Cineform problem

totally lost wrote on 2/7/2008, 3:06 PM

Hi Guys! It's been a while.

Just did a clean re install of xp pro and am having challenges when converting edited m2t files to cineform avi.

At first I could only get the cineform avi to play in vegas. In WMP or Sorensen Squeeze I would get audio but no video.

So I downloaded the free player/codec that cineform offers and then it fixed the problem..............partially.

Basically I am showing a 4:3 picture when it was shot 16 x 9 (in Vegas it is ok). I think this might have to do with square pixels vs rectangular ones; but whatever the case how do I fix this so the aspect ratio is correct? What am I doing wrong?

Thank you!

Comments

David Newman wrote on 2/8/2008, 8:58 PM

Sounds like you might be using Vista. WMP player in Vista is broken, and we recommend using Media Player Classic was is a much better player anyway.

David Newman
CTO, CineForm

totally lost wrote on 2/12/2008, 9:21 AM

Hi David,

I am using xp. I cleaned out Vegas, deinsatlled, deleted files,...and then reinstalled.

Now files will render and cineform avi will play in Sony timeline BUT the Cineform avi will not player in Windows Media Player and Sorenson Squeeze.......All I get is audio and no video.

Please advise.

totally lost wrote on 2/13/2008, 1:34 PM

I am pulling my hair out! I have followed Sony's reinstall procedure. Now Vegas will render cineform avi's. But they will not play in Windows Media Player, I only get audio. Same goes for Sorenson Squeeze; I open a file in squeeze and try to compress, but it only sees the audio. Please help...under deadline and can't get this to work!

UPDATE. I render out a Cineform int 1440 x 1080 avi...plays fine in vegas. Wont play in window media player. So I download Cineform Neo Player. Plays in WMP but in 4 x 3 aspect ratio. Sorensen Squeeze gets errors and won't render....crashes....but sees avi as 4 x 3 too. So I go to Brightcove publish pod that has flash encoder in it...it sees it as 720 x 540! i render out to 480 x 270 (16 x 9) in Flash and it looks great ! ? ...in proper 16 x 9 aspect ratio no less!?

So I decide to do another test and encode another file....d'oh...the Cineform message to buy the codec comes up ! I uninstall and can render again; now Brightcove publish pod, Sorenson and WMP only sees audio.....aghhhh!!! HELP!!!!!

Darren Powell wrote on 2/13/2008, 4:01 PM

I had exactly the same problem (and others) with Cineform ... sorry David Newman but I gave up on Cineform.

I recommend working in m2t ... it works great and renders are easy (as long as your Vegas project only uses a maximum of 1.2GB of virtual memory - that's 'PF Usage' as indicated in Task Manager per project!!) ... ie: keep each project to around 10 minutes in length ... (so if you're making a feature film like me ... you'll end up with 9 or 10 individual project segments - it's a pain but it works) ...

Good luck,

Darren Powell
Sydney Australia

CClub wrote on 2/13/2008, 4:30 PM

This probably won't help with this particular deadline, but I wouldn't give up so easily in the long run on Cineform. I just produced a 70 minute project totally using Cineform avi's without a problem. I recall that I initially had the issue you describe, worked within the dvinfo.net Cineform forum, and once I found the solution, I haven't had any issues since. I can't recall exactly how I fixed it at this time, but I'd keep looking into it. I can't imagine working with 10 minute segments for any length of time.

Darren Powell wrote on 2/15/2008, 1:42 AM

Thanks CClub,

Would be good if you could remember how you fixed things ... but I understand that sometimes you just get things fixed and then forge ahead ...

Also, are you using a Quad? XP? NEO HDV or some other form of Cineform capture for your setup? ...

I was using a Quad, XP, NEO, 4Gig blah blah blah ,Vegas Pro 8, nightmare nightmare pixelated crap, nightmare, black frames, nightmare, digital breakup on capture (when m2t's were perfect), red frames, nightmare ...

*** I got a blowout vapour three, I can't hold her she's breaking up, she's breaking up, can we rebuild the project ?????? ***

Now, apart from the fact that I had to totally rebuild my feature film ... using only m2t's ... life is almost sweeeet ... apart from continual Vegas Pro 8 memory usage bugs ...

Darren Powell
Sydney Australia

Darren Powell wrote on 2/15/2008, 1:43 AM

Looking back on these posts David, it's really weird that you suggest that 'totally lost' might be using Vista ... when he clearly states that he 'did a clean re install of xp pro'... ground control to Major Tom ... ????