin for me regarding the HD200. I really don't have the money as it is for it, and I only want 60P for slow motion effects.

May 8th, 2006, 11:42 AM	#3
Mike Teutsch Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida Posts: 2,614	There have been other disussions here about it. See this thread and post by Ash Greyson for one: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ight=InstantHD A search will turn up others under InstantHD and Red Giant. I would be interested in trying it out, but I am waiting for a good project to use it on. Mike __________________ Chapter one, line one. The BH.

May 8th, 2006, 12:19 PM	#4
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	I've tried the InstantHD trial version using my VX2000 footage against my FX1 footage. The trial footage has marks in it to make it impossible to use. I use Premiere Pro 2.0. Essentially, the result is definitely better than just "stretching" the DV footage on an HD timeline. And while it does a pretty good job, there is no mistaking the HDV footage from the DV footage- It's certainly a tool for using DV footage in an HDV project, but no one should think its a viable replacement for it. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 27th, 2006, 01:52 PM	#11
Jocelyn Deguise New Boot Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 19	I've tried it on vob mpeg files I was converting a Dolby Digital Trailer to HD for use in front of a short film I shot on HDV. I converted the original vob file to AVI uncompressed progressive with Procoder 2 and then, in After Effects 7, I upconverted the AVI to 1440 X 1080 with InstantHD and rendered to Cineform HD. The quality is pretty good ! I then made a TS with the original 5.1 AC3 audio and dumped it to D-VHS. It looks great on my 47 inch TV ! Another test I made, and it wasn't very good, was to take an old Digital 8 widescreen tape made with a cheap Sony camcorder. Since the 16X9 source was pretty bad (Sony used a digital stretching method to get the 16X9...) the upconverted footage looks horrible. I have a 24p DV tape shot with a Panasonic DVX100: I'll try it soon and post the results. But so far, it's worth the 100$: great little tool !

May 8th, 2006, 11:31 AM	#2
Brian K Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 68	Hello there. I too have been looking for input from DVinfo members regarding the InstantHD program, but nobody ever gave me any feedback. I can tell you a friend of mine took some 24p footage from an XL2 and used the program, and I have to say, it was VERY impressive.

May 12th, 2006, 11:17 PM	#6
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	In order for it to work properly the footage MUST be progressive! If you are upconverting VX2000 it has to be deinterlaced first which is a drop in quality. Canon XL2 24P 2:3:3:2 footage looks TERRIFIC, as does HVX 24p SD from miniDV. ash =o)

May 12th, 2006, 11:18 PM	#7
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	By the way I was converting 480p to 720p... ash =o)

May 13th, 2006, 11:37 AM	#8
Brian K Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 68	I saw some XL2 24p 16x9 footage recently that had been lit properly and had been put thru uncompressed color correction. A friend dropped it into Instant HD and several of us were shocked at the quality. It looked better than some HDV footage that I have seen. Not being a huge HDV fan to begin with, I was very pleased to see the final results look as good as it did...

May 25th, 2006, 02:11 PM	#9
Kevin A. Sturges Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 167	Being a Magic Bullet fan, I just came across this product. Does it make any difference on SD footage itself? As in, would it give me cleaner footage going from 720/480 DV to 720/480 Mpeg2?

May 25th, 2006, 11:12 PM	#10
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	Not sure about going to DVD.... in my case I was bumping to DVCproHD masters and D5 masters. ash =o)

May 30th, 2006, 12:50 AM	#12
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	DVX does not look as good as XL2 because of the non-native 16:9, still looks pretty good though. I am telling you guys that all this "future-proof" stuff is crap because there will be more and more tools to upconvert SD footage to HD as the need arises... shooting progrssive and 16:9 might not be a bad idea though =o) ash =o)

May 30th, 2006, 08:28 AM	#13
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	After seeing a demo at the local FCP user's group meeting last month, I bought a copy of Resizer (http://www.digitalanarchy.com/resizer/resizer_main.html). The reviewer stated he had used both Instant HD and Resizer. He felt the latter produced a better quality output but at a slightly higher price tag. I can tell you that the company support for Resizer is excellent. They are a small company and real humans answer the phone and if they can't answer right there, an email comes in from someone else explaining things. I'm not personally recommending one over the other, just making folks aware of possible alternatives. -gb-

June 1st, 2006, 02:37 PM	#14
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	Resizer is best for interlaced footage no doubt... with progressive footage, results are similar in both... ash =o)