Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 25, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The AV media-management tool “Kyno” from Lesspain Software has repeatedly caught our attention. Since the tool officially became available for Windows with version 1.4, we have taken a closer look at it. You can read our tests from our DP issues here for free.
An Overview of the Kyno 1.6 New Features
In a sleek interface, Kyno has so far offered not only material review and metadata capture, but also postprocessing, media organization, transcoding and various export interfaces with editing applications, Excel & Co. Since our last test (1.4), this spectrum has expanded with the now-released version 1.6. Features we wanted have also made it into the update, including:
- Offloading for safely copying media data
- Metadata in the team can be exchanged between users
- Naming Engine: new “Paste & Rename” function
- R3D RAW support for working with the RAW format
- Frame.io integration (Beta)
- Fade-in & out filter when transcoding clips
Offloading
Checksum-verified copying of media – offloading – was one of the features we had been missing in Kyno. But now it is here: with Kyno 1.6, all workflow steps from review & backup through to sending to the editing application can be completed without interruption and without changing software. The data from camera media is secured through the use of checksum verification with the industry-standard Media Hash Lists (MHL).
Metadata in the Team
The new import/export function allows teams to edit and export metadata such as markers, tags, descriptions, etc., and pass it to other team members independently of the media data. They can then apply the metadata to their own copy of the media data and, if necessary, combine it with local metadata.
Red RAW R3D Support
Users of the Premium version can now finally work with R3D material from Red cameras. The RAW format can now be reviewed, organized, transcoded or transferred without restriction in Kyno.
Naming Engine
The new “Paste and Rename” function allows users to use Kyno’s Naming Engine when batch copying, further simplifying ingest processes and material organization. The Naming Engine now also has a global, continuous index to ensure that consecutive numbers are correct during repeated batch operations such as transcoding or export.
Frame.io Integration
Kyno 1.6 allows seamless integration with the Frame.io collaboration platform, giving teams a direct workflow for delivering dailies with metadata via Frame.io. Material reviewed and edited in Knyo can be uploaded in just a few steps. However, this new feature is so far only in beta and available on request for team sizes of more than 10 users. If interested, you can contact Lesspain Software.
Further Changes
Alongside these new features, Lesspain has also taken care of further changes intended to make the workflow easier. The filter option when transcoding now allows, for example, the addition of fade-ins and fade-outs, each with a checkbox and control for the desired duration. Furthermore…
- LUTs are now applied to thumbnails as well as exported still images.
- Marker & subclip statistics are now part of the report function
- XDCAM-specific codec information is now displayed in overview metadata.
- HEVC rewrapping to MOV is now possible via the transcoder.
- Stereo tracks are now marked as such in Premiere
- the list view has various new optional metadata columns.
- there are new filters for finding files (folder name and date range)
- Custom Package Deployment (part of Kyno’s enterprise extensions)
You can find the complete list of all new features in the release notes.
Availability
Kyno 1.6 is available in in two versions – Standard & Premium Edition – for macOS/OS X (from 10.10.5) and Windows (from Windows 7). You can find a comparison of the two versions here. The tool starts at 59 euros for students; the standard package regularly costs €159.
More information: To the Kyno website
