codec

BlackMagic Motion JPEG Codec

Overview The BlackMagic (BM) Motion JPEG codec is the codec that is used to create the AVI files generated during the film capture through the BlackMagic Intensity Pro capture card from the Sniper units.  The codec is maintained in the final file that is generated by the Cinecap VelocityHD program.

Issue

When these AVI files are ingested into the various NLE programs, these programs need to be able to translate the AVI files.  Customers have reported that Adobe's Premier Pro (CS 4 or CS5) does not natively ingest these files.  One person with a new system (quad-core PC, 8GB RAM, Win7 64bit) and CS5 and our website sample download got the dialogue box that said:  "The project file appears to be damaged"....he could however play it using a player on his system.

Install Codec

However, it cannot hurt to have the BlackMagic Motion JPEG codec.  Here's the instructions on how to install it:

It appears that they've repackaged things and the codec  can now be downloaded in something called "Desktop Video".  The other person that downloaded this had no problems and even found a cool utility to analyse his drive configuration for editing HD footage.  The direct link to download it for windows (xp, vista and 7) is here:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail/?sid=3947&pid=3989&os=win&leg=0

Otherwise here's the route:

1) http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/

2) Then select the OS, the Product Series is "Intensity", and the Product is "Intensity Pro" ... then click the <Search> button.

3) Under the downloads title, select the <Download> button for "Desktop Video 9.0 for Windows"

Film Scanned Output Files - What NLE's Support

Overview Many times people ask whether or not their NLE can support the film output AVI files.  Here's info on this topic.

Output File Format

With the latest version of CineCap Velocity HD ver 1.4 (Mar 2011) we have a couple of output options.

1)  We can output files using the Blackmagic Motion JPEG codec in an AVI wrapper.  The Motion JPEG codec is a very common codec used by many camera manufacturers.  This codec is compatible with both MAC and PC based systems.

2)  For a codec independent file format we can now generate sequenced image files.  One image is created for each frame of film and therefore this makes the "file" independent of any codec.

MAC Users

iMovie - according to wiki's comments regarding iMove 8 (released August 2007), ".....Motion JPEG encoded AVI files do appear to be recognized, this is the most common format used by digital cameras (click here to check the full article).  At this point of time I believe the latest version is iMovie 11.

I tested iMovie 3.03 on the Power MAC and the avi file does load with no problems.  One problem is that iMovie 3 and I believe 4 only support 4:3 aspect ratio.  Pretty sure that ver 6 supports widescreen 16:9.

Final Cut Pro - According to a customer (Brian Lye) back in mid 2011 using the film avi files in Final Cut Pro ..."the process is very easy.  So if you have customers with a similar inquiry the steps are: "

  • Bring the .avi footage into Compressor (program comes with Final Cut Pro package).
  • Put the settings for Apple ProRes 422 onto the file.
  • Hit Submit.
  • Voila!
  • It is easy to now edit within Final Cut.