Unmatched HD Visual Quality and Editing Performance

Aspect HD and Prospect HD/2K/4K provide a real-time, multi-stream editing environment within Adobe Premiere Pro

àNew: Aspect and Prospect now support conversion of XDCam EX files, plus
improved support for AVCHD files    Read FAQ

àNew: Many new CineForm RAW features for managing Active Metadata    Read FAQ

àNew: Free converters from DPX sequences to CineForm AVI/MOV files (and vice versa)   Tech Note

àNew: Raw converters support 4K Dalsa Origin and Vision Research Phantom HD/65   Tech Note

àNew: Prospect 4K enters production    Download Trial   Red FAQ   Tech Note for Red One
 

• Compatible with CS3
• HD-SDI Ingest (both AJA and Blackmagic)
• Acquire into either .MOV or .AVI
• Rewrap MOV <--> AVI
• DPX batch file conversion to/from CineForm files  (separate utility)
• Additional visual fidelity upgrades in the CineForm Intermediate codec
• Conversions from XDCam HD/EX, TOD, and AVCHD files
• Blackmagic Intensity HDMI direct-to-disk recording
• MacOS codec included (Prospect HD / 2K / 4K)
• Support for exporting from RedCine to CineForm MOV files
  (NOTE: temporarily doesn't work due to a bug in RedCine).
• M2T export from Premiere Pro
• Global active metadata control (ON/OFF) during playback for CineForm RAW files
• DPX converters (to and from) included with Prospect HD / 2K / 4K
• Raw converters available for Dalsa Origin and Vision Research Phantom HD / 65 (Prospect 4K)

See product table below for details
 

Aspect HD and Prospect HD/2K are for Adobe CS3 on Windows....

CineForm's Aspect HD and Prospect HD products deliver an online compressed Digital Intermediate workflow for HD post-production, whether your source is HDV, full-raster HD, or 2K. This means you never have to work with proxy files, and you never have to conform a project at completion - you're always working with full-resolution source material using the Visually Perfect™ CineForm Intermediate codec. 

The primary difference between Aspect HD/Prospect HD compared to NEO is the real-time software video engine CineForm developed for Adobe Premiere Pro.  CineForm's editing engine replaces the native engine inside Premiere Pro to deliver a real-time, multi-stream editing environment including transitions, effects, titles, motion, etc, all performed without rendering.  This results in a very efficient workflow, allowing you to spend time editing, not rendering. In fact, with the Aspect HD or Prospect HD/2K real-time software engine, you can play from 3 to 6 HD streams in real-time on the Premiere Pro timeline - simultaneously.

Regarding CineForm RAW: Prospect 2K offers the same real-time editing workflow for CineForm RAW source material without the need to first "develop" or "demosaic" the image.  This unique technique saves significantly on up-front digital image development require of other digital raw workflows.  Prospect 2K includes CineForm RAW active metadata controls inside Premiere Pro to allow non-destructive control modification of white balance, camera color matrix, and 3D LUTs.
 

Acquisition and/or conversion of source material into CineForm Intermediate files can be performed using either HDLink, or using internal capture utilities within Premiere Pro. Resulting CineForm Intermediate files, with precision from 8-bit YUV to 12-bit RGB,  become your online Digital Master throughout your post workflow.  The lightly compressed CineForm Intermediate files offer fidelity that is visually equivalent to uncompressed sources, even through a multi-generation workflow.  This means they provide excellent sources for compositing, keying, and animation.  But the smaller file sizes allow managing an online workflow to be straightforward with Premiere Pro or virtually all other standard post-production tools.  Because CineForm Intermediate files offer the option of acquiring into either .AVI or QuickTime movie (.MOV) wrappers, you have a wide choice of Windows and Mac OS X compositing and effects tools from Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Sony, others.

CineForm's Aspect and Prospect family of products work only on Windows, although resulting QuickTime (.MOV) files are compatible on either Windows or Mac OS X PCs.

We invite those who have not experienced the amazing performance and video quality of Aspect HD or Prospect to download a fully-functional 15-day trial version. 
 

CineForm Product Selector Guide
● If you're using Premiere Pro on Windows you want to use Aspect HD or Prospect HD/2K/4K.  ● If you're using Final Cut Pro, you want Neo HDV / HD / 4K ● For all other applications on Windows or Mac OS X (Autodesk, Media 100, Sony, others) you want to use Neo HDV / HD / 4K.
	Aspect HD	Prospect HD	Prospect 2K	Prospect 4K
Operating System	Windows	Windows MacOS (1)	Windows MacOS (1)	Windows MacOS (1)
Max spatial resolution (capture/export)	1440	1920	2048	Unrestricted (tested mostly at 4096)
I/O Precision	8-bit	10-bit	10- / 12-bit	10- / 12-bit
Chroma format	YUV 4:2:2	YUV 4:2:2	YUV 4:2:2 RGB 4:4:4 RGBA 4:4:4:4	YUV 4:2:2 RGB 4:4:4 RGBA 4:4:4:4
CineForm RAW Encoding (Windows Only)		●	●	●
480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p	●	●	●	●
Decoder resolution - unrestricted	●	●	●	●
CineForm RAW workflow			●	●
Active Metadata: WB, Color Matrix, 3D LUT (3)			●	●
Acquisition sources:	●	●	●	●
- HDV including scene split	●	●	●	●
- DVCPRO HD MXF	●	●	●	●
- Sony XDCam HD / XDCam EX conversion	●	●	●	●
- JVC TOD file conversion	●	●	●	●
- HDMI (using Blackmagic Intensity)	●	●	●	●
- Single-Link HD-SDI (AJA or Blackmagic)	●	●	●	●
- Dual-Link HD-SDI	Not yet supported
HDV/P2 camcorders - special mode support:	●	●	●	●
- Canon: i) 24p;  ii) 24F / 25F / 30F	●	●	●	●
- JVC: i) 24p;  ii) 60p	●	●	●	●
- Panasonic: Variable Frame Rate	●	●	●	●
- Sony: i) 24p;  ii) CineFrame	●	●	●	●
Selectable wrapper - AVI or MOV	●	●	●	●
AVI <--> MOV rewrapping	●	●	●	●
Image spatial resampling	●	●	●	●
Telecine removal (24p in 60i)	●	●	●	●
Image flip (for 35mm adapters)	●	●	●	●
DPX <--> CineForm batch file conversion (2)	●	●	●	●
Slow Motion - up to 2.5X	●	●	●	●
M2T file export from Premiere Pro timeline	●	●	●	●
Real-time editing engine for Adobe Premiere Pro	●	●	●	●
- Keyframeable color adjustment	●	●	●	●
- Over 40 parameter-controllable transitions	●	●	●	●
- Slow-motion and frame hold	●	●	●	●
- Static and moving titles and video overlays	●	●	●	●
- Pan/Scan/Rotate/Zoom (PSRZ).	●	●	●	●
32-bit floating-point effects processing		●	●	●
Multiple spatial resolutions on timeline	●	●	●	●
CineForm MOV render output	●	●	●	●
Batch capture HDV with timecode	●	●	●	●
Batch capture HD-SDI with timecode		●	●	●
HD-SDI monitoring of editing timeline (AJA only) (4)		●	●	●
Price	$499	$999	$1499	$1999

(1) CineForm MacOS codec only
(2) Not yet shipping
(3) Currently supported only in CineForm RAW.  Will be added for CineForm 444.
(4) Monitoring using OEM Xena-2K is not yet supported, but it is on the list to complete
 

"I stopped using Avid when I discovered two things: Premiere Pro and CineForm. After viewing my documentary Treasures of the Copper Scroll at the 2nd Annual Monaco Charity Film Fest, I was told by the reviewers they couldn't believe how great it looked -- even on the DVD. They were surprised to learn I went from injest, through rough cut, and final online using Premiere 1.5.1 with CineForm's Prospect HD. And the CineForm software saved me thousands of dollars in post. Like I said, I have not regretted the move to Premiere and especially CineForm Prospect HD."   - Jim Long, unsolicited post on DVInfo.net, June 7, 2007.

Scott Billups has recently participated in numerous visual tests of the Canon XL H1 recording direct-to-disk into a Wafian HR-1.  Following is a recent statement of his findings:

"I found that the Canon XL H1—recording to the Wafian HR-1 Direct-to-Disk Recorder using 10-bit CineForm Intermediate files—noticeably outperformed tape shot on a far more expensive HD camera in terms of visual image, projected image, and chroma key."
-  May 19, 2006  www.digitalvideoediting.com  

"Finally had the time to load some of our footage gathered from your magic box [Wafian HR-1] into After Effects t'night...and applied some of my After Effects magic to it and I must say...WOW!   The footage is so clean that I'm going to have to add grain to forgive the actors' facial imperfections."

"Let the ignorant assume that a compressed (CineForm) format is somehow inferior...while they wait for all of that uncompressed data to funnel in and out of their systems, we'll be making more movies here."

Performance Note: The performance of Aspect HD and Prospect HD/2K is scalable--in other words, its performance is influenced by CPU speed, memory speed, and drive speed. Systems meeting our "minimum" configuration are well balanced, and will yield excellent real-time video editing performance.  On a Minimum system you will be editing 2-4 HD video streams in real time without dropping frames, including transitions, motion, and titles. 

All CineForm software is tuned for best performance on Intel processors by leveraging Intel's high-performance SSEx (Streaming SIMD Extension) instructions plus threading optimizations for Intel's multi-core architectures.

Intel, the Intel logo, Centrino, Centrino Inside, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

• Prospect HD/2K4K is installed on a Windows PC, or if you want to use your Mac hardware, Prospect HD/2K/4K can be installed when using Bootcamp. 
• The CineForm Mac codec is only installed on Mac OS X with Intel CPUs.
• For Trial versions, you can separately download Prospect HD/2K/4K and the CineForm QuickTime codec for Mac

If you haven't tried Aspect HD or Prospect HD/2K/4K, please download and experiment with our fully-functional 15-day Trial version.

A: Think of it this way…. If you need to perform operations like color correction, compositing, effects, titling, etc, and especially if you have material with smooth gradients (i.e., blue sky) you will be manipulating your 8-bit source data – adding, multiplying, etc.  Each time you render the source data precision is truncated back to 8 bits.  The 8-bit truncation operations after rendering introduce “banding” commonly visible in smooth gradients.  Instead, when you manipulate 8-bit source data in post but allow precision to grow to 10 bits, your arithmetic precision increases and your gradients will remain smooth.  This is very clear in the image sequence below.  Notice the obvious banding in the 8-bit uncompressed YUV image after gamma correction. 

(Click on the image to see a full-resolution (1920 x 1080) version.)

Read more on our Upgrade page about why upgrading your workflow to Prospect HD will be beneficial.

"...I just want to say that Prospect HD is well worth it. I re-rendered some shots in AE, and I have this day-for-night graded shot where previously the sky had been white, and now gray because of the night effect grading.  With Prospect HD a whole bunch of clouds with full detail just popped up. Amazing... "

• All Aspect HD customers may upgrade to Aspect HD v5 for $149 at our online store
   
• Aspect HD may upgrade to Prospect HD/2K/4K and receive a $499 credit when purchasing the upgrade at our online store
   
• All Prospect HD-Edit and Prospect HD-Ingest customers on April 30, 2007 will be upgraded free of charge to Prospect 2K v3 or Prospect 2K-DL v3 beginning May 1, 2007.  In fact, any updates you do after May 1, 2007, you must upgrade to Prospect 2K for your activation to remain intact.  Visit our downloads page to begin the upgrade process.

CineForm Mac QT codec upgrade for existing customers:

• Neo HD/2K or Prospect HD/2K customers can update at no charge to the latest build of your respective Neo or Prospect HD product to get the CineForm Mac codec. To activate the Mac codec you'll need a Mac serial number which you can request here.
   
• Aspect HD customers may purchase a license to Neo HD for $299, which includes the CineForm QT codec, a 50% discount. With this purchase you will not give up your Aspect HD license.  Simply select the appropriate pulldown box on the Neo HD order page from our online store, and remember to provide your serial number in the "Special Instructions" field when placing your order. 
  

NOTE: If you'd like to be updated when CineForm releases an update for Aspect HD, subscribe to the RSS feed on our home page.  Each time a product update is available the RSS feed will be updated.

May 1: v5.3.0 Build 115

• Improved à HDLink has improved support for AVCHD files in which the tool looks for common third party components like the Haali Media Splitter and the CoreAVC decoder. This fixes a previous issue where there where too many AVCHD components installed. More information here: http://www.cineform.com/products/TechNotes/AVCHD_FileConversion.htm
• Added à Switch in the AVI/MOV File --> Export --> Movie panel to enable threading during export.  Due to Premiere’s low memory issues, this was disabled by default, but should accelerate HD exports for simple projects.
• Added à The CFRepair utility now ships as a standard tool in the CineForm --> Tools folder under Start Menu.  CFRepair is used primary for repairing files captured during live recording, in which a power outage (or other crash) has left an incomplete AVI.
• Improved à Threading performance of the deinterlacing and scaling algorithms during live capture through HD-SDI / HDMI.
• Improved à CineForm Quicktime export now uses the latest encoding engine.
• Fixed à 601 vs 709 color space issues on some renders.
• Improved à Many other internal upgrades....

March 27: v5.2.5 Build 110a

• Fixed à Error caused in Premiere Pro when exporting to a CineForm file or when rendering previews

March 13: v5.2.5 Build 110

• Fixed à Conversion problems (HDLink crash) for P2 and XDCam HD media introduced in Build 158
• Fixed à Occasional Premiere Pro crash during render previews

March 10: v5.2.5 Build 109

• Added à Sony EX1 MXF conversion
     - includes support for >2GB file conversion
     - Filtering 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 now supports EX1 progressive sources
     - Fix for chroma quality for interlaced sources
• Improved à Filmscan 1 and Filmscan 2 visual fidelity enhancements
• Fixed à The scaling algorithm in HDLink now detects progressive sources correctly
• Fixed à Smaller decoding error on the right hand edge for progressive YUV clips when decoding to RGB 8-bit. Decoding to 16-bit , to CineForm RAW, or to CineForm 444 source were unaffected
• Fixed à Real-time playback of CineForm RAW when using all active metadata included a gamma shift, and would sometimes have a "play" error
• Improved à New SI-2K metadata with color matrix data now support
• Added à r210 pixel support for Decoder2
• Fixed à Adobe Ultra would sometimes incorrectly use the "Desktop Playback - Fast" mode (Half resolution)
• Improved à Protection wrapping in Build 154 was causing some install issues

February 1: v5.2.4 (Build 106)

• Added à More curve support internal to the decoder
• Added à 8-bit support to the Window QT component. Originally only supported 16-bits per pixel
• Fixed à Color accuracy on QT 8-bit RGB exports
• Fixed à Some older CineForm RAW AVIs wouldn't work in Premiere if the 3D LUT was missing
• Fixed à Decoder now knows when it is being run within HDLink.  This fix prevents the "Desktop Playback - Fast" mode from
                     impacting quality for CineForm-to-CineForm resizng conversions

January 16: v5.2.3 (Build 104)

• Fixed à Some images would mistakenly decode to a purple and green color under Premiere Pro while using non-CineForm edit mode.
• Improved à Playback performance in 8-core systems through threading improvements

January 7: v5.2.3 (Build 103a)

• Fixed à Driver conflict with other third-party applications
• Fixed à MP4 audio processing to eliminate popping with Premiere Pro

January 3: v5.2.3 (Build 103)

• Fixed à Problems with 8-core systems using the CineForm VFW codec
• Fixed à Decoding failure of older CineForm RAW 1080p clips
• Fixed à RGBA32 decodes within VirtualDub
• Fixed à Colorspace was incorrect for progressive RGB decodes in VFW & Sony Vegas
• Fixed à Changing the timecode for an AVIs file in Premiere
• Fixed à Minor upgrades to the MXF reader
• Fixed à (Mac codec) quarter res decoding of CineForm 444
• Added à (Mac codec) scaling greatly improved

Previous Aspect HD v5 Updates
 

NOTE: If you'd like to be updated when CineForm releases an update for the Prospect HD/2K family, subscribe to the RSS feed on our home page.  Each time a product update is available the RSS feed will be updated.

May 1: v3.3.0 Build 164

• Added à A new SetActiveMetadata utility (located in the CineForm --> Tools directory under Start Menu) replaces the old RAW control scripts for enabling/disabling the 3D LUTs.
• Added à CineForm RAW (Prospect 2K / 4K) now has an independent color database that works outside of Premiere Pro.  The database is controlled by the SetActiveMetadata utility.  The database is project interchangeable to allow multiple color profiles between projects. The database may also be exported and moved between PCs (and soon Macs).
• Added à The File Metadata RAW control panel now supports "Pick White" style white balancing.
• Added à New Look compiler plus 3D LUT exporter under the File --> Export --> Movie menu (use for 32-bit filters stacks only.)
• Added à Preview selector in Playback Settings panel to indicate the precision of layered filters/effects as either 32-bit floating point or 16-bit integer.
• Added à Support for CineForm 444 exports in BGRA 32-bit float for compatibility with Synthetic Aperture's Color Finesse under Premiere Pro. Upgraded Dissolve and Flips to use RGB 32-bit float for Color Finesse.
• Added à Switch in the AVI/MOV File --> Export --> Movie panel to enable threading during export.  Due to Premiere’s low memory issues, this was disabled by default, but should accelerate HD exports for simple projects.
• Added à The CFRepair utility now ships as a standard tool in the CineForm --> Tools folder under Start Menu.  CFRepair is used primary for repairing files captured during live recording, in which a power outage (or other crash) has left an incomplete AVI.
• Improved à Scrubbing should be a little faster, particularly for 2K and 4K projects.
• Improved à HDLink has improved support for AVCHD files in which the tool looks for common third party components like the Haali Media Splitter and the CoreAVC decoder. This fixes a previous issue where there where too many AVCHD components installed. More information here: http://www.cineform.com/products/TechNotes/AVCHD_FileConversion.htm
• Improved à Threading performance of the deinterlacing and scaling algorithms during live capture through HD-SDI / HDMI.
• Improved à CineForm Quicktime export now uses the latest encoding engine.
• Fixed à Non-square pixel exports from Prospect HD/2K/4K.
• Fixed à 601 vs 709 color space issues on some renders.
• Improved à Many other internal upgrades....

March 13: v3.2.5 Build 159

• Fixed à Conversion problems (HDLink crash) for P2 and XDCam HD media introduced in Build 158
• Fixed à Occasional Premiere Pro crash during render previews

March 10: v3.2.5 Build 158

• Added à Sony EX1 MXF conversion
     - includes support for >2GB file conversion
     - Filtering 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 now supports EX1 progressive sources
     - Fix for chroma quality for interlaced sources
• Added à Support for 4K exports from Premiere Pro plus improved playback of 4K timelines
• Improved à Exports to CineForm AVI use a smaller memory footprint within Premiere. Most valuable for 4K exports
• Improved à Filmscan 1 and Filmscan 2 visual fidelity enhancements
• Fixed à The scaling algorithm in HDLink now detects progressive sources correctly
• Fixed à Smaller decoding error on the right hand edge for progressive YUV clips when decoding to RGB 8-bit. Decoding to 16-bit , to CineForm RAW, or to CineForm 444 source were unaffected
• Fixed à Real-time playback of CineForm RAW when using all active metadata included a gamma shift, and would sometimes have a "play" error
• Improved à New SI-2K metadata with color matrix data now support
• Fixed à Color processing of active metadata now supported for x64 systems
• Improved à Encoder2 update to support any size metadata
• Improved à Synchronization of active metadata with frame samples on threaded systems
• Fixed à Reporting of frame sizes for CineForm RAW files sometimes inaccurate in the Premiere Properties window
• Added à r210 pixel support for Decoder2
• Fixed à Adobe Ultra would sometimes incorrectly use the "Desktop Playback - Fast" mode (Half resolution)
• Improved à Protection wrapping in Build 154 was causing some install issues

February 1: v3.2.4 Build 154

• Added à Four new high quality CineForm RAW DeBayer filters for Premiere and After Effects
• Added à More curve support internal to the decoder
• Added à QT support for pixel type 32, Quicktime retro ARGB format
• Added à 8-bit support to the Window QT component. Originally only supported 16-bits per pixel
• Fixed à Color accuracy on QT 8-bit RGB exports
• Fixed à Some older CineForm RAW AVIs wouldn't work in Premiere if the 3D LUT was missing
• Fixed à Decoder now knows when it is being run within HDLink.  This fix prevents the "Desktop Playback - Fast" mode from
                     impacting quality for CineForm-to-CineForm resizng conversions

January 16: v3.2.3 (Build 152)

• Improved à Stability of playback on 8-core systems through threading upgrades
• Fixed à Some images would mistakenly decode to a purple and green color under Premiere Pro while using non-CineForm edit mode.
• Fixed à Bug introduced in 150a causing a problem with progressive decodes.
• Added à Additional curve options for CineForm RAW encodes (Prospect 2K/4K only)

January 7: v3.2.3 (Build 150a)

• Fixed à Driver conflict with other third-party applications
• Fixed à MP4 audio processing to eliminate popping with Premiere Pro

January 3: v3.2.3 (Build 150)

• Fixed à Problems with 8-core systems using the CineForm VFW codec
• Fixed à Decoding failure of older CineForm RAW 1080p clips
• Fixed à RGBA32 decodes within VirtualDub
• Fixed à Colorspace was incorrect for progressive RGB decodes in VFW & Sony Vegas
• Fixed à Changing the timecode for an AVIs file in Premiere
• Fixed à Minor upgrades to the MXF reader
• Fixed à (Mac codec) quarter res decoding of CineForm 444
• Added à (Mac codec) scaling greatly improved

Previous Prospect HD v3 Updates
 

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