CINE File

What are CINE files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a CINE file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your CINE files.

What is a CINE file?

A .CINE file is a Phantom Cine Video file.

Phantom Cine Video files hold high-speed digital video recordings produced by Phantom cameras from Vision Research, a division of AMETEK. These files capture both the raw sensor output and additional auxiliary data during ultra-fast events, enabling extremely high frame‐rate video recordings suitable for scientific, industrial, or cinematographic slow-motion analysis. The format is used when preserving every detail recorded by the camera is essential.

Vision Research writes these files inside its proprietary software and cameras. Developers may use the Phantom SDK on Windows to read, write, and extract frames, metadata (such as exposure settings, frame timing, analog signals), and auxiliary content. During playback, analysis, or conversion the raw sensor data can be interpolated to full RGB or converted into standard video or image formats.

The format supports both uncompressed raw (sensor) data and interpolated color images, and can also include compressed frames. The files may contain image time codes, analog and digital auxiliary signals, and metadata like frame rate, shutter settings, exposure and color filter array layout.

The file begins with a byte signature marking ASCII "CI" at offset zero, followed by a 32-bit value 0x02000100 at offset four. These header values help identify the format before parsing image frames, metadata blocks, and auxiliary data sections.

How to open CINE files

Important: Different programs may use files with the CINE file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your CINE file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested seven different CINE openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 31, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of CINE files. Remember, different programs may use CINE files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about CINE file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.