Cineform or Gearshift?

riredale wrote on 2/26/2006, 7:47 PM
I'm about to join the ranks of the HDV crowd, and am trying to educate myself as quickly as possible about this new technology. From what I can tell, you can edit a Cineform version of the original or use Gearshift to edit a proxy. My question is, which is the better way?

The idea of using a proxy is appealing to me, since that's the way I first got started in video editing back with Studio7 in 2001. What do I sacrifice by going this route? Can Gearshift faithfully recreate the finished file structure no matter how complicated? Is it incredibly slow when compared to Cineform? Why wouldn't everyone use Gearshift, given that the actual editing process takes place on DV material, making the whole creative process as fast and efficient as a DV project?

Comments

Laurence wrote on 2/26/2006, 8:07 PM
Well I really like using Gearshift. I bought and tried the Cineform software, and do like having access to the codec outside of Vegas for things like VDub processing. Still, I like Gearshift enough that I will continue using it rather than upgrade to a faster PC that could handle Cineform. The real clincher for me is that the m2t files and the proxies together still take up less space than the Cineform intermediary codec avis alone do.
PeterWright wrote on 2/26/2006, 8:14 PM
Gearshift can certainly recreate exactly what you do with proxies with the original m2t files - takes a second or two. The main advantage is you can use a much slower PC and still edit HDV - I've done it on a 1.6 laptop without any problems. One drawback for some may be the time it takes to initially render the proxies, but I try and schedule this for overnight.

I also have the Cineform software, and the main advantage to this over the built in Vegas Cineform codec is that you can create the "intermediates" at the same time that you capture. They should be called something else, because once you've got them, they can be used right through to rendering stage - no need to go back to or keep the m2t files. They are about three times bigger, though, but HD space is cheap these days. They play and preview well, though you'd probably need a slightly faster PC to smoothly preview several tracks. Shift B for RAM render is always available though.

You can also use a combination of both - Gearshift can create Cineform avis as well as Widescreen DV avis and HD YUV versions.

riredale wrote on 2/26/2006, 8:36 PM
Thanks for the feedback. Now, for part 2 of my question--I'm used to working with individual clips, separated by timecode. How would I work the automatic splitting of the single m2t video file coming from my camcorder using Gearshift? I guess I could find out by reading the manual, but I'll ask here anyway.

EDIT: Did a search on this forum and it turned up lots of hits, so I'll be reading for a while...

Still, I'm grateful for your feedback here.
JohnnyRoy wrote on 2/26/2006, 8:52 PM
Which is better depends on how fast a PC you have.

GearShift plugs into Vegas (via it’s scripting engine) and will create DV Proxies (and optionally CineForm and Sony YUV intermediaries) from your original M2T files. If you have a slower PC you can work with DV Proxies while editing. Then before you render, GearShift can automatically swap the proxies for the real media for a high res render. It only takes a second to do the swap. It doesn’t matter how complicated you editing becomes; GearShift does not touch you edits. It works purely on the media pool assets. It was designed with slower PC’s in mind and works with any PC that can handle DV. Even on a faster PC it allows you to work faster.

CineForm Connect HD is a stand-alone program that will capture direct to a CineForm intermediary file. It also has some great options to flip your video (if you are using a 35mm adapter) and inverse telecine Sony CF24 to a real 24p data stream. (and does a darn good job of it!) It also has a few other conversion options including the ability to print back to tape. In order to make the best use of it, you must have a PC that is powerful enough to handle HD intermediaries.

Also GearShift does not capture so it does not split clips based on timecode. Connect HD will separate clips based on timecode.

So if you have a slower PC or want to save some money at the expense of rendering time you can use GearShift. If you have a powerful PC that is HD ready, you can get Connect HD and save time by capturing directly to an intermediary file which is ready to edit.

I am one of the authors of GearShift and I also own Connect HD and use it all the time to capture direct to CineForm intermediaries. Each tool has its place.

~jr
Laurence wrote on 2/26/2006, 9:25 PM
If you go the Gearshift route, IMO you also need the free capture utility HDVSplit:

http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

It will capture m2t with the timecode based scene splitting that every other utility seems to miss. Capture with HDVSplit to get the separate m2t files, then generate proxies from these using Gearshift.

As stated before, you can also generate Cineform codec clips at this point if you desire. Be aware that due to directshow issues the Cineform clips generated this way are bigger than Connect HD captured Cineform clips. On the positive side, Gearshift generated Cineform codec clips smartrender in Vegas which saves a generation and quite a bit of rendering time if you do a Cineform codec render for your final master. Cineform is designed for multiple renders so this may not be that big an issue for you, but it is good to be aware of it.
riredale wrote on 2/26/2006, 10:52 PM
Thanks--exactly what I was looking for.

I imagine in the future all these utilities will be rolled into Vegas 8, or whatever, but for now it appears I'm all set.