Software Transcoder that Plays h.264??

I'm looking for a utility to allow me to transcode footage shot with GoPro or Inspire 1 that allows me to set in/out points. I dont' care about fancy mumbo jumbo, just the ability to play the footage smoothly and trasncode only the good bits.

The GoPro Studio free version will play Inspire 1 footage smoothly, but does not allow me to set in/out points as it is not GoPro source.

Nothing I've tried will play smooth.

My evaluation of the Cineform premium editor has expired.

It doesn't matter what program it is, all I want to do is convert h.264 to ProRes, . Uncompressed AVI, or something I can work with from which to make stock clips. I need it to play smoothly so I can evaluate the clip before wasting time on it! (and I hate transcoding for hours to find junk)

Ability to do minor color correction is fine, but not necessary.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks!

Hi Mizamook,

You should maybe look into this http://www.acrovid.com/footagestudio.htm Seems pretty cool, but do the trial thing first.

Cheers,

Miz

How about QuickTime Pro?

Mizamook have you tried acrovid yet?Is it fast?I may purchase it while its on discount to convert my C100 files to progressive before ingesting.
I think i might test it today actually.

You should really buy Cineform it's a fantastic high quality converter and really not that expensive. Years ago I did some tests with cheap and free converters and saw that they introduce artifacts.

I've been a registered user of the -now obsolete- cineform neoscene for years.Haven't installed and used it in years and dont know if they support my camera,but i might try hdlink to test,thanks for reminding me actually.Dont know what they are up to these days though, they have merged their codec in a gopro suite.

Cineform was bought by GoPro a few years ago. Neoscene was really a great product.

Still is but now called Cineform GoPro Studio and it's free. Does the same thing Neoscene did plus more.

GoPro studio does not allow in/out points on non-gopro source footage, although if you want to transcode teh whole file it works. I don't.

I did actually pay for the Acrovid thing. Currently trying to get a trial extension of the GoPro Studio Premium to work so I can see if it does what I want.

Acrovid works fine EXCEPT that it won't make uncompressed AVI files that work in any editor or software. Yeah, it makes the files, but I can't use them. I might be asking for my dough back.

If you are into soft video, it does work well with Miraizon ProRes, but I don't. Sorry.

So the GoPro Studio Premium (the $299 version) does not allow in/out points either unless it's GoPro footage. Too bad.

So back to Acrovid. (main thing I don't like is that I can't preview video fullscreen, other than that is pretty fast)

Some good news: I could not get the uncompressed AVI to work even after trying the fix I'll post below. Maybe I screwed something up. Anyway, the good news is (and I know you won't believe it) iis that Miraizon ProRes 4444 is actually visually identical, to MY confounded eyes anyway, which as you know are persnickety and particular, at 800%. I can see a difference using ProRes 422 HQ, but even that is pretty good.

So I have a workflow anyway.

Here's what the Acrovid guy said:

"For several codecs including real lossless codecs like lossless Jpeg or Huffyuv you can try by installing FFdshow:

http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/

I've tested it in sony Vegas and worked fine, the installing steps are:

- install ffdshow 32 or 64 bit version (or both) depending on your Vegas/Premiere version.
- open the ffdshow video decoder configuration dialog
- enable Huffyuv and Mjpeg decoders

Now the enabled decoders are available to all software in your system via VFW/directShow, you can enable also encoders in the "encoder configuration dialog"."