Creative Cloud video updates at IBC 2015: a summary

Adobe has revealed updates to its pro video apps in Creative Cloud, though a specific release date was not shared. Adobe will also be showing the new features at IBC 2015 in Amsterdam for the next week. By the way, a separate bug fix update for Premiere Pro CC was released, which may have its own issues for some.

Creative Cloud video updates at IBC 2015 at PVC collects the overviews, video, and details links. This is just the announcement stage though, so 3rd-party perspectives aren't available yet.

ProRes 4444 XQ in Creative Cloud

Apple released a new codec this summer with updates to its video apps, Apple ProRes 4444 XQ, the highest-quality version of ProRes. Arri decided to include ProRes 4444 XQ as a recording option in the ALEXA XT & XR.

The codec isn't available in Adobe and most other QuickTime-aware apps, but you can manually install it for general use with or without installing Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2.

For more, see ProRes 4444 XQ in Creative Cloud at PVC.

Cineform: render quality settings + more in Creative Cloud

Adobe does offer information on GoPro Cineform in Help and especially on blog posts, but render quality settings are a little less mysterious if you visit the Cineform forum. Still, some questions remain even after exploring other resources.

Read the rest at PVC in Cineform in Creative Cloud: render quality settings + more. 

Note that it includes recent clarifications from Adobe.  

In tests here, the important takeaway is that the higher quality options seem to produce smaller files than the lower quality option.

CS Next is CS 5.5

CS Next is CS 5.5 at PVC has details and links to videos and more. New features include Warp Stabilizer, Camera Lens Blur, stereoscopic 3D camera rig, light fall-off, source timecode, & more!

 Continuing updates on CS 5.5 will be available at AE Portal on PVC.

Good sources of news on NAB include ProVideo Coalition. PVC authors like Alex Lindsay, Adam Wilt. and FreshDV are doing video reports.

More this week in After Effects

Here are some AE items new this week that were not already mentioned here:

• Channel effects tutorials on 'luma to alpha' (part1, part 2) from Felt Tips on Vimeo.

• Learning the After Effects Graph Editor by John Kostrzewski on Fuel Your Motionography (more in AE Help, in CMG, and from Mylenium).

• AE Quick Tips #6 Super Smooth Curve from Felt Tips, which also explains the Graph Editor (see Ease and Wiz also, especially Ease and Wizz: alternative keyframe interpolations for After Effects by Chris Meyer).

• Update (pictured) from Mike Cardeiro of his script Trajectory, which lets you align layers in a comp evenly in 3D between 2 nulls, with delay controls for animation.

• ActivateDisabledExpressions, a script by Lloyd Alvarez, will go through selected layers, an entire comp or several selected comps and activate any disabled expressions.

• DuplicateLayers-n-UpdateExpressions, another script by Lloyd Alvarez, will duplicate the selected layers and if any of the layers have expressions referencing any of the layers being duplicated it will update the expressions to point to the newly duplicated layers (watch the demo).

• Update to The LoopMaker script by Lloyd Alvarez, which "loops any layers, footage or comps with one click™."

• Several tutorials and articles on AEtuts.

• OpenEXR workflow in Maya and After Effects CS5 by Guru Vaidya

• A New Trapcode Particular Preset: “Sparkler” – Including Motion Sketch Tutorial by Nick Campbell.

• AE Tutorial – Rusty checkerplate from Shortformvideo

• Both parts of Automatic Animation from Motionworks are up (Auto-Keyframe mode, Motion Sketch, Wiggler and Wiggle expressions, creating motion paths from Illustrator path, Shape Layer Wiggle, Text Wiggly Selector, and various automated effects).

• Dallas AEUG member John Begg put together a few expressions and "imagery to create an easy-to-use CC Sphere project [rendering a planet Earth]. The expressions are hooked to a Comp Light so it appears that moving the light around the scene changes the lighting on the sphere." For similar projects, see AE 3D Earths with & without 'Knowing' lava and Fly around CC Sphered layer in After Effects.

Freeware video file analyzers

A thread on the After Effects-List, mentioned several freeware video file analyzers beyond the obvious information functions in Quicktime and VLC media player:

• MediaInfo (Windows, Mac, UNIX/LINUX)
• MediaInfo Mac
• VideoSpec (AppleScript studio App)
• GSpot (Win)

• VideoHelp has a list of mostly Windows utilities, Codec/Video Identifiers

Google to Open-source VP8 + iPhone OS evil

There are more wrinkles ahead if NewTeeVee is right about Google to Open-source VP8 for HTML5 Video :

"a divide between which video format can be viewed in which browser. H.264-encoded HTML5 video can be viewed in Apple’s Safari, Google’s Chrome and in the upcoming Internet Explorer 9 browser from Microsoft. Meanwhile, Ogg Theora playback for HTML5 video is supported by Firefox, Chrome and Opera. Google hopes to stem that divide by making VP8 open source, providing a high-quality and open alternative to existing codecs. [...]

While an open-source VP8 could end concerns about H.264’s licensing issues and Theora’s quality, questions still remain about whether Google can provide a video standard on which everyone can agree. Microsoft only recently announced support for H.264 for HTML5 playback, and has never been quick to adopt open standards. And Apple, which has been the driving force behind HTML5 video and H.264 playback on the iPhone and iPad, might not be keen on the idea of switching up its codec support on those devices anytime soon."

Update: via @tgaul, iPhone OS 4.0: Now With Added Evil by James Higgs agrees with Steve Jobs on many points but says that Apple will make exceptions on certain development tools, invalidating Jobs' claims. He concludes that:

"What should be clear from this analysis is that the target of Apple’s hostility is not Adobe, but Google [soon an iPad rival too]. Taken together with iAds, section 3.3.1 is a way to preserve Apple’s current domination of the mobile app market. (Of course, that doesn’t stop Apple relishing a further knock to Adobe.) [...]

Instead of a confident Apple heralding the next stage in the iPhone’s development as the best mobile OS on the planet, Thursday’s announcement ensures that Apple now looks scared of Android, and is prepared to act rashly to defend itself. Rather than take on Android with superior features, better build quality, better usability and aggressive pricing, Apple shows its anxiety by hamfistedly trampling all over the people who helped them become the number on mobile app platform in the first place: the developers."

Update 2: it's the nature of business, Tensions Rise for Twitter and App Developers.

HTML5Video.org + Videoonwikipedia.org

Excerpts from NewTeeVee, Kaltura Launches HTML5Video.org, Publishes HTML5 Media Library:

Open source video platform provider Kaltura launched a new site called HTML5Video.org today that is meant to be an industry resource for HTML5 video-related issues. The site is supported by Mozilla, the Open Video Alliance and the Wikimedia Foundation. The launch coincides with the release of Kaltura’s HTML5 Media Library, which enables web site owners to embed videos in their sites through HTML5 without locking out users of older browsers that don’t support Flash-free web video just yet.
[...]
The unveiling of HTML5Video.org comes only one day after the launch of another site promoting HTML5 video to end users. Videoonwikipedia.org, which was launched yesterday by the Participatory Culture Foundation with support from Kaltura and others also involved with HTML5Video.org, wants to get users to contribute more video to Wikipedia. HTML5Video.org, on the other hand, seems much more geared toward professionals, offering business headlines as well as a link to a forum hosted by Kaltura’s open source video developer community at Kaltura.org.

Read more on NewTeeVee.

Reactions to HTML 5 implementations

There was a flourish of stories on the unfinished spec HTML5 or HTTP video last summer that were noted here: HTTP video: reports on Firefox and Apple and Codec Wars 2009. Now that YouTube and Vimeo have started to implement, there's been some reaction from the Flash camp and from Open Source advocates.

Check out Adobe Photoshopper John Nack's Sympathy for the Devil (via John Dowdell) and Mozilla's Chris Blizzard Blasts HTML5 Efforts at YouTube and Vimeo from Beet.TV, which notes that the new HTML5 experiments do not work in the Firefox 3.6. Beet also notes Blizzard's observation that the initiatives are not really open source or free ($5 million/yr) since they use the proprietary H.264 codec, as well essential context provided by Stephen Shankland at CNET.

See also Google talks Chrome OS, HTML5, and the future of software at ArsTechnica and Apple Event to Focus on Reinventing Content, Not Tablets at Wired. Here's Beet with Chris Blizzard from last summer on open source video at Mozilla and the implementation of HTML5 in Firefox:


Update: CDM looks at some of the wrinkles in HTML5 and a Brave, Flash-Free, Open World? Uh… Not So Fast.

Update 2: There have been a few flare-ups over Flash & HTML5, see Teacup, Meet Storm, pt. IV: Adobe Blocking HTML5?, but that's no reason for a potty-mouth, Adobe is "sabotaging" HTML5?? A few other issues were mentioned earlier in CS Next: "PS and AI will be great".

Update 3: the dustup continues in comments to a post by Adobe's John Dowdell, How I want Apple to talk.

HDV & MXF for Mac & Win with ClipWrap & Calibrated

Note to self...

ClipWrap rewraps m2t, mts, and m2ts files into QuickTime movies, faster than transcoding and wothout generation loss. ClipWrap works with most HDV, AVCHD, and AVCLite camera files; Final Cut doesn't need to be installed (they now leverage Perian).

You also can use ClipWrap to transcode files to Apple ProRes (decoder) or Avid DNxHD -- both have Windows playback codecs that can be downloaded and installed for free. To playback HDV rewrapped QuickTime files, you'll need to purchase an HDV codec from Calibrated Software.

Calibrated Codecs were discussed by Adam Wilt on PVC; they let you use use MXF media natively in FCP and on Windows, and use FCP media on Windows and non-FCP Macs:

"Need to use MXF media (P2 DVCPRO/50/HD and AVC-I, IMX, XDCAM) natively in Final Cut Pro, or in Windows NLEs? Need to play FCP-captured or FCP-generated Quicktimes with HDV, DVCPRO50/HD, or XDCAM/HD/EX content on Windows machines, or on Macs without Final Cut Studio? Check out http://www.calibratedsoftware.com/welcome.html.

Importers and codecs available singly or in bundles, from $60 - $110 (with free, watermarked demo versions so you can see if they solve your problems before you spend your hard-earned). I haven’t tried ‘em myself but thought I’d pass on the info, because if this is the sort of thing you need, you really need it."

Canon 5D .mov files crushed +fix

Prolost has been looking at Canon 5D QuickTime .mov h.264 files in the last few posts and has some Crushing News: the crushed blacks associated with the 5D movies is a failure of the AVC decoders in NLEs.

The fix using Apple Color to access the full dynamic range was discussed elsewhere, including by Cineform, which has codecs of many flavors. Other sometimes expensive solutions have surfaced and include codec alternatives to the one in QT: Rhozet Carbon Coder and CoreAVC, although they may pose other problems. Supposedly, utilities like MPEGStreamClip and SUPER can be used but you'd still have to trick the app into not using QT to decode. Movie samples can be found in previous posts like DSLR HD movie samples.

This sort of news seems important because we'll be getting these files to work with and because photographers will now be doing video. That's fine as long as they use Photoshop for video as Russell Brown instructs them to, but more challenging in competition once they clue into After Effects and NLEs.

Update: Prolost reports Quicktime 7.6 Fixes 5D Movies, though the gamma shift and other problems may be lurking; see Prolost post comments as usual. Planet5d is following 5D news...

Premiere & CamStudio solution +screen capture

Filed under obscure Windows reference, via Mathias Mohl on the AE-List...

Premiere Pro doesn't interpret the alpha of the CamStudio 2.0 screen capture codec well. CamStudio is a free screen capture tool; the codec is a recent update. Joseph Labrecque has a solution beyond transcoding in After Effects -- the LZOCodec works with Premiere CS3 once you disable the alpha channel. The LZOCodec can be found at http://usuarios.lycos.es/lzocodec/.

By the way CamStudio seems to perform better than Microsoft's free Windows Media Encoder 9 and of course is far cheaper than Camtasia. Sean Kennedy prefers Easy Video Capture, which can be found among his list of screen recorders for Windows.

On the Mac, it seems that Snapz Pro has competition from cheaper and more recent apps like iShowU, Screenflick, and Screenflow. Plus there's Mouseposé for cursors highlighting, overlays of keystrokes, etc., and a new Mac utility Layers, which captures windows as layers in a Photoshop file.

Update: A roundup of apps and browser tools can be found at Screen Capture Tools: 40+ Free Tools and Techniques.

Update 2: Here's another roundup of Window tools from April 2010 35 Irresistible Free and Commercial Screen Recording Tools.

ProRes QuickTime Decoder for Windows

Apple has posted a ProRes QuickTime Decoder for Windows, which requires Windows XP (SP2) or later and QuickTime version 7.5 or later.

General Specialist adds: "...for true cross-platform goodness you'll still be better off with the free (and in size and quality similar or better) Avid DNxHD codec that also supports an alpha channel." With that and other codecs you can also write not just decode files on Windows.

MainConcept, acquired by DivX, releases MPEG Pro HD 3 plug-in

NewTeeVee explains:

"MainConcept is one of the important players in the H.264 codec business and counts Adobe, Corel, MobiTV, Sonic, Sony, and Panasonic as its customers. This is why it is particularly significant (albeit small in terms of dollars) deal. DivX (DIVX) makes a living by licensing its codec, now used in 40 percent of DVD players sold around the world, thanks to its 'ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.'"

Update: from The Genesis Project, "Main Concept, a company that Adobe has long worked with just announced and shipped their MPEG Pro HD 3 plugin for PC. This new package delivers a variety of new editing capabilities to Premiere Pro 2 and CS3 users including AVC-HD...In addition to AVC-HD, it supports a variety of Sony formats including XDCAM, XDCAM HD and now XDCAM EX." All for just $500.

When to stay in the native codec

Phillip Hodgetts runs down rules of thumb for codec choices in Final Cut Pro in When to stay in the native codec of the source, and when to convert to something else.

P2 support for Premiere; Q4 for Audition 3

from The Genesis Project:
"There is a ton of announcements from Adobe today as we kick off both Photoshop World and IBC. The two bigs ones for me are the announcement of P2/MXF support in Premiere Pro [there's no transcoding or rewrapping] and Audition 3 [Windows-only, but picks up UI parts of Soundbooth]."

Good news for Premiere users. Oddly, Adobe lists the P2 news in the upgrade section of Premiere CS3.

Update: You can buy Premiere or an upgrade from Adobe, which posted a press release somewhere I could find except for Jonas.

new Apple codec: ProRes 422

Apple has posted a white paper about the new codec ProRes 422, there's lively discussion at AppleInsider., and Studio Daily has video of the Apple floor demo.

Avid2FCP has a take in it's FCP6 note: "Clearly aimed at taking on Avid’s DNxHD codec, ProRes 422 is a visually lossless, VBR, 4:2:2, i-frame only codec. It comes in two varieties:

• ProRes 422 - 8 or 10 bit (automatic depending on the source) at 145mbs
• ProRes 422 (HQ) - 10 bit at 220mbs
• Unlike DNxHD, ProRes can also be used for SD."
  

Here's an interesting tidbit from FinalCutPro-L: "Just got off the phone with a buddy who can finally talk - he was under NDA and did some testing with FCP 6 & ProRes.

Mostly he tested the SD frame size. He sees no reason why it can't replace 8 bit Uncompressed and possibly 10 bit Uncompressed as a finishing codec. The highest res SD setting was running about 4.5 MB/sec. On the scopes it was rock solid indistinguishable from Uncompressed. To his eye he didn't see any of the artifacting [as seen by AlphaDogs] for the HD codec. Sounds like PhotoJPEG come back to life.

RE mixed format timeline: DV and 8bit mixed... fully RT. He never tried an ETT, though - can't say if it required rendering but he did say it wasn't the bright green bar but the dim green RT bar. Overall he was impressed that the product was so stable when it got to him. He found a few bugs, all were addressed."