Cineform Neoscene

[WindyHillsVideo]

I stumbled upon this plug-in while online price-shopping for a good deal on FCS 3. Cineform's Neoscene (http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/) plug-in looks quite interesting. I would imagine that 5D MK II users would flock to it. The feature set, and price-point are impressive. Best part is you can download a free trial and check it out. Versions for both Windows and Mac. (Mac version requires 10.5 running Intel)

Michael :icon_cool:

[Softweigh]

Hi Michael

I tried out the whole program for transcoding MTS AVCHD to 1440x1080 HD AVI and it does a good job!! The AVI's are quite big but run with ease on a DuoCore but still "burp" a bit when they hit a crossfade.

I did a comparison between a NeoScene AVI and Upshift m2t file both transcoded from the same MTS raw footage and they are similar in sharpness when rendered to an SD MPEG2 ... the Upshift file was a tiny bit brighter but I doubt whether anyone would notice it. The M2t file size was a lot smaller of course but if you try Upshift then make sure you encode at 50mbs and keep the GOP at 1 so you don't lose any picture data!!
There is also a trial version of Upshift at the VAAST website.

To be perfectly honest I also have the MainConcept transcoder which now will allow you to transcode directly down to SD!!!... the results will be a tad lower but I certainly cannot see any difference on an SD DVD between all three!! HOWEVER I have yet to view on a giant 54" screen!!! Maybe it will show up there as quite a bit lower quality!!!

Chris

[RatVega]

I guess I can see where this may have value on a PC system, but fail to see where it adds anything other than a different de-interlacer to a FCP system. As I understand it, the footage is H.264 so conversion to ProRes can be accomplished without any additional software.

[WindyHillsVideo]

I guess I can see where this may have value on a PC system, but fail to see where it adds anything other than a different de-interlacer to a FCP system. As I understand it, the footage is H.264 so conversion to ProRes can be accomplished without any additional software.


Perhaps I read the specs differently, and I've not yet seen or tinkered with the new and extended capabilities of the latest Final Cut suite. For me personally, I still have my sights on going HD/tapeless with HMC-150 cameras. I am wanting to create a simple/effective work flow that allows working with the AVVHD footage from these cameras.

I have my pre-order in for Snow Leopard OS, and will be installing the latest version of FCS very soon now. Mac Rumors and one other site indicated that the 'Golden Master' for 10.6 has hit, and has speculated that Snow Leopard will begin shipping as early as 8/28. I would have purchased the latest Final Cut upgrade yesterday, but none of the local stores has it on the shelves. Looks like Mac Mall has the best price on the Studio upgrade ($269).I will likely order my copy this week.


Is this plug-in not what I'm looking for? I plan to find out more in the next few weeks. It appears from all I can gather that some 3rd party hardware or software will still be needed to work effectively and efficiently in Final Cut on AVCHD source materials. Since the Aja boxes cost as much as the cameras, I'm looking at the MX0 2 hardware as a less costly alternative.

Michael

[RatVega]

I haven't pored through all the new FCS details, partly because Maureen and I and a couple more friends are going to get the whole enchilada at LAFCPUG tonight.

What I have gleaned so far is that AVCHD Intra will be native and that transcoding pretty much anything into one form of ProRes or another will be well supported.

So the question becomes one of which flavor of AVCHD you're going to play with... to my way of thinking, Intra is getting a lot of traction and appears to be the emerging weapon of choice for indies.

So far as "workflow enhancement" goes, there's a huge gap between the AJA Ki Pro and the Matrox MXO2. The MXO2 is designed to get you around most of the nasty (costwise) issues involved in previewing your show if you are on a laptop or a desktop without a Kona/Black Magic card to talk to a HD monitor. Or a broadcast monitor if you don't have an HD one.

There's certainly money to be saved in this area, but the AJA Ki Pro handles most of that as an afterthought while focusing on real-time conversion of the raw image stream to 10-bit 4-2-2 ProRes. Everything is recorded to a 250GB hard drive and is directly editable in FCP6 or 7. It can also perform up/down converts simultaneously in case you want to capture HD but monitor with an SD monitor during production.

"Is this plug-in not what I'm looking for?" I don't think is it, irrespective of which hardware route you travel. I believe that transcoding support in the current and new FCS is sufficient. But then, that's just my opinion... :uhoh:

[Maureen]

The meeting is Next Week.

[RatVega]

I haven't pored through all the new FCS details, partly because Maureen and I and a couple more friends are going to get the whole enchilada at LAFCPUG tonight.

The meeting is Next Week.

I hate it when that happens... :icon_redface:

[WindyHillsVideo]

I hate it when that happens... :icon_redface:

Since FCS version 3 is 'Intel only' what are your plans? Is there a new OCTO or Quad in your future? Are you moving to Final Cut 7 or staying with 6?

Michael

[RatVega]

Since FCS version 3 is 'Intel only' what are your plans? Is there a new OCTO or Quad in your future? Are you moving to Final Cut 7 or staying with 6?

Michael
Hmmm... Let's see...
New Octo or Quad? Not if I can score a "FOX". As you may recall, I postulated that FO (hexadecimal 16) X would be a fun name for the Mac that will inevitably be built from a pair of 8-core Nehalem chips. Although I'm staying busy, I'm definitely not rolling in loose cash. Since I'm going to have to stretch anyway, I'm holding out as long as possible for what I think is a system that can serve me for another five years.

I'll be going to Snow Leopard/Final Cut 7 unless I feel that the follow-on 64-bit FCS product is near-to-hand.

In reality, FCS2 is a pretty nice suite from a standpoint of supporting my workflow. What I lust for in my next major upgrade is stability/utility in FCP, the wider codec choices with ProRes, and the improvements in Color and Motion. I was the guy down at the LAFCPUG "New" FCS intro who referred to Compressor 3.5 as "iCompressor" and asked if it still supported professional workflows.

I was mildly pleased to see that Apple now supports what I'll call "Guerrilla HD" my term for the red laser alternative to Blu-ray that has been proposed and developed by Bruce Nazarian and the DVD Association. And I'm grateful that Apple resisted the temptation to put a new dress on DVD Studio Pro since it works great and doesn't need any "help".

What I'm hoping to find is whatever Apple intends to release as a replacement product for Shake. It's a product that I use with regularity in spite of the fact that it doesn't support ProRes. The workflow can get convoluted if you're not careful.

But for the near term, I'll be slugging it out on Splinter with FCS2. It really is a sweet system. I recently converted the internal RAID 0 to hardware RAID 5 and I'm considering doing the same to the External RAID but I'm thinking maybe I'll upgrade to 4TB external and 2TB internal since big drives are getting so cheap.

[WindyHillsVideo]

I've got my copy of the Studio upgrade and wish I had time to install and tinker with it, but travel this week to my wife's family reunion and my system having a severe case of amnesia this past weekend has scuttled that plan at least temporarily. I'm looking forward to a number of the listed enhancements in the latest version, actually most of them listed interest me in one way or another. As for 10.6, I'm still not sure, but I think my only Intel Mac isn't up to the job, or at least will not see any real benefit of 10.6 in it's current form.


I must admit 10.5.8 feels a bit sluggish at times on my quad compared to 10.4.11, but Apple more or less forced me to move to Leopard in order to run FCP 7. I think I can deal with this feeling of being 'pushed' away from Tiger only because of the many improvements in Studio 3.

I feel like I dodged a bullet with Snow Leopard though. If I were to install 10.6 only to learn that my CPU, GPU, were not supported and my SATA card stopped working I think I might have joined Mathew in his boycott of Apple. I'm very happy I read all the early reports and all those last minute 'gotchas' that Apple put up on it's site as it released Snow Leopard. If I'd have actually had to install 10.6 to find out my hardware was orphaned, I would have been livid. As it is I'm happy to sit on the sidelines until I've got a box that supports it. I'm thinking 10.6.4 will be a good vintage:icon_cool:

I'll be shocked if Apple replaces Shake, I think they're giving this product space to 3rd party and will bet you a six pack they're in talks with someone to spin it off. Someone like Boris maybe?? :huh:

Michael

[RatVega]

I'm still a little foggy on why the support chart I posted excludes pre-2008 processors from 64-bit support. I can only assume it's a casualty the flurry of processors Intel announced in that period.

I suspect that the video-board issue is negotiable, and based on the cost/performance ratio of some of the latest processors, upgrading might be desirable.

Third-party support is always a question mark, but it's looking like the mainstream vendors are already there with the goods. Who made your SATA board?

I disagree about the Shake replacement. Apple has taken 30+ points out of Avid's market through their internally controlled software advantage. At the time when GenArt's filters (very popular with the Avid crowd) have gotten so expensive they are being leased, Apple stepped up and bought/released Color. This amounts to a $25K freebie to those involved in serious post, and serious post is absolutely part of Avid's eroding base. I see them releasing a sanely-priced Shake follow-on and picking up a few more points. The current economics and general disarray of the LA post scene favor them.