Performance problems with Cineform and Premiere

[Nino Del Padre]

I am running a 2k Cineform project with 2k files exported from Redcine with the Cineform codec and re-wrapped into avi’s. The performance is awful; you can’t play the timeline without it locking up on a few frames of each clip and we have one audio track that’s a 48k wav file that also skips frames. The only way we can get it to play back correctly is to use the scub bar and play it a little too slow. It’s a music video so it’s impossible to edit this way trying to time up the lip syncing.

I tried upgrading my video card to a GeForce GTX 260 896MB and tried all different Cineform playback settings. This is the third problem I am having with Cineform, not too happy after spending $2k for a plug-in.
Any help would be appreciated.

My computer Specs Are:
Boxx 7400 Series
Dual Opteron Model 270 (Dual Core)
4GB DDR400 ECC (4 DIMMS)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB
120GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA 8MB Cache Drive
16x Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (with Nero software)
Windows XP 64 Professional Edition SP2

[David Taylor]

Nino,

In general we would recommend converting directly using the CineForm batch conversion utilities. But to look closer at your current problem please send one of your shorter files to jsegraves at cineform dot com. You can use www.yousendit.com. We'll see if we can duplicate the problem with your file.

Perhaps before doing that, are you running a *CineForm* 2K preset in PPro? If not then you're not using our RT engine and you definitely won't get good performance.

[Nino Del Padre]

Its got to be somthing with my pc config. It runs fine on my lower-end pc with the Prospect 4k trial. The specs are:

Windows Vista 64bit
INTEL Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 GHZ
INTEL BOXDG965RYCK= KINGSTON 2GB DDR2
GEFORCE 7600GT 256MB

[David Taylor]

Nino, a single Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz might be a little slow if you have disabled preview playback. Go into the CineForm control panel and make sure that the "Disable CineForm Preview Mode" is unchecked.

[Nino Del Padre]

I have tried that. What I am saying is it runs fine on this slower pc but not on this one:

Boxx 7400 Series
Dual Opteron Model 270 (Dual Core)
4GB DDR400 ECC (4 DIMMS)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB
120GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA 8MB Cache Drive
16x Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (with Nero software)
Windows XP 64 Professional Edition SP2

[David Taylor]

Nino, there is nothing wrong with the specs of your machine, but it appears there is a conflict somewhere. It could be anything, so our support team will have to work with you directly. If you haven't already, please file a trouble ticket at www.cineform.com/support and our team will help you identify the problem.

[Adam Glick]

HI Nino,

We have customers running Cineform 2K on the model 7400 with no problems - it must be a software or OS thing...

Adam
BOXXlabs

[Nino Del Padre]

I spoke too soon. After I have been editing my project with a trial version on my slower computer outlined in a previous post. All was well untill I rebooted my PC and suddenly all of the clips in the project have a red x in the upper left hand corner and the shots are zommed in 200 percent. All of the shots have magic bullet on them and ran fine before, even with the effect on. I start a new project with the correct preset and same thing. The video will play back with no effect but vey choppy even at 25 percent window size and the audio is skipping and poping . Again, this was fine before I re-booted. It is performing exactly my Boxx pc is now. I tried re-intsalling Cineform, I tried every combo in the playnack settings and tried the asio driver with no luck.

[David Taylor]

Nino, your problem is very specific and not really a forum topic. Please report a trouble ticket at www.cineform.com/support so our team can work with you directly.

[Nino Del Padre]

David, I just bought CS4. Does Cineform support that and will it help me at all? I have a ticket in already, just waiting on a reply. Thanks

[David Newman]

CS4 not supported by any of the 3rd party acclerators like Matrox and CineForm yet, as there is a CS4 patch needed from Adobe (so we could offer complete support today.) CS4 compatibility will be around December timeframe, and will require version 4.0 of Prospect.

[David Taylor]

No third parties yet support CS4. Although Adobe is beginning to ship CS4, the current shipments do *not* contain the API that allows third parties to plug in their SW. Our understanding is the third-party API is scheduled for roughly the second half of November. So as a reference point we'll be supporting CS4 in about December.

Edit: Sorry David - that's what I get for not refreshing....

[Nino Del Padre]

Nino, your problem is very specific and not really a forum topic. Please report a trouble ticket at www.cineform.com/support so our team can work with you directly.

Its been over 24 hours with no reply to my ticket. This is time sensitive as the project deadline is Monday. Do you have an ETA when someone will help me or better yet a support phone number?

Thanks

[Nino Del Padre]

Nino, your problem is very specific and not really a forum topic. Please report a trouble ticket at www.cineform.com/support so our team can work with you directly.

I’m still waiting to get this problem resolved and as I have let tech support know the deadline for this project is this Monday. I get a one line response once every 24 hours or so with a basic suggestion like ‘disable preview mode playback'

I have spent days on trying to resolve this and have tried every possible Cineform playback settings with no luck. I tried installing the asio4all audio driver, I tried disabling video tracks, audio tracks, I have defragmented my drives, I have tried a system restore to a previous date when I know it was working correctly, I re-installed Premiere and Cineform and still no luck.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions, please?

[David Newman]

Be very detailed with support with what you have or haven't tried. You get a basic suggestion if supports has no meat to go on. Jake read me parts your support ticket, I was confused, so I suggested the basics first, needed to understand the problem. You could try call the office, but they will only be there for another hour then it is the weekend. You should use the system that works, and focus on that old boxx system after your deadline is met.

[Nino Del Padre]

Be very detailed with support with what you have or haven't tried. You get a basic suggestion if supports has no meat to go on. Jake read me parts your support ticket, I was confused, so I suggested the basics first, needed to understand the problem. You could try call the office, but they will only be there for another hour then it is the weekend. You should use the system that works, and focus on that old boxx system after your deadline is met.

Thanks David, I dont have a system that works however I would like to get the Boxx system woking as its the better PC.

[David Newman]

As this a one off issue, you will need to work with support, as there is nothing obvious I can suggest here. It is Monday so support is back.