CineForm's HDLink
contains flexible file conversion capabilities, including the
following:
- Batch
conversion
of many different file formats into CineForm Intermediate.
Supported input file
formats include: most AVI files, many MOV files, P2 (mxf)
files, .m2t, .ts, XDCam HD (.m2t) and WMV. Source files can be SD
(including DV) or HD. (The rule of thumb is that if
your file will play in Windows Media Player, then HDLink can
convert it into CineForm Intermediate.)
-
Selection of AVI or
QuickTime (MOV) wrappers for CineForm files.
-
Spatial rescaling from various SD or HD resolutions to
HD: 1280x720p, 1440x1080i/p, 1920x1080i/p (Prospect HD), or
SD: 480i/p, 486i/p, 576i/p
-
Deinterlacing: for instance 1080i60
à
1080p30 or 480i60
à
480p30
- Frame
rate conversion including audio remodulation: for
instance 1080p25
à
1080p24.
-
Letterboxing or pillarboxing (optional) during spatial
rescaling of material with different aspect ratios
Resizing
footage with varying source characteristics: File conversion
features in HDLink allow great flexibility for combining footage
from various sources, regardless of the source codec, spatial
resolution, SD or HD, interlaced versus progressive, or frame
rate.
If no Frame Rate,
Pre-compression Filters, or Resize Video options are
selected, then each source file will be converted into an
equivalent CineForm Intermediate file while retaining its
spatial and temporal characteristics.
Changing Spatial Resolution:
When changing spatial resolution, simply choose the file(s) you
want to convert, even if source files have varying spatial
resolutions, and choose your output resolution. The
resulting files will maintain their existing temporal
characteristics (if no deinterlace or frame rate options are
selected), and all files will be converted to the selected
spatial resolution. In the example below all source files
will be converted to a spatial resolution of 1440x1080.
(The graphics below show the "Prefs"
panel from CineForm's HDLink application.)
Temporal Changes:
You can combine multiple
conversions in one step. For instance, if you shoot
1080i60, (or the 24-frame modes from certain HD cameras that add
pulldown) and want 1080p24 as the final format, you can select
a) Remove 3:2 pulldown, and
also b) De-interlace 1080i and DV sources (as shown)
which will convert 60i to 24p.
NOTES:
- Codec Sources: Source files
need not have the same codec source. You can
convert DV files, M2T files, WMV files, etc, in the same
batch conversion process.
- Spatial Conversion:
When batch-converting multiple files, source files need
not have the same spatial resolution. Each file
will be converted separately to the chosen output
resolution.
- Temporal Conversion:
When batch-converting multiple files with deinterlacing or
frame-rate conversion, all source files should have
the same temporal characteristics. In other words,
don't select progressive files and interlaced files together
and select the "deinterlace" option.
- SD Source à
HD: If you select "Keep source aspect ratio",
then 4:3 SD footage will be pillar-boxed into a 16x9
CineForm AVI. With this box unchecked, converted footage
will be stretched horizontally to fill the frame.
- Footage wider than 16:9?
With
“Keep
source aspect ratio” checked, wider aspect ratio material
will be letterboxed into a 16:9 CineForm Intermediate file.
-
Unsupported formats?: Note that some third-party
decoders may be required to convert certain types of files.
If a format is not supported, the
HDLink log will notify you with the message “Format
not supported.” Either install the codec for that file type,
or delete the file from your “Source Clips” bin.
- Conversion Time: Speed of file conversion is a
function of CPU speed, source file size, and the filters
that are applied. On today's fast CPUs many
conversions will happen much faster than real time.
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