CineForm 3D Video Editing solutions

In 2009 CineForm introduced its Neo3D software which integrates full-featured 3D editing with 2D-only NLEs such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro. Neo3D won three Best of Show awards at NAB 2009, followed by two more at NAB 2010.

3D video - what are we dealing with?

Editing 3D video with CineForm Neo - how does it work?

CineForm's Neo & Neo3D software products provide several areas of functionality to solve the workflow problems and enhance the capabilities of existing editing software like Avid, FCP and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.

1) They allow the creation of "multiplexed" stereo video files using one of CineForm's high-quality compression codecs, combining the left and right video streams into a single video file that is far more convenient to handle. This is the first task after the footage is transferred to the computer, before editing can start. Quality is maintained by the codec using a high bit-rate, although there's the choice of a range of settings.

2) Plug-ins are installed into the NLE software to handle the CineForm 3D files, and produce a 3D preview display when required. With no additional equipment this allows viewing right/left eye only (2D), or in anaglyph mode (with Red-Cyan, Amber-Blue or Amber-Magenta "3D" glasses). With the addition of a "passive" or polarized 3D display, side-by-side, over-under, or interlaced stereo signals can be generated which the display will decode and display correctly. On a PC, there is also the option of driving "active shutter" glasses which, combined with a 120Hz 3D monitor, allow very high quality 3D monitoring of what's being played on the timeline.

3) The Neo suite includes an application called FirstLight, which not only includes the interface for "muxing" the stereo video files into CineForm 3D AVIs, but also acts as a standalone 3D player and has a powerful range of picture grading and 3D spatial correction tools. Most significantly, these can work in a non-destructive way by simply modifying the meta-data in the video files, such that the changes are applied on the fly (i.e. in real-time) by the CineForm decoder during playback. What's more, these changes can be made interactively whilst the files are open in the editing application, by switching back and forth between them. Any changes made in FirstLight will be immediately visible when the file is played on the timeline. 

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  ZEN i7 PC base unit

ZEN Stereo 3D video editing PC systems

We can supply fully configured PCs for 3D video editing based around Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 in a twin-monitor configuration using Nvidia 3D Vision active shutter glasses for full-screen stereo 3D monitoring on the 2nd display.

A typical configuration would include an i7-based PC with 8-12GB RAM running Windows 7 Pro 64bit (as per the systems shown here), but include a Quadro FX3800 graphics card, the Nvidia 3D Vision Pro kit, one standard and one 3D (120Hz) 23" monitors, an upgrade to Premiere Pro CS5.5, the Cineform Neo software, and cost around 2500.00

Note - all prices quoted on this site are UK pounds - ex VAT & delivery
 2.5% surcharge on Credit & Company Debit Card payments

What we're about . . .      ZEN is not a traditional Audio-Visual dealer who started selling computers, nor is it a computer shop that also sells video editing systems. You won't get any salesmen giving you the "hard-sell" when you call, just straightforward advice and information - which for some callers is the knowledge that they don't need to buy whatever it is they thought they needed! Above all you'll be dealing with someone with a wide range of experience and knowledge of both PCs and video production. We're not the biggest, nor necessarily the cheapest, but we are one of the longest established computer/video specialists in the UK.

Company history . . .      ZEN was started in the 1980s by Martin Kay, then working for ITV at Granada's Manchester studios, who built his first 6502-based computer in 1979 from an Ohio Scientific kit, bought in the USA whilst working as a Sound Recordist on a film shoot for World In Action. With the advent of the Amiga, which could be gen-locked to a video source, Martin started writing a variety of video-related software. This included subtitling & tele-prompting, ident clocks, scoring software for sports & gameshows, and specialist software to mimic other computer displays for use in TV film dramas like Cracker, Prime Suspect and A Touch of Frost. Martin left Granada in 1993 to concentrate on his computer-video activities with ZEN, following a natural path into non-linear editing systems, now the main focus of the business, although he still maintains an active interest in video production.