> Have anyone discovered a brilliant piece of software that can give you scene detection when capturing HDV?

CineForm Connect HD will among other things like convert to AVI during capture, convert to progressive, and even convert CF25 to 24p (if you have a Sony HVR-Z1 or HDR-FX1E).

~jr

Yes CineForm have scene detection.

But you don't want to spend another $199, do you?

Espen

> But you don't want to spend another $199, do you?

Well... that depends on whether you need the other capabilities that CineForm Connect HD provides. Scene detection alone is not worth $199 but Connect HD is so much more than just scene detection.

When you think about it: if you just bought a $5,000 HDV camera that uses $20 tapes, and probably spent $130 each on a spare battery or two; and $250 for a decent on-camera shotgun mic, then $199 for a high quality AVI capture tool that does scene detection and other conversions is not that much money. It cost the same as 10 HDV tapes but it will save you 1000’s of hours in capture and conversion. What is that worth to you per hour?

Obviously I am biased because I’m a software developer and you are questioning the value of productivity software and so I have to ask what YOUR productivity is worth.

~jr

I agree ,
while Vegas' use of the Cineform codec and internal capture is good. I have found the Connect HD to be a great improvement for both workflow and capture. They are continuing to improve the utility with updates ,which you can download as soon as they are out.(while Vegas uses the most recent update at the time of their release)
The conversion form m2t to CF avi is much faster in thier utility than in Vegas..time=$$$ .
personly I think its a must have for HDV editing in Vegas, ......just as Vegas has audio plugins such as compressors etc, there are adittional ones out there that do a better job and are more versatile. so is Connect HD with ca[ture and use of HDV files.

IMO

I don't remember the last time scene detection worke don my machine capturing even SD footage...

You can even use the freeware tool AV-Cutty, to make a scene detection with Cineform intermediates.

My point is: $199 is almost half the prize of Vegas6 ($450), and I think that's a pretty high extra amount of money...

I didn't buy a $5,000 HDV camera, I bought one for $2150 - and then I don't have much money left ;-)

Espen

Well here's why I've decided to buy Cineform's Connect HD once I've got my a Sony HC1 (Hopefully this week if my friend's brother at Sony can get it for me quickly). I'm still using Vegas 5 + DVD. To be honest, I don't need any of the additional features in Vegas 6 + DVD. Plus, to upgrade to Vegas 6 + DVD would cost me $299. So for working with HDV, Cinform Connect will be a much better option for me, and costs less than the Vegas upgrade.

CineForm Connect HD is worth the money and usually I don't cut clips until I've got familiar with the material. Depends on your workflow.

> My point is: $199 is almost half the prize of Vegas6 ($450), and I think that's a pretty high extra amount of money...

Tell it to HP! My printer cost $79 but the color and B&W cartridge costs $65! Ouch! ;-)

~jr

Cineform's the way to go - if you don't want to capture the transport streams, you can choose to convert on the fly - an even greater feature.

Cheers

I really wrestled with the purchase of Cineform Connect - all the same reasons. Now, I can't image working HD without it. I shoot everything HD, capture via Cineform, and output into a variety of SD formats depending on customers. But, I always sell them the original tape of m2t, and do a save project with media in Vegas and hand over DL project DVD(s) in the Cineform lossless codec. Tell'em, the next time you see me, you're gonna want HD.

Darryl

Johnny, unfortuately, that is not really a argument to my opinion.

Take Edius for example: you get the Canopus HQ codec, you can capture m2t footage directly, and you can convert on the fly to the Canopus HQ intermediate. And all that is included in Edius, even in the OHCI version without any Canopus Hardware.

Even if I agree that Connect HD is a great product - bit it is fair to state that it is not a cheap one. I hope that Sony will incoporate an automatic scene detection in the next version of Vegas, and also the on-the-fly conversion the the intermediate.

Johnny, unfortuately, that is not really a argument to my opinion.

Take Edius for example: you get the Canopus HQ codec, you can capture m2t footage directly, and you can convert on the fly to the Canopus HQ intermediate. And all that is included in Edius, even in the OHCI version without any Canopus Hardware.

Even if I agree that Connect HD is a great product - bit it is fair to state that it is not a cheap one. I hope that Sony will incoporate an automatic scene detection in the next version of Vegas, and also the on-the-fly conversion the the intermediate.

I must admit I have mixed feelings about Connect HD.

Firstly, it is a good program and I own it - I had no choice - I shot an HDV project to capture and edit before V6 came out, and the only way to do this was by purchasing the Cineform software.

I haven't used it since V6 arrived, and I'm still not sure when I might benefit from it.

I hardly ever use scene detection, and anyway I would be amazed if a future update of Vegas doesn't include this.

I use Gearshift to create DV proxies for fluent editing, then I'm able to switch back and render from the original HDV files, so even on my "ancient" PCs I have no quality loss.

The time factor in creating proxies isn't an issue as I render while I sleep, so I can't see where Connect HD would help, but I'd be delighted if someone would tell me differently ...