Neat Video is a GPU-accelerated denoising plug-in for NLEs, compositors and grading systems, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion and Baselight. It builds device specific noise profiles and applies spatial and temporal filtering inside the host application.

OFX plug in across Windows, macOS and Linux

Neat Video v6 is available as a plug in for OpenFX hosts on Windows, macOS and Linux. Version 6.1 of the Neat Video v6 plug in for OFX hosts adds support for Baselight 7. This extends compatibility for grading workflows using OpenFX on macOS and Linux in that host.

Expanded support in other hosts

According to the vendor, version 6.1 adds compatibility with the latest versions of several major host applications. These include Premiere Pro 2026 on Windows and macOS and After Effects 2026 on Windows and macOS. On macOS, version 6.1 supports Final Cut Pro 12 and Motion 6 from Apple. The plug-in is compatible with standalone versions purchased from the App Store as well as bundled versions of Final Cut Pro 12 and Motion 6 included in Apple Creator Studio. The vendor states that the Neat Video 6.1 plug in functions identically in both cases, allowing users to switch between those versions if required. Support for Baselight 7 has also been added, as noted above, via the OFX plug in.

Default Noise Profile and Filter Preset controls

A key update in version 6.1 is the introduction of new controls to simplify using a fixed noise profile and filter preset when working with a series of clips with the same noise. The stated aim is to speed up the overall setup process when applying multiple instances of the noise-reduction effect to similar materials.

Users can now set the Default Noise Profile using the current noise profile. This is implemented through a new button with a popup menu in the Device Noise Profile panel and through new commands in the main menu under Profile.

Similarly, users can set the Default Filter Preset using the current filter settings. This is available via a new button with a popup menu in the Filter Settings panel and through new commands in the main menu under Filter. When the filter is applied to additional clips in the same series, new instances automatically load the Default Noise Profile and Default Filter Preset.

The improved representation of the names of the current noise profile and current filter preset makes it clear when defaults are in use. Their names are displayed in the Device Noise Profile and Filter Settings panels.

The Input Data Gain section in Preferences is disabled when the Default Noise Profile is used. The vendor states that this is because the actually applied gain is determined by the Default Noise Profile in that case.

Reset controls and minor fixes

Version 6.1 adds a new Reset button in the Device Noise Profile panel and a corresponding command in the main menu under Profile to reset the current noise profile. A new Reset button with a popup menu has also been added to the Preferences dialog. This allows users to reset settings on the current page, reset settings on all pages, or re enable all optional messages and dialogs that were previously disabled.

Neat Video 6.1 is available as a free update for licensed users of version 6. Users of earlier major versions can upgrade with a discount. Demo editions are available for evaluation. As always, new tools and updates should be tested in a controlled environment before deployment in production.

// https://www.neatvideo.com/blog/post/neat-video-61-host-support-better-workflow
// https://www.neatvideo.com/download/history/ofx-plugin

The post Neat Video 6.1 updates OFX and host support first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Sitni Sati is preparing the release of FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max, introducing NVIDIA CUDA acceleration for smoke and fire simulation. The developer reports a performance increase between two- and five-fold compared to CPU-based simulations.

The GPU acceleration targets volumetric fluid effects such as explosions, smoke and fire. It supports both simulation and real-time viewport preview. In official demonstrations, the feature ran on an NVIDIA RTX 4090 and produced detailed motion and shading.

No more memory crashes

A common limitation of GPU fluid solvers is restricted video memory. Sitni Sati claims that FumeFX 7.5’s GPU solver automatically falls back to CPU once GPU memory is exceeded. This prevents crashes and lets complex simulations complete without manual intervention. The hybrid approach allows artists to benefit from GPU speed while maintaining the stability of CPU computation. The developer also states that the GPU solver maintains visual detail and motion quality where other sparse fluid solvers may lose resolution. At press time, this claim has not been independently verified.

What remains to be clarified

As of the current beta, Sitni Sati has not published detailed release notes specifying which FumeFX features are fully CUDA-enabled. It is unclear whether all node types, caches, and modifiers run on GPU or whether some processes remain CPU-bound. Likewise, parity between GPU and CPU results, regarding noise behaviour, reproducibility, and memory consumption has not yet been confirmed by third-party testing.

Implications for production

GPU acceleration promises faster iteration for artists working with smoke, fire, and explosion setups, particularly on modern CUDA-based hardware. The automatic CPU fallback adds safety for heavy scenes that exceed GPU resources. Studios should nonetheless test the new GPU mode thoroughly within their pipelines before relying on it for client work, as simulation consistency and cache behaviour can vary across hardware configurations. FumeFX 7.5 remains in beta. Sitni Sati has not yet announced a release date or updated pricing.

The post FumeFX 7.5: Fire Meets GPU soon first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Noise reduction remains one of the slowest parts of compositing. Whether you’re cleaning plates, prepping greenscreens, or integrating CG inside Nuke, denoising can stall entire pipelines. The freshly released Neat Video 6 tackles that: doubling render speed, halving memory usage, and managing CPU/GPU optimization automatically.

Automatic Performance Tuning

Older Neat Video versions required users to manually enable GPU acceleration and tune performance settings. Version 6 eliminates that setup hassle: it detects available CPUs and GPUs, distributes load dynamically, and adjusts on the fly when resolution, effects, or system load change.
For compositors, that means smoother playback, faster previews, and less downtime during roto or cleanup work.

CPU + GPU Optimization

The new Fast Floating Point Processing mode speeds up rendering without sacrificing image quality. Neat Video’s re-engineered engine now performs parallel processing alongside the host app, reducing idle time in complex Nuke scripts. Depending on system specs, artists can expect up to 2× faster output compared to version 5.

Memory Efficiency for High-Res Comps

Compositors working on 4K–8K plates will notice the difference: Neat Video 6 uses up to 2× less RAM / VRAM and dynamically adjusts GPU memory use. That means fewer slowdowns, fewer GPU crashes, and less reliance on SSD-based virtual memory, extending both performance and hardware lifespan.

HDR Accuracy and Premiere GPU Integration

Neat Video 6 introduces an adjustable gain control that improves denoising on HDR or underexposed footage. Premiere Pro users benefit from a new GPU data exchange path that sidesteps the notorious Lumetri slowdown, cutting render times and avoiding color pipeline mismatches.

Hardware and Platform Support

The update supports Apple Silicon M4 systems and NVIDIA RTX 50-series GPUs, and is available for Nuke (OFX), Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and After Effects on both macOS and Windows. Give the trial a whirl here.

Pricing

• Home edition – Full HD, 1 GPU, non-commercial use, from $80
• Pro edition – Unlimited resolution, multi-GPU support, commercial use, from $130

Conclusion

Version 6 is less about shiny new buttons and more about workflow sanity: automatic optimization, leaner memory use, and shorter render queues. For studios knee-deep in Nuke scripts, that’s enough reason to take notice.

Read more: Official release thread on Neat Video Forum

The post Neat Video 6: Smarter Noise Reduction for Nuke and Beyond first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

At IBC 2025 in Amsterdam, Jason Druss of Adobe’s Premiere Pro team turned the booth into a live editing stage. His demo of Premiere Pro 25.5 showed off what happens when Adobe swallows a plug-in maker whole. Spoiler: the result is faster cuts, fewer render bars, and one button literally called Surprise Me.

Film Impact now plays natively

Druss opened a typical social-media timeline (fine, but flat) and replaced a cut with a VHS Damage transition. Instantly the edit pulsed with digital static, running in real time. No caching, no excuses. The magic: Film Impact’s entire library of transitions, effects, and motion tools now ships with Premiere Pro 25.5. Editors no longer need to install or license Film Impact separately. Everything lives in the Effects panel or via the new Film Impact Dashboard, which previews transitions before you drop them onto the timeline.

The “Surprise Me” aera

Each effect is deeply editable in the Effect Controls panel, position, hue, angle, or motion curves, but Druss’s crowd-pleaser was a big randomise button labelled Surprise Me. Click once, get a new version. Click again, get another. The audience watched him roll through styles until he hit a violet-tinted lens flare that fit perfectly. With 90 base effects and thousands of tweakable parameters, Druss quipped that you could “spend your career without repeating a single transition.” Editors can save any custom setup as a preset and share it with colleagues, useful when you finally hit something great by accident.

Real-time motion and look development

Druss then ditched footage altogether and animated two static PNGs using only Film Impact transitions. The result looked closer to an After Effects comp than a quick Premiere mock-up. He cloned and animated elements with Clone FX, layered bokeh blur and chromatic aberration, and key-framed the strength of the blur. He then toggled on Mosaic, instantly turning the piece into a dancing 8-bit animation, all running live on a 16-inch MacBook Pro, without rendering once. Other look-driven effects – light leaks, volumetric rays, halation, vignettes, channel shifts, now sit a click away from the main timeline. For many quick jobs, After Effects can stay closed.

But is this also working fine on my Lenovo ThinPad P16 ? We all have seen the “Realtime” Demos, and were impressed, only to learn later that there was a huge machine in the back. So, for really testing it in realtime, my trusty workhorse is:

Testing for real!

And I tried hard to put too many effects on my timeline – way more then look good or resaonable, just to see when the timeline would stutter. You can see the result in the intro of my tutorial. Did it work ? You will find out when you watch the realtime vMix screenrecording below.

Tl;DR: All the New Features

Feature	Description / Benefits
90+ new real-time effects, transitions & animations	Dramatic boost in motion capability — new dissolves, glitches, chromatic aberration effects, glows, vignettes, etc. All of these are GPU-accelerated and customizable.
New animation tools	You can animate text, video, graphics using drag-and-drop transitions (less need to round-trip to After Effects).
Live waveform editing	Audio waveforms now update in real time as you adjust volume, add keyframes, or perform ripple/roll edits — making audio edits more visual.
Multi-Transitions editing	You can apply, edit, and manage transitions across multiple audio/video clips simultaneously, improving consistency and speed.
Snappier timeline playback / responsiveness	Under-the-hood improvements to make dragging, skimming, and general timeline interactivity more fluid.
Hardware acceleration enhancements	• 10-bit 4:2:2 H.264/HEVC acceleration on NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs (Adobe Hilfezentrum) • Hardware acceleration for Canon Cinema RAW Light (Adobe Hilfezentrum) • Support for decoding ARRIRAW HDE (High Density Encoding)
New preferences for graphics / font defaults	You can set default fonts for text, subtitles, and captions; import wide-aspect CEA-708 captions properly; and control how graphics preferences behave. (Adobe Hilfezentrum)
Advanced Search / Media Intelligence filtering	The Search panel supports metadata-based filters to refine results.
Label colors in sequence tabs	You can show and change sequence tab colors directly in the Timeline panel to help visually organize your project.
Improved color & metadata handling	Better automatic data range application for DNxHR / DNxHD and PNG files (preserving super whites, sub blacks), improved color management workflows, and precise HDR/SDR export control.
Generative Extend (using AI)	Add frames (at the beginning or end of clips) via generative AI to smooth transitions, extend reactions, or mash up ambient room tone.
Translation of captions / multilingual captions	Automatically translate captions into many languages (over 27) to support global reach.
Import MKV (H.264/AAC) support	Premiere Pro improved its MKV import performance and compatibility.
Export with Content Credentials	You can attach content credentials (metadata about creation / provenance) to your exported videos.
Rounded corners for timeline clips	A more comfortable, modern visual design for clips in the timeline view.
Object Masking (only in beta)	This allows isolating specific areas of footage for applying effects or selective adjustments. Because it is in beta, it may have limitations, be unstable, or change in future releases.

Smoother playback, quicker feedback

Premiere Pro 25.5 also gets more responsive. Druss pressed spacebar, playback started almost instantly. Adobe claims latency below 0.1 seconds between command and action. Audio waveforms stay visible while dragging clips, and users can adjust multiple fades or keyframes simultaneously. Format handling is tidier too: acceleration for H.264/HEVC on new NVIDIA GPUs, improved support for Canon Cinema RAW Light and ARRIRAW HDE, and better import of 16-bit PNG files. It’s not glamorous, but it keeps editors editing instead of watching progress bars.

Premiere on iPhone: serious, not cute

Druss also teased Premiere on iPhone, calling it “craft-grade mobile editing.” The mobile version includes multi-track timelines, waveform display, and access to Adobe Stock assets. Generative AI via Firefly lets users create elements or sound effects on-device. Editors can start a project on the phone, then send it straight to desktop Premiere for finishing, no re-conforming required. For Druss, it’s less about replacing laptops and more about keeping creative momentum on the move.

One editor, one ecosystem

Druss’s booth demo summed up Adobe’s current direction: keep editors inside one app for everything, cutting, motion design, grading, and even sound. By baking Film Impact directly into Premiere Pro 25.5, Adobe removes a plug-in layer while giving back real-time speed and playful control. Still, production teams should test before updating. Adobe hasn’t confirmed whether every legacy Film Impact effect made the cut, and older projects might behave unpredictably. Premiere Pro 25.5 is available now via Creative Cloud. Try the new effects, hit Surprise Me, and see whether the randomness improves your edit or just your mood.

The post Jason Druss makes Premiere sparkle at IBC 2025 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Nils Calles.

Cinema 4D represents a decisive break with its legacy colour system. New projects now default to OCIO (OpenColorIO) with ACEScg as the working render space. Instead of juggling Redshift’s OCIO workflow and Standard/Physical’s ICC-based linear workflow, artists now work under a unified model.

The new pipeline enforces a three-stage structure: input, working, and view. Every texture, material colour, and data map must be explicitly tagged with its source colour space. Rendering calculations occur in wide-gamut ACEScg, which is linear by definition. At output, results are mapped to a display space via a view transform, typically the ACES tone mapper, though OCIO configurations allow alternatives such as AgX or Filmic.

The advantages are clear. Lighting and shading now behave consistently across renderers, with greater fidelity in highlights and shadows, and predictable desaturation in overbrights. But adoption requires care. Legacy projects will not automatically match the new defaults, and asset libraries must be properly colour-managed. Maxon provides templates in the Asset Browser, but the burden falls on studios to test, calibrate, and align their pipelines.

Liquids, UDIMs, and AI in Cinema 4D

Beyond colour, Cinema 4D deepens its Unified Simulation Framework with GPU-accelerated liquid dynamics. Fluids can be spawned from a dedicated Liquid Fill Emitter, or converted from particles using a Liquify Modifier. Once active, fluids respect viscosity, surface tension, and collisions with rigid bodies. Artists can shape results with forces already present in the simulation system. For render, a Liquid Mesher object converts the fluid particles into polygonal geometry.

The system is optimised for speed and art-direction rather than exhaustive physics. It excels in motion graphics and short-form production where controllability outweighs realism. Large-scale fluid behaviour such as foam or spray remains outside its remit, but the system is fast enough to support iterative design directly in the viewport.

Cinema 4D also addresses long-standing UV workflow gaps with UDIM support and texel density tools. UV shells can be freely arranged across UDIM tiles, textures can be packed efficiently, and texel density can be standardised with presets for different production contexts, from game assets to cinematic props. For texturing artists, this means Cinema 4D finally integrates more smoothly with Substance Painter, Mari, and other UDIM-centric applications.

On the organisational side, the Asset Browser gains an AI search engine. It scans the visual content of assets rather than relying solely on metadata, and it runs entirely locally. This ensures that data never leaves the user’s machine, addressing privacy concerns while enabling faster retrieval across large studio libraries.

Redshift: Atmosphere and Efficiency

The bundled renderer, Redshift 2025.0, focuses on both atmosphere and interactivity. Its new Procedural Clouds system integrates with the existing Sun & Sky rig, allowing artists to generate volumetric skies without heavy voxel caches or external plugins. The system balances plausibility with art-directable controls, enabling environments ranging from photorealistic to stylised.

Redshift’s handling of displacement has also been upgraded. Artists can now preview and adjust displaced geometry interactively, with less reliance on dense subdivision. This shortens iteration cycles and lowers memory requirements for complex shaders.

A further improvement is the adoption of Scene Units. Shaders and materials now scale relative to the project’s world units, ensuring that displacement, noise, and procedural textures behave consistently across different projects. This eliminates one of the more persistent sources of unpredictability in cross-scene rendering.

Together, these refinements push Redshift closer to the expectations of large-scale production, particularly for architectural visualisation, cinematic environments, and real-time look-development.

ZBrush: Python Scripting and iPad Parity

ZBrush continues to expand in both desktop automation and mobile parity. On desktop, the arrival of Python scripting allows studios to build automation layers, connect ZBrush to asset management systems, or develop custom batch operations. For technical artists, this is a long-awaited way to make ZBrush play more predictably within pipeline automation.

Surface detail workflows have also been upgraded. The Surface Noise system now supports per-noise resets, alpha transforms, and undo/redo functionality. These refinements make it easier to layer and adjust procedural detail without destructive editing.

On the mobile side, ZBrush for iPad now supports 3D printing export, giving portable sculpting workflows a direct path to prototyping. The interface has been optimised for touch, with a repositionable bottom bar, customisable modifier wheel, and savable UI layouts. These features allow artists to adapt ZBrush to personal working styles, even on a compact device. Upcoming releases promise UV editing and hard-surface modelling tools on iPad, which would push it further toward full production parity with desktop.

Maxon Studio and Cineware for Unreal

Maxon Studio builds on its Capsule system, enabling editors and colourists to embed assets directly into templates. Capsules can now be reused across multiple projects, preserving brand consistency while cutting setup times. This supports large-scale editorial workflows where repeatability and visual consistency matter as much as flexibility.

For real-time pipelines, Cineware for Unreal Engine has been expanded. The bridge now respects Cinema 4D modifiers, creates material instances automatically, and enhances texture tag handling. The aim is to reduce the amount of re-authoring required when transferring assets between Cinema 4D and Unreal, a critical bottleneck in virtual production and interactive environments.

A New Identity for a Unified Ecosystem

All of this comes wrapped in Maxon’s new brand identity. Each tool now has a modular geometric logo, designed to echo the honeycomb motif of Maxon One. Colours and typography have been standardised to emphasise the sense of a single family of applications, rather than a loose collection. Maxon argues that this signals its evolution into a cohesive ecosystem, both visually and technically.

A Word of Caution

Cinema 4D 2026, Redshift , and ZBrush’s expanded toolset bring real technical progress, particularly in colour science, simulation, and automation. But adoption is not trivial. As always: validate before deployment.

The post Maxon Autumn Release: New Colour Science, Liquids, Clouds and a Logo first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

On 9 September 2025, VEGAS Creative Software announced VEGAS Pro 23 and VEGAS Pro 23 Suite, detailing notable performance updates, UI modernisation, and new licensing options.

The centrepiece of VEGAS Pro 23 is the VEGAS Core Engine, a newly branded and re-engineered processing architecture. This engine controls playback, image processing, and GPU acceleration across the entire editing workflow.

At a technical level, the Core Engine introduces a DirectX-based GPU colour-processing pipeline. The engine removes redundant memory copy steps between CPU and GPU by using a redesigned DirectX image pool. This allows frames to remain in GPU memory across the grading and effects stages, which in turn reduces latency and increases timeline responsiveness.

The vendor cites framerate improvements in typical grading workflows: from 45 fps in VEGAS Pro 22 to roughly 184 fps in VEGAS Pro 23. This is a four-fold increase. It is important to note that these values are reported by VEGAS Creative Software in internal benchmarks and should be tested in user-specific production environments before assumptions about universal performance gains are made.

Windows on ARM Native Execution

A significant architectural addition is native support for Windows on ARM devices. The Core Engine is now compiled to run without emulation on ARM processors. This extends to GPU and NPU (Neural Processing Unit) acceleration where supported by ARM platforms.

This means that VEGAS Pro can take advantage of ARM-based ultrabooks and mobile devices without incurring translation penalties. ARM native support is a strategic update, as major vendors including Microsoft and Qualcomm are pushing ARM-based workstations into the professional market. VEGAS Creative Software explicitly states that the application is optimised to use NPU resources on such devices for background processing tasks.

Colour Grading Pipeline: From Docked Panel to ACES 1.3

VEGAS Pro 23 features a reimagined Colour Grading Panel that is fully dockable. This means that users no longer have to switch modes between editing and grading. The timeline remains visible and accessible at all times, while grading controls occupy a movable, resizable dock.

Integrated Tools and HDR Focus

The grading system includes native GPU-accelerated colour correction, touch-friendly controls, and a timeline-linked grading interface. VEGAS states that the rewritten engine provides real-time responsiveness during adjustment, even under HDR conditions. The system supports ACES 1.3, which brings improved standardisation in HDR workflows. ACES [Academy Color Encoding System] is widely used across VFX and DI pipelines – more about it here and here, we talked about it extensivly. With version 1.3, OCIO (OpenColor IO) workflows are integrated, providing reliable colour management across compositing, rendering, and editorial. The grading toolset also includes LUT support for Samsung Log and Apple Log camera profiles, reflecting the growing use of mobile devices for professional acquisition.

Timeline-Integrated VFX Animation: OFX Envelopes

VEGAS Pro 23 introduces OFX keyframe envelopes directly into the timeline. Previously, animating plugin parameters required switching to dedicated dialog boxes. Now, envelopes can be drawn on events or tracks in the timeline, similar to audio automation.

Bézier Curves and Transition Controls

Animation curves can be adjusted with Bézier handles, allowing fine control over easing and interpolation. This system works with any Open FX plugin (OFX standard), meaning both built-in and third-party effects can be animated without modal windows. Currently, this feature is marked as beta. It is therefore functional but still undergoing refinement. Users working in production pipelines should test carefully before relying on it for final delivery.

User Interface: Visual Refresh and Docking

VEGAS Pro 23 undergoes a UI refresh with updated colours, fonts, and icons. The layout is designed to appear more contemporary while keeping the overall VEGAS workflow intact.

Docking on All Four Sides

The application window now allows docking regions on all four sides, not just the standard top/bottom arrangement. This enables more flexible workspace layouts—for example, placing the grading panel on the left, scopes on the right, and media management tools at the bottom. This flexibility is aimed at professionals managing multiple task-oriented layouts, such as grading setups, social-media delivery environments, or VFX heavy timelines.

Rendering Workflow: Use-Case Orientation

The render/export interface has been rewritten to present options in a use-case-oriented layout. Rather than browsing through long codec lists, users can filter by delivery type. Presets are categorised by use case (broadcast, web, social media, archiving), with enhanced search and a favourites list. The dialog also includes an auto-shutdown option for render farms or overnight exports.

Audio Processing: ModernEQ and VST3

VEGAS Pro 23 adds modernEQ, a new equaliser plugin with full VST3 support. It can be applied at the track, event, bus, or mixer level. This provides granular tonal shaping at any point in the signal chain. Because VST3 is an open standard, modernEQ can be combined with third-party plugins within VEGAS’s mixer and routing system.

File Management: Unified Explorer

The Unified Explorer consolidates access to all storage sources, from local drives to cloud-linked storage. In VEGAS Pro 23, it now includes visual indicators that show which files are already used in the project. This small but practical addition helps avoid duplicate imports or losing track of media status.

Trial Experience: Closer to Production Testing

The trial version of VEGAS Pro 23 removes the former two-minute project cap. Users can now test real projects, though export is limited to 720p resolution and balanced stereo audio. Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text features are also included, but on a limited basis. This shift aligns VEGAS with industry practice, offering professionals a genuine evaluation environment before committing to a purchase.

Licensing and Pricing

VEGAS Pro 23 is offered as perpetual licences and subscriptions. Prices listed on the official German site at press time:

• VEGAS Pro 23 (base edition)
  • Perpetual: €219.99
  • Annual subscription: €143.88
  • Monthly subscription: €19.99
• VEGAS Pro 23 Suite
  • Perpetual: €269.99
  • Annual subscription: €179.88
  • Monthly subscription: €24.99

Suite Components

The Suite edition includes:

• SOUND FORGE Pro (audio mastering)
• ACID Pro (loop-based music creation)
• MAGIX Vintage Effects Suite
• Studio Box Mk II Collection
• Hub Starter Pack with cloud storage, stock content, and AI-driven speech tools.

Subscription options vary in Hub quotas (speech-to-text minutes, cloud storage capacity, stock download limits). As with any tool upgrade, readers are advised to evaluate VEGAS Pro 23 within their specific production environment before integrating it into live projects.

The post VEGAS Pro 23 Boosts Engine, Streamlines Colour-Grading, Modernises Interface first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The IBC announcement

At IBC 2025, Adobe confirmed that Premiere Pro 25.5 integrates the full Film Impact transition and effect library directly into the application. The company is emphasising this as both a creative expansion and a practical elimination of a common subscription burden. Until this release, Film Impact was a standalone plug-in collection costing €15–30 per month. With version 25.5, the entire catalogue is bundled into Creative Cloud at no additional cost. Adobe is making this available to all Premiere Pro users beginning 12 September 2025.

Film Impact’s evolution from plug-in to built-in

Film Impact is a developer with a reputation for stable, GPU-accelerated transitions and effects widely used in professional editing. Adobe’s acquisition, reported earlier in 2025, was not simply a brand buyout but an absorption of a mature, commercially proven toolset. This toolset now appears in Premiere Pro without any separate installation or licensing. The effects are accessed in the Effects panel, or through the dedicated Film Impact Dashboard under the Window > Extensions menu, where editors can browse live previews of each transition.

The catalogue is wide. It contains polished versions of dissolves, blurs, and wipes—updated variants of editing staples that now render more smoothly and play in real time. It also includes more aggressive stylisation tools. Earthquake, glitch, distortion, chaos, and VHS-damage are among the more destructive transition types now standardised inside Premiere. For editors seeking more abstract visuals, the library also contains kaleidoscopic transformations and 3D transitions that add spatial depth between cuts.

Crucially, all of these tools are GPU-accelerated. In practical terms, this means an end to the familiar red render bar above transitions that once required preview rendering before playback. According to Adobe, the effects remain real-time even under heavy parameter customisation. This GPU dependence is a direct continuation of Film Impact’s engineering focus before the acquisition, where the company consistently positioned its transitions as faster to preview than comparable third-party solutions.

One unique feature of Film Impact that Adobe has retained is the “Surprise Me” button. Instead of default settings, this function instantly generates randomised variations of an effect, allowing editors to preview unconventional results and select creative alternatives without manually keyframing or duplicating effect instances.

Expanding motion capabilities inside Premiere

Adobe’s strategy is clearly to offload simpler motion design work into Premiere Pro, reducing the need for round-tripping through After Effects for straightforward graphics animation. Several of the new Film Impact tools are aimed at titles and logos. Editors can now transform static text into 3D animated lettering with shadow casting and depth within seconds. Logos can be duplicated and animated using pre-built behaviours, creating the illusion of bespoke motion graphics without building compositions. Titles can be animated using light sweeps, glow effects, wiggling distortions, bounces, and pops. While these animations remain parameter-driven and customisable, they are designed to produce acceptable results directly from their default states, speeding up editorial workflows.

Beyond motion graphics, Film Impact effects now serve grading and look-development purposes. Editors can apply glows, halation, and lens echoes, or simulate atmospheric lighting through volumetric rays. Bokeh effects generate photorealistic out-of-focus textures. Red, green, and blue channels can be shifted independently to correct fluorescent light imbalances. Chromatic aberration is available for stylistic distortion. Blend modes can be applied directly within the effect framework. Vignette tools no longer rely on simple oval shapes, but allow arbitrary warping to match composition geometry. A camera shake simulator is also included, able to add handheld movement to static tripod shots. Collectively, these tools extend Premiere Pro’s built-in grading capabilities beyond simple Lumetri adjustments.

Timeline and playback refinements

Parallel to the new effects, Adobe has targeted workflow bottlenecks in the timeline. For years, dragging a clip within Premiere’s sequence produced only an empty rectangle, requiring editors to guess sync relationships with underlying audio. In version 25.5, audio waveforms remain visible even during clip movement or when performing ripple, roll, and rate-stretch edits. This change is accompanied by markers and keyframes staying visible as well, preventing alignment errors during complex edits.

Another update addresses fading. Editors can now apply and adjust multiple fade or crossfade transitions across clips simultaneously. Combined with last year’s visual fade handles, this reduces repetitive clicking and improves batch adjustments.

Adobe has set a clear benchmark for playback responsiveness: reducing the delay between pressing play and seeing frames to under 0.1 seconds. The company states that significant progress has already been made toward this target, and that further optimisations will follow. This represents a technical focus on perceived latency—an issue that has consistently affected longform editing in earlier Premiere releases.

Codec support and GPU acceleration

Premiere Pro 25.5 introduces new codec handling and GPU acceleration. Hardware decoding of 10-bit 4:2:2 H.264 and HEVC media is now available on NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell GPUs, enabling real-time playback of formats traditionally known for high quality and low file size but difficult decoding. Canon Cinema RAW Light now benefits from hardware acceleration, providing smoother playback and up to tenfold faster exports. ARRI workflows also see support for ARRIRAW HDE (High Density Encoding). In this mode, footage is encoded at 60 percent of its original file size while retaining image data. Premiere Pro can now natively play back this optimised ARRIRAW format without relying on third-party plug-ins.

Small but necessary workflow fixes

Alongside headline features, Adobe has implemented several incremental corrections. Editors can now set a default font for captions and text, eliminating the need to manually override the long-standing default of Minion Pro. Keyboard shortcuts have been extended, making it possible to toggle track mute and solo based on track targeting without mouse interaction. A persistent bug has also been corrected in the Effect Controls panel, where adding a keyframe at the last frame of a clip previously jumped to the beginning of the following clip.

For high-end colour workflows, 16-bit PNG import is now supported, and metadata handling has been improved across PNG, DNxHR, and DNxHD formats, reducing errors when exchanging files with other finishing environments. To improve organisation, new Sequence Colour Tabs allow editors to colour-code timelines, adding a layer of visual reference to complex sequences.

After Effects 25.5

The companion release of After Effects 25.5 includes fewer features, but they target daily efficiency for motion designers. The standout is Quick Offset, a tool that allows multiple keyframes or entire layers to be shifted in time with one click-and-drag action. This eliminates the need to manually adjust dozens of layers individually in large compositions. In addition, zooming and navigation inside the composition viewer has been re-engineered for smoother response, particularly when magnifying to pixel level for detailed work. Cache handling has been refined, improving preview and playback responsiveness.

Availability and scope

Premiere Pro 25.5 and After Effects 25.5 will roll out beginning 12 September 2025, timed with IBC in Amsterdam. The Film Impact integration is included in the main install of Premiere Pro and requires no separate download.

Adobe has not published a comprehensive mapping of Film Impact’s original plug-ins against their new built-in equivalents. It remains unclear whether the entire legacy library has been preserved or whether some plug-ins were excluded. Until further documentation is available, users are advised to compare older Film Impact installations with the new built-in set before migrating active projects.

At IBC, Adobe also showcased new enterprise-level updates for Frame.io, including metadata handling on account level, low-code connectors for workflow integration, and additional sharing and security options. These developments affect collaborative workflows but fall outside the scope of Premiere Pro and will be covered separately.

As with any new release, these features should be tested thoroughly before deployment in production environments. Stability, render consistency, and interoperability with shared project files remain critical factors for professional pipelines.

The post Premiere Pro gains 90+ Film Impact effects – plug-in now built-in first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Theory Accelerated has released a first look at Axiom 4.0, its GPU-accelerated sparse volumetric fluid solver for Houdini. The preview highlights more accurate collision handling, a rebuilt sourcing system, and 5–15% faster simulations.

Cleaner Collisions

Axiom 4.0 improves fluid–geometry interactions, particularly with animated colliders. Simulations show better volume retention and fewer artefacts in tight or complex spaces.

Sourcing Overhaul

The sourcing workflow has been restructured, paired with an updated Output tab for finer control. The new design aims to simplify parameter handling and make feedback loops clearer.

Performance Gains

On the performance side, Axiom 4.0 adopts Intel’s Threading Building Blocks for CPU multi-threading. This brings an overall 5–15% speed increase, especially when running outside GPU acceleration.

Release and Compatibility

Axiom 4.0 is in closed beta with no release date announced. It is previewed as compatible with “the latest Houdini builds” and the upcoming Houdini 21. The current stable release, Axiom 3.3, runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Pricing remains unchanged at $199 (commercial node-locked), $99 (Indie), and free for Apprentice users.

Industry Use

Axiom has been adopted as a faster alternative to Houdini’s native Sparse Pyro solver. It has already been used in production by Riot Games, Valve, and Muse VFX. The solver supports CUDA, OpenCL, and Metal, covering a wide range of GPU hardware.

The post Axiom 4.0 Sneak Peek for Houdini first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The plugin UVPackmaster version 3.4 for Blender adds a practical one‑click Auto Repacking system. This feature enables artists to apply pre‑configured packing options across multiple meshes and automatically repack only those with changes, saving time in iterative workflows.

Texel density control has finally arrived. Artists can now assign consistent texel density values (in px/m) globally or per‑UV‑island. This ensures uniform texture quality in game and real‑time workflows.

Added grouping by vertex colour offers a visual means to arrange UV islands logically. This complements new Option Sets—collections of packing settings stored within a .blend file or as standalone presets UVPackmaster.

The update expands upon prior enhancements documented in the official release notes. Version 3.4.1 introduced Auto Repacking tied to Option Sets, plus texel‑density tools and expert controls such as High‑Precision Topology Analysis. Version 3.4.2 adds vertex‑color grouping, performance improvements in island stacking, a Force Repacking toggle per‑object, and a fix for a critical Blender 2.8–2.9 issue.

System compatibility remains broad: Blender 2.83 and above on Windows 10+, glibc 2.29+ Linux, and macOS 11.3+ are supported. Pricing remains unchanged: a single‑user licence is US $44, while multi‑user Studio licences start at US $159.

UVPackmaster, first released in 2018, remains a high‑performance, GPU‑accelerated UV packing engine. It supports UDIMs, tiled and non‑square layouts, and runs on NVIDIA and (since version 3.3) Vulkan‑accelerated AMD GPUs and Macs.

Full Release Notes (Scroll down!) are here: https://uvpackmaster.com/for-blender/release-notes/

Developers and texture artists should note that new features like Auto Repacking and texel-density tools should be tested within production pipelines before deployment to ensure stability and compatibility.

The post UVPackmaster 3.4 Adds One-Click Auto Repacking to Blender first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Jürgen Firsching.

Node Mill profiles vintage cine and photo lenses by capturing their optical characteristics under controlled conditions, then encodes those traits—coma, bloom, distortion, chromatic aberration, bokeh shape, vignette, color cast, fringing—into pixel‑accurate OpenFX presets. This goes beyond generic film or diffusion emulation; it reproduces measured distortions and hue shifts, not just a soft blur.

Mix‑and‑Match and “Overdrive” Controls

LensNode provides standalone controls for each optical effect and allows users to combine traits from different lenses in one chain—like Canon FD geometry with Helios coma and Voigtländer color cast. A global “Overdrive” slider exaggerates effects for stylized looks, all animatable via DaVinci Resolve’s timeline.

Swirly Bokeh + Depth‑Aware Application

The plugin models individual lens bokeh and allows rotation before convolution. It supports swirly bokeh even for lenses without it originally. LensNode can also use depth maps as input, and includes a built-in lens profile blur map captured from focus chart measurements—addressing edge blur and focus fall‑off dynamically.

High‑Performance GPU + ACES‑Friendly

LensNode runs fully GPU‑accelerated with optimization options for high‑res footage. Reports indicate real‑time playback at 8K on an NVIDIA RTX 3080 with multiple nodes applied. Its linear‑space processing supports ACES pipelines, camera‑log inputs, and high‑bit‑depth deliverables.

Platform Support and Licensing

LensNode is currently available for DaVinci Resolve 18.6+ on macOS 14+ (Metal 3 support) and Windows 10/11 (CUDA GPU required). Linux and other editing platforms are not supported yet.

Early Access licenses cost USD 99—perpetual with two seats (macOS + Windows), free updates through version 1.0 (expected mid‑2025), plus one year of further updates. No trial exists during Early Access. Purchasing and license management is handled via LemonSqueezy.

Lens Library Today — and Roadmap

As of April 2025, the profile library includes lenses such as the Asahi Super Takumar 20 mm f/4.5, Voigtländer Nokton 40 mm f/1.4, Canon nFD 50 mm f/1.4, Helios 44‑2 58 mm f/2.0, and five focal lengths of LOMO Illumina MK1 S35 (with full‑frame variants). More cine glass, including Cooke S4, is planned soon.

Technical and Production Considerations

LensNode may appear more subtle at 4K compared to 1080p, due to resolution scaling behavior. Its developers note optimal quality when applied at full 4K resolution and recommend adding LensNode at final stages. Occasional crashes have been reported—responsible GPU configuration (for example, macOS Metal mode) and early Access debugging are advised.

Final Assessment for Pros

LensNode offers a novel, data‑driven means of introducing vintage lens signatures into post, with granular control, GPU acceleration, and sophisticated optical profiling. It suits projects needing optical matching without vintage glass, stylized video work, VFX lens continuity, or experimental grading. But performance varies, and it is not a substitute for physical lens behavior in all cases. Production users should test LensNode under realistic timelines and processing environments before full integration. Its Early Access status calls for caution in critical pipeline deployment.

Node Mill LensNode

The post LensNode Evolving Vintage Lens Emulation in DaVinci Resolve first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Maxon has released Cinema 4D 2025.3 on June 18 2025. It introduces a GPU-accelerated liquid simulation system, UDIM support in the UV editor, texel-density tools, AI-driven searches in the Asset Browser, and native integration of Laubwerk plant assets. All updates reflect real production needs—though as always, they should be tested before rolling out in client work.

Liquid simulation lands

The update expands the existing particle system into liquid territory using GPU-accelerated Position Based Dynamics (PBD). Users can create fluids via the Liquid Fill emitter or convert existing particles using the Liquify modifier. Liquids expose parameters such as surface tension and viscosity, can be meshed to geometry using the new Liquid Mesh, and can interact with other particle systems, cloth, and rigid bodies under the Unified Simulation System. The solution is optimized for small-scale effects—beer pours or sauce drips—not large-scale FLIP-type simulations. Users can recreate white-water or bubbles using existing tools. That was teased at Cinema 4D 2025.2

UDIM and texel-density tools

Cinema 4D now supports UDIM and UVTILE standards directly in the UV Editor. Tile grids extend indefinitely, allowing UV elements to be moved, rotated, and packed across tiles, with new controls for tile-specific packing. Game-art workflows benefit from texel-density tools offering get/set/match functionality across UV elements, tiles, and objects, with presets tailored to first-person, third-person, and top-down perspectives.

AI searches in Asset Browser

An AI-powered search feature now complements the standard text search in Maxon’s Asset Browser. The feature is image-aware, allowing a query like “furniture” to return relevant results even when metadata lacks the keyword. The searches operate locally, preserving asset privacy.

Laubwerk plants go native

As part of Maxon’s acquisition of Laubwerk, this update adds a parametric Plant object that enables adjustment of age, seasonal variation, level of detail, and display settings directly within Cinema 4D. The complete Laubwerk library now ships as Capsules, while prior LBW assets remain compatible.

Requirements and pricing

Cinema 4D 2025.3 installs over the 2025 base, requiring Windows 10 22H2 or macOS 13.6+; AI Search is not supported on Intel based Macs. Subscription pricing remains at US $109/month or $839/year, rental-only, now bundled with Redshift GPU acceleration.

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Final word

The introduction of native liquid simulation and UDIM tools brings Cinema 4D closer to a full-featured DCC solution. However, this new PBD system is aimed at small-scale effects; larger fluid dynamics will still require FLIP-style tools or external solvers. As always, users should validate stability, performance, and visual fidelity in production-standard scenarios before migrating pipelines.

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Release notes // Cinema 4D 2025.3 – June 18, 2025

The post Cinema 4D 2025.3 gets liquid sim and UDIMs first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Kdenlive 25.04, part of the KDE Gear 24.04 release, is out—and while the update doesn’t scream revolution, it brings a handful of genuinely useful features for editors juggling cuts, color, and codecs. You’ll find improved AV1 support, better OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) compatibility, GPU-accelerated filters on Intel and AMD cards, and a much-needed overhaul of the keyframe interface. The timeline and effects workflow also got a bit of care, which, frankly, was overdue. Production artists know that non-linear editors (NLEs) live and die by timeline usability, so this update might warrant a second look—though as usual, test before deploying in active projects.

OpenTimelineIO, meet Kdenlive (again)

OTIO support was introduced in Kdenlive 23.08, but 25.04 improves compatibility and fixes bugs. This should make interop with applications like DaVinci Resolve and ShotGrid more reliable. The format, developed by Pixar, has become a de facto standard for exchanging editorial data—so the fewer quirks here, the better.

AV1 export, minus the eyebrow raise

Version 25.04 finally adds AV1 encoding using the libaom-av1 encoder, allowing for modern, high-efficiency exports. The option is available in the render dialog, although there’s no mention of hardware acceleration—so don’t expect lightning-fast renders unless you’re on a fast CPU.

GPU acceleration for Intel and AMD users

Previously limited to NVIDIA setups, GPU-accelerated filters now work on Intel and AMD graphics cards using the MLT video framework. This expands real-time performance benefits to more users. Again, worth testing: acceleration tends to be driver-dependent and sometimes acts more like a polite suggestion than an actual performance gain.

Curve editor: keyframing gets an upgrade

A newly introduced curve editor simplifies keyframe manipulation, offering smoother interpolation and a clearer visual layout. If you’ve ever wrestled Kdenlive’s old keyframe system, this will feel like a long-overdue detox. The keyframe toolbar is now easier to access and more user-friendly, though no word on whether it plays nicely under all themes or high-DPI monitors—so double-check your UI scaling.

Timeline & UI workflow updates

Users can now select entire track sections directly in the timeline, useful for batch trimming or moving clips. The search function in the Project Bin has been improved, along with a new “Rating” feature to help tag and sort media clips. Smaller UI tweaks include better visibility for bin clips, an improved project loading dialog, and changes to how transitions are handled when clips are trimmed.

Import profiles & render presets: now more efficient

Version 25.04 updates import profiles and rendering presets to reflect current usage scenarios more closely. It also brings small but helpful features like customizable button layouts in the monitor and easier clip replacement tools. This isn’t flashy, but it’s the kind of UX detail that accumulates in everyday workflows.

Timeline: fading and track priorities

Timeline fading has been simplified—something about “fade from/to black” just got more intuitive. Also new: track compositing priority is now determined by track order, not just track number. That’s important for anyone layering complex transitions or chroma keys.

Bugs, bugs, and the cleanup crew

The release fixes a long list of bugs including:

• Audio artifacts on timeline splits
• UI scaling bugs in the clip monitor
• Color correction filters crashing when applied to image sequences
• Timeline not updating when effects were changed

None of these are groundbreaking, but they hint at a team slowly smoothing out long-standing friction points. Stability remains a work-in-progress—though the release page notes a focus on regression fixes.

Still free. Still open source.

Kdenlive remains free and open source. You can get version 25.04 via the official site or through KDE Gear 24.04. The current release does not list a specific download price (spoiler: it’s still €0), and installation is available via AppImage, Flatpak, Snap, or traditional distro repos.

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While the new keyframe curve editor and AV1 export are promising, it’s worth reminding: version 25.04 may not yet be stable enough for deadline-driven projects. Especially in collaborative or high-resolution pipelines, test before committing. Production environments still need predictable behavior more than shiny features.

Want to see if Kdenlive is ready for your pipeline—or still best left to hobbyist desks? Download it here, kick the tires, and find out.

The post Kdenlive 25.04: Finally, Someone Gave the Timeline Some Respect first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

NVIDIA has made a splash by releasing its renowned PhysX Flow engine as fully open source. This move marks a watershed moment for simulation in film production and postproduction workflows. The transition to an open source model is not merely a licensing change; it gives artists, technical directors, VFX supervisors, riggers, shadower enthusiasts, modellers, and even game developers an unprecedented opportunity to dive into the very code that powers next-generation fluid simulations.

The Technical Anatomy of PhysX Flow

The core of PhysX Flow is asystem tailored for high-performance fluid simulations, optimized to run on modern NVIDIA GPUs. Built to support real-time graphics and powered by advanced algorithms specifically designed for grid- or particle-based fluid dynamics (numerical methods enabling accurate simulation of complex fluid behavior), the engine lends itself well to heavy-duty tasks in both feature films and video games. NVIDIA’s choice to open source this robust engine was driven by the need to foster innovation and collaboration in the digital production arena. With its modular architecture, PhysX Flow allows VFX artists and simulation engineers to integrate or adapt the software into bespoke pipelines, ensuring that the engine can be finely tuned for tasks ranging from intricate water simulations for blockbuster visual effects to large-scale interactive simulations in the gaming world.

The open source release means that professionals now have full access to the underlying algorithms that manage the simulation of thousands of fluid particles in real time. The engine’s capacity to handle high-resolution scenarios with minimal performance overhead is achieved through rigorous optimization on NVIDIA GPU hardware, making it an attractive tool for those who demand both speed and precision. For those who were previously confined to proprietary black boxes, this release opens a window into how simulation stability and performance meet cutting-edge technological sophistication. While many may joke that “if you can’t solve it, at least make it open source,” NVIDIA’s decision ensures that even the quirkiest error can be debugged by a global community of experts, not just an in-house team.

The code is now available for scrutiny on NVIDIA’s GitHub repository, and while the engine itself comes free of charge (thus making price discussions moot), the true cost is measured in the time and effort required to master it. For many studios and freelancers alike, the potential return on investment is high—provided that all new modifications are rigorously validated in the context of actual project requirements. In other words, while it’s tempting to get swept away in the waves of open source enthusiasm, as always, Fact Check: any innovation should be checked before being used in current projects.

The post PhysX Goes Open: Fluid Dynamics Unleashed first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

When we stumbled across Nara, FimLight’s new workflow tool, we had questions – specifically, for Steve Britnell, Nara’s Head of Technical Development and Sam Lempp, the Head of Business Development for Nara. The topics? Nara, Colors, Server Racks and modern compressions. If you want to have a look at the website, you’ll find everything at nara.stream and can even directly book a demo. If you want to know what others think about it: Light Iron has it already in day-to-day use!

Recent key updates include direct media streaming with full color accuracy, deeper Baselight integration for remote scene access (but you don’t need Baselight to use it – Nara talks to pretty much anything), and enhanced project management tools. A tiered user system ensures security and streamlines onboarding. Built on a back-end index with extensive codec support, Nara natively decodes and plays back high-resolution media without the need for transcoding. Its color-accurate streaming ensures consistency across remote sessions, while its flexible project pipeline supports industry standards like ACES and many, many more. Designed for speed and efficiency, Nara optimizes workflow coordination for editors, colorists, VFX artists, and production teams.

DP: Congratulations on Nara—it looked incredible in action. Let’s start with the basics: What’s the idea behind Nara?

Steve Britnell: Nara was created out of FilmLight’s imaging expertise to transform how media is accessed, reviewed and processed. In today’s media industry, massive and complex image files are the norm—whether they’re RAW camera codecs, EXR files used in visual effects, or DCP formats for theatrical distribution. These media formats contain a wealth of information which results in large amounts of data, but this abundance of data often leads to hefty file sizes and intricate workflows. Teams must store, process, and track these files through multiple project stages, which demands robust infrastructure, significant expertise, and sizable budgets.

Traditionally, even a quick review meant enduring time-consuming transcoding—a cumbersome process that wastes resources. By contrast, Nara delivers a streamlined, secure, and fully colour-accurate viewing experience for anyone, anywhere. It eliminates the need for costly conversions, enabling creative professionals to view media in its original fidelity.

DP: Modern post-production pipelines can feel like juggling flaming torches. What challenges inspired the creation of Nara?

Sam Lempp: Modern post-production pipelines can indeed feel like juggling flaming torches, as they demand a complex web of tools, custom integrations, and ongoing maintenance just to keep projects on track. Combined, Steve and I have decades of experience in the media world and experienced first hand the amount of hours and dedication it takes to get things running efficiently – and how quickly things can take a turn. This constant balancing act was precisely what inspired the creation of Nara. Facilities have long relied on a patchwork of products—each solving only part of the problem—while devoting countless hours to manual upkeep and integrations.

By offering a cohesive framework that tackles these problems, whilst still supporting bespoke add-ons, Nara alleviates the burden of juggling multiple systems. As a result, teams can focus on the creative process rather than wrestling with fragmented workflows.

And we handle the integration with our technology partners – currently that is AWS, IBM Spectrum Scale, MASV, pixitmedia, Quantum and Qumulo.

DP: On a typical day in post-production or VFX, where does Nara sit?

Steve Britnell:  Nara’s user interface is intentionally straightforward, presenting users with a clean and visually appealing web experience. The software enables users to browse their storage by project or folder, complete with thumbnails for each media file and a detailed metadata view. At any time, any media file can be streamed directly to the user’s browser, allowing teams to quickly review the content they are working on.

Nara has a unique ability to support every media file format under the sun (almost). Supporting 160+ codecs and formats, including Camera RAW (OCF), intermediary files like EXR, TIFF, JPG as well as complex deliverables like IMF, DCP and Dolby Vision mastered files – all without the need to transcode the media beforehand. It also supports standard web friendly formats like MOV and MP4. This feature makes Nara unique in its available applications, as it can be introduced as a tool at any stage in the pipeline.

DP: How do artists, editors, and colourists actually interact with Nara?

Sam Lempp: Nara enables users to organise files and folders by “Projects,” where a single project can span multiple folders across various “storage silos”. While it may sound straightforward, the ability to consolidate all your files—regardless of their physical location—and make them fully searchable, filterable, AND streamable is a genuinely unique offering. Other applications might allow you to organise or stream files, but seldom both in a single solution and never with such a diverse set of supported file types.

By serving as the central project hub, Nara provides a unified space where every member of the facility can locate and review ANY media. Teams can also share links to ensure everyone references the exact same file, preventing confusion and streamlining collaboration. Users can also securely stream their media to external clients or vendors. This allows them to service their clients in a unique and powerful way. Let’s say their client wants to see a VFX shot in its native format, they no longer have to book in a session to review that shot, or compromise by transcoding it and uploading it, they can simply put that media in front of their client instantly.

DP: Let’s talk technical ecosystems. How does Nara connect to existing post-production pipelines?

Steve Britnell: If you were to ask an editor, colourist, or VFX artist, “Who is most frequently knocking on your door with daily requests?” the answer is likely, “Producers.” According to current Nara users, the platform helps save valuable time in the suite by offloading simple tasks—such as quickly checking a shot, reviewing newly delivered VFX assets, or confirming that a client-reported issue is resolved in the latest WIP. Instead of tying up costly systems and suites for these routine tasks, teams can use Nara to handle them independently. As a result, they gain full autonomy over smaller tasks, freeing the suite for the in-depth creative work that truly demands specialised resources.

Nara does have some very unique and powerful integrations with Baselight which allow users to browse and stream active Baselight projects, as well as add comments and notes to the timeline, giving users a way to work even closer to their artists and get a true picture of their current project. We also plan to release integrations with other NLEs and finishing software in the future.

DP: From an IT perspective, what does a Nara system look like? Is it a box in the studio, a cloud application, or something else entirely?

Steve Britnell: Nara is primarily an on-premise solution, consisting of a 1U rack server, GPU and NVMe. Fitted with a fast network card supporting anything from 1Gbe to 100Gbe depending on the facilities infrastructure. We can also deploy in a facility’s cloud estate, as an AMI. Whether in the cloud or on premise, Nara supports all types of storage such as NAS, SMB, S3 and Native distributed storage filesystems such as IBM scale, Quantum StorNext, Weka, Qumulo etc. Nara is not shy to storage, if you are unsure if we support it, the answer is we most likely do – just ask our friendly support team!

And, regardless of how Nara is deployed or what storage it mounts, the user will always interact with it via a browser – meaning there is no requirement to have an installer on the browsing device.

DP: What hardware set-up is necessary to run Nara and achieve full-quality playback?

Steve Britnell: We have a minimum spec for a Nara server which mostly puts a minimum spec on the CPU and GPU capability. A top spec GPU is required due to the intensive decode requirements for a lot of the media we support, and the CPU needs to be able to keep up with the index demand and multiple user access. However the device used by the Nara user can be any Laptop, desktop or tablet which supports Safari, Chrome or Firefox. We currently do not support mobiles. 

Nara does have the ability to play out to a JPEG-XS decoder and output to a high fidelity calibrated monitor. In this case there is a hardware requirement on the client end. This uses our FL-REMOTE software which you can find information about on our website.

DP: Let’s talk connection speeds. How fast does my internet need to be to enjoy a “butter-smooth” experience with Nara?

Sam Lempp: Nara allows users to customise their streaming output according to bandwidth requirements—whether that means lowering bitrate for slower connections or maximising it when faster speeds are available. Within the browser, Nara supports bitrates anywhere from 1 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s. In fact, we’ve successfully streamed images on notoriously poor trade-show Wi-Fi; if you can stream 8K R3D media at peak NAB, you can stream it anywhere (laughs).

The real bandwidth demand lies on the server side (where the magic happens). As long as Nara resides on the same production network as your storage, it will have sufficient bandwidth to stream the media. Additionally, Nara locally caches data on the server, reducing the frequency of reads from your production storage and ensuring a smoother experience overall.

DP: How does Nara compress video for streaming while maintaining quality?

Steve Britnell: Bandwidth will always demand compromise in bit-rate, but image quality isn’t solely about bitrate—accuracy is what plays the most significant role. FilmLight has over 25 years of colour expertise, bringing unparalleled know-how to Nara. Our colour engine is fully integrated into the platform, ensuring that every frame is precisely managed from source to stream. Users can even configure their own custom colour pipelines without sacrificing simplicity or accuracy. While bitrate is important, it isn’t always the key factor in achieving an accurate image; what truly matters is viewing the content consistently, with accurate colours maintained throughout.

DP: How do you ensure that colour, dynamic range, and resolution are preserved so the viewer gets the “original”?

Sam Lempp: Nara leverages the very same colour engine as Baselight—trusted by professionals worldwide to deliver Hollywood blockbusters and record-breaking OTT series. This powerful engine uses camera-native SDKs to ensure that each file is processed precisely according to its manufacturer’s specifications, while also adhering to industry standards for codecs and formats. With Nara, users can customise their colour pipelines per project, enabling advanced workflows such as ACES, RED IPP2, ARRI REVEAL, or any bespoke pipeline they choose.

DP: Colour needs calibration—what’s “good enough” for screens receiving streamed footage, and how do you ensure it?

Steve Britnell: For the highest level of accuracy, we always recommend calibrating your monitor. However, modern displays—like Apple’s XDR—already offer impressive precision. Nara automatically detects each device’s colour capabilities, so it will not, for example, stream HDR content to a screen lacking HDR support. In most cases, users can simply access Nara through a web browser without needing to calibrate their display, and still benefit from a highly accurate image.

DP: What’s the reaction from users so far? Any feedback that made you think, “That’s why we built this”?

Sam Lempp: We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback, and it’s been incredible to discover just how versatile Nara really is. At FilmLight, we’re naturally immersed in the realms of colour and finishing, so seeing Nara applied to such a broad spectrum of workflows—beyond what we’d typically be involved in—has been the most rewarding aspect of its release. We’re working closely with our customers and are always developing our solution to ensure Nara meets their specific needs – we look forward to continuing this journey.

DP: Every product ends up with some unexpected “off-label” uses. Has anyone done something crazy or unexpected with Nara yet?

Steve Britnell: Given Nara’s unique capabilities, we’ve had the opportunity to demo it in some unconventional settings. It never gets old seeing the reaction when Nara streams back high resolution OCF media or a finished DCP whilst we’re drinking coffee at a local coffee shop using our 5G phone Wifi, or whilst on a train back from IBC during an impromptu demo. This really resonates with people interested in how they can give more autonomy to remote staff and how they can improve their workflows between remote facilities.

DP: What’s next for Nara? What can users expect in the short term—say, in the next year?

Sam Lempp: We’re making significant progress on a range of new features, with a major update planned around NAB. One key area involves expanding our secure streaming capabilities—currently, users can stream media live to clients, and we’re now working on making this asynchronous. In other words, clients will soon be able to access their media whenever and wherever they choose, without needing a live session. All whilst leveraging their existing infrastructure.

We’re also introducing transcoding within Nara, allowing it to serve as an internal render engine. This lets teams integrate it directly into their core pipeline, for use cases such as easy rendering of stills or QuickTime clips from specific timelines or shots without adding extra load on artists.

Furthermore, we’re adding tools for semantic data generation, giving users the option to manually tag media and folders or leverage ML models to automatically tag faces, places, and objects for improved searchability. Alongside these features, we’ll be rolling out enhanced user access controls, so facilities can organise teams by project and assign features accordingly. And there’s still more to come—but we’ll keep a few surprises under wraps for now!

DP: Let’s get ambitious. Where do you see Nara—and production pipelines in general—in 2035? Will it be all AI and holograms by then?

Sam Lempp: It’s remarkable that in 2025 the status quo is that viewing media in a facility without Nara is often a painful experience, with countless steps required to achieve something that is seemingly so simple yet in reality is extremely complex. So yes, we have big ambitions for Nara and absolutely see it as a central part of M&E workflows moving forward.

Steve Britnell: ML and AI are of course huge topics of discussion, with more and more mind bending technology being released each week. It’s still unclear how these developments will ultimately shape our industry, but something will always remain – we will always have a desire to create our own stories. For us to continue doing this, we have to make sure those working on said stories are able to collaborate effectively and efficiently on the media they are using, wherever it may come from or whatever form it might take.

The post FilmLight sends your frames! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Let’s start with transcription: The value of a new feature is, of course, extremely dependent on your workflow and specific needs. But for documentaries, especially with interviews, AI-based text recognition (only in the studio version) is perhaps the most useful new feature in 18.5. It can even be helpful in feature films if the director likes to let the actors improvise.

We tested speech recognition on an entire feature film in order to test it under critical conditions, such as music and strong background noises. Even on a modest MacBook M1 Pro, it ran surprisingly quickly at 4 minutes and 15 seconds for an hour and 42 minutes of film. But then the typical behaviour of today’s AI became apparent – the result was somewhere between Wow! and What? Sometimes we were extremely impressed when it still recognised the text correctly despite the film music, where we had difficulties ourselves and had to listen several times.

But there are also a lot of results that don’t (yet?) replace humans. In passages with long periods of silence or only quiet noises, it started to hallucinate. And not just in German, although we had switched from automatic to our language. Chinese or Korean text could still appear from time to time. Or absurd poetry such as “If you think the body Bugün? Cve is that giant?”

And who says AI isn’t creative? Word creations that probably don’t appear in the internal dictionary were, for example, “Kapitaneverbräucher” as an interesting alternative to “Kapitalverbrecher” or a nightmare that mutates into “Eiltraum”. Sometimes, however, the context is ignored in such a way that “photo album” can become “fodder album” when spoken quickly.

All of this may be rather amusing, but word turns that change the meaning, such as “What happened?” instead of “Did what happen?” can easily be overlooked. Strangely, sometimes even longer, clearly understandable passages are completely ignored. Conversely, the AI occasionally inserts a short text passage several times, which actually only occurs later in the film. In short: you can’t get by without careful checking and manual correction, although the function is better than in Premiere.

Editing assistant

Nevertheless, the AI can save a lot of time, especially when editing, because the recognised and, if necessary, corrected text remains linked to the image. If you have selected a text passage, of course also via text search, the corresponding point in the film is shown at the same time. A moving cursor appears in the text while you play the video. As corresponding cut points are also set temporarily, a section can be cut into the timeline immediately. This works in both the Cut and Edit pages. The corresponding functions can be found directly in the transcription text window, from playback buttons to insert or append to setting markers and creating subclips.

There are also text functions such as search and replace, changing the font size and optional display in black on white. Only major changes to the text length in this window can have unintended side effects when editing. Therefore, there is a copy function for the external use of text, but no paste function. The backspace key crosses out selected passages, but does not delete them. This results in the passage being omitted during editing. Of course, you can also export the entire text here if required. The text window can be freely configured and moved to a separate monitor.

Subtitles

As the transcription is based on text and timecode, it makes sense to generate subtitles automatically in a similar way. The “Create Subtitles from Audio” function is available in the timeline menu for this purpose. This takes a little longer than the transcription, around three and a half minutes for half an hour of film. After that, the subtitle track contains clear texts if the speaker, in this case Cullen Kelly, was clearly audible. This time we tried a tutorial from Blackmagic (BM for short), in which the voiceover was completely clear and could even be heard without background music (it works!).

Now we wanted to create German subtitles for this video using colour management, as no German version exists in this case. In principle, this also works if you simply enter German instead of English in the dialogue box for the title generation, but unfortunately such an internal translation is not really convincing. We have therefore renamed the exported *.SRT file to *.TXT and had it translated by the respectable DeepL. Unfortunately, this is only possible with the full version, as otherwise the time codes and line breaks in the file are not retained (but there is a test period).

We only had to rename the result to *.SRT again and were then able to import it as a subtitle file. Thanks to better technical conditions, the text recognition in English was already more accurate, as was the translation by DeepL. Nevertheless, it is essential to review the foreign-language version and correct it if necessary. This applies all the more to the German translation, as even DeepL does not yet have a complete grasp of technical terms such as those used in this complex topic. What, please, is a flat log state? The appearance of a log file..

So here too: Trust (in AI) is good, control is better. Nevertheless, it can save a lot of time in both use cases, depending on the sound quality and level of sophistication of the language. You will want to revise the formatting of the subtitles for high-quality jobs, e.g. only a minimum time interval can be specified in the dialogue and different speakers are not recognised. Finally, line breaks and timing are not always perfect.

Classification

Last but not least, another delicacy of the AI for audio: it can classify the sound of all clips according to criteria such as dialogue, effects, music or silence. It adds sub-categories to these categories if it has recognised something, such as sirens or dogs barking. These terms appear in the audio metadata under “Category” and “Subcategory” and can of course be corrected or added there. You can then sort the material into “Smart Bins” on this basis – making your work even easier.

Relight

Let’s move on to the image, where the AI has also learnt something new. Relight is intended to simplify tasks that previously required complex Power Windows with tracking and therefore could not take into account the spatial situation in the image. Similar to Depth Map, Relight calculates the spatial constellation in the scene. On this basis, you can then place a directional light source, a point light or a spotlight and subsequently change the lighting.

Once again, this is as amazing as it is difficult. Just as Depth Map cannot replace a green screen, the separation from the background is also problematic here. This can already be seen in the map preview: The AI has recognised the spatial situation correctly, but the mask is not clearly separated from the distant background. If we try to soften the lighting in the foreground, the result is unfortunately a “halo”.

Although Relight offers very versatile adjustments and even a connection to the tracker, this fundamental problem cannot be solved with this alone. You need precise masks or a key again. An additional ‘magic mask’ can help to a certain extent, but it is not always clearly delineated enough. On the other hand, it is clear that there is considerable potential with green screen if the background is replaced anyway and the lighting situation needs to be adjusted afterwards.

Another use case would be “Day for Night”, or rather twilight instead of night. If you can’t replace all the lamps with more powerful ones, they often can’t compete with the rest of the light. In this case, the function is very well suited to convincingly amplifying the light in their surroundings. The advantage here is that the angle to the light, especially in buildings, is correctly taken into account. Because you often need several light sources for this, but the effect is computationally complex, you can use an analysis for several nodes. Casey Faris shows this quite well in a YouTube tutorial.

To understand the function: Relight does not generate a light source itself, but only defines its area of influence in 3D space. The result is a mask with grey scales, which then controls the effect of all the usual grading settings. Incidentally, the surface map is compatible with the method often used by 3D software for the alignment of surfaces. Such image data, usually called “normal maps”, can be exported and imported for corresponding tasks. This opens up far-reaching possibilities for the integration of real video and CGI.

Blackmagic Cloud

Previously, only the project data was exchanged in a cloud account at BM. The transfer and synchronisation of proxies or even raw material had to be done via a Dropbox or Google Drive account. This was obviously not always easy, so BM now offers its own cloud storage (currently still in beta). This costs 15 US dollars a month for 500 GB of storage space. For comparison: Dropbox Plus costs 12 euros per month or 99 euros per year, so you can use 2 TB of storage space, but can only exchange up to 2 GB of data per day.

Google’s cheapest offer initially costs 1.99 per month for 100 GB. This makes the BM Cloud seem quite expensive. But apart from the fact that you can cancel at any time, it is also more convenient. With the right settings, proxies are automatically generated and synchronised in the background. In addition, the desired storage space can be adjusted at any time, with precise billing after cancellation, even for parts of a month. The Project Libraries still cost an additional 5 US dollars.

With a fast connection, DaVinci Remote Monitor can be used to stream a session in DR to another location. The image quality is so good that it is even possible to judge the image on a calibrated monitor.

All computers must be equipped with DR Studio and with Apple Silicon or for Windows and Linux with RTX Nvidia GPUs, other GPUs are currently not supported. You can use the free app of the same name on an iPad or iPhone. In addition, all participants must have a BM Cloud account. Of course, the connections are protected with a session code.

Improvements and additions

So much for the most spectacular functions in the studio version. The AI-based Depth Map previously found in DR is now also available in Fusion. Magic Mask has been given new fine adjustments, similar to conventional keys, with an additional parameter for “Consistency”. This allows you to better define uneven mask edges over the course of the clip. For this to work, a “stroke” must exist over a sufficient number of individual frames.

You will often use the cache for such work, especially on somewhat weaker computers. If any inexplicable errors occur, it usually helps to simply delete the cache and regenerate it. It doesn’t run smoothly yet, especially when combining AI-based tasks and tracking with masks. In addition, you should not work with reduced “Timeline Proxy Resolution”, the other options for smoother work with limited computing power work better.

Timelines can now be quickly saved as individual backups and you can set the colour management for each timeline separately. The cut page has been given many new functions, including subtitling including the speech recognition described above, simpler split edits, as well as cut detection and the optional creation of empty spaces in the main track. Anyone still struggling with interlace video will breathe a sigh of relief, as the cut can be correctly limited to the full frame limit.

The Media Page now offers the export and import of timelines in OpenTimelineIO format. Timelines can be transferred directly to the render queue from here, with immediate selection of a preset and the storage location. When rendering individual clips, the complete originals can be output instead of the edited version. Power Bins can now also be exported or imported. DR also understands the latest XML format from Final Cut Pro.

Fusion now recognises the USD format (Universal Scene Description), which is becoming increasingly widespread and is also supported by the free Blender. There is also a specialised toolset including MaterialX Framework and support for USD Hydra renderers. Multi Merge simplifies the combination of several layers and a native Depth Map can be found in the studio version
the studio version. Clean Plates and Anaglyphs now have GPU support, and the splitter has also become much faster. Many will also be pleased with the 3D extrusion of shapes, with bevelled or rounded edges if desired. Corresponding shapes can also be designed with the sPolygon Node.

New formats

The latest SDKs have been integrated for BM and RED cameras, and XAVC H and HS from Sony now also work. Apple Log is supported, but unfortunately still no ProRes RAW. Playback of AC3 sound is finally available under Linux and Macs decode AAC with low latency. Compression to ProRes, AV1, H.264, H.265, MP3 and AAC is now offered for the MKV container, plus FFV1 in MKV or QuickTime. Customised render presets can be written as XML files and can be transferred to other systems to achieve identical results (provided the hardware encoders play along).

Speed

HDR material can be graded faster. On Apple Silicon, the flat noise reduction has become significantly faster, but the biggest speed gains this time are for the AI tools on the Nvidia GPUs with TensorRT. The first time the current version is started on a corresponding computer, an optimisation run is performed. As this is still a fairly new process, BM has cleverly provided a switch-off option this time. But even with newer AMD GPUs, such as the RX 7900, there are impressive speed gains for the AI tools.

Comment

With so many new features, users should be quite satisfied, shouldn’t they? There’s even more detail, including some long-cherished wishes. But unfortunately this time Blackmagic has managed to unleash an extremely unfinished version on the world. Presumably the IBC was the occasion to snatch a software from the developers’ hands that would have been more suitable as a public beta. Even the hastily delivered 18.6.1 still caused considerable problems. Only 18.6.2, which we tested, runs reasonably smoothly.
For the future, we would like the developers to concentrate a little more on bug fixes and a little less on new features.

Speed on PC hardware
We would like to provide you with a few more benchmark results from PCs for our test of Mac Studio from DP 23:05. Thankfully, these were created with the dedicated help of several members of the German DR forum. They also showed that 18.6 was mostly faster than 18.5.

A Ryzen 9 3950X with 128GB RAM and the RTX 4090 with 24GB VRAM was already way ahead with 18.5.1, with 6:11 at UHD and 15:57 (!) at 8K. The values for H.265 (Setting Master) and DNxHR HQX 10 Bit were almost identical. 

A Ryzen 7 5800x with 48GB RAM and an RTX4070 managed 13:25 in UHD in DNxHR, but needed significantly more at 21:05 due to the lack of a hardware encoder for H.265. this computer did not manage 8K. On the Intel side, a "Hackintosh" based on the 13900KF with 64 GB RAM and the Radeon RX 6900XT was quite fast in UHD with 11:40, 8K was not tested.

Under Windows, an Intel i9-10940X with 64 GB and the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti needed 22:08 for H.265 and 21:22 for DNxHR HQX.  An i9-9900K with 32 GB RAM and the GeForce RTX 3080 was significantly slower. Under DR 18.6, it took an hour and 6 minutes for H.265, and even a little longer for DNxHR. 8K was not tested.
An i7 9700K with 32 GB RAM and the inexpensive GeForce RTX 3060TI needed one hour and 34 minutes for UHD in DNxHR and two hours and 12 minutes for H.265 in 10-bit (8K was also out of the question here).  The detailed results and their authors can be found here: bit.ly/bmd_forum

Another useful benchmark for Neatvideo is here, including the results of common devices: bit.ly/neatbench

The post Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve – the Sequel first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

Premiere & After Effects

One of the most important innovations in Premiere Pro is text-based editing, which represents a completely new variant of the editing workflow. Text-based editing means that you edit the automatic transcription, just like in a Word document. With text-based editing supported by Adobe Sensei, clips can be automatically analysed and transcribed so that editors can simply copy and paste sentences in any order, which is immediately displayed in the editing window. In addition, transcripts can be searched in the transcription window to identify exact words and phrases.

Another important new feature is automatic tone mapping and log colour detection, which allows editors to mix and match HDR footage from different sources in an SDR project to achieve great looking, consistent colour. This eliminates the need for editors to use look-up tables (LUTs) or manually match footage to achieve pleasing images.

Premiere Pro also offers significant detail improvements and presents the fastest version ever released. In addition to improved performance, new features include automatic background saving, system reset options and an effects manager for plug-ins. GPU acceleration for AVC Intra and professional formats such as ARRI RAW, RED RAW and Sony Venice V2 as well as GPU-accelerated video scopes, transitions and title templates ensure responsive editing so editors can now work with 8K material in the timeline.

Collaborative editing enhancements include sequence locking, which allows active editors to lock a sequence so that it is uneditable by other editors until it is released. Presence indicators show who is working on released projects. In addition, “Work Offline” allows editors to continue working offline and publish changes after the fact without overwriting the work of others when they are back online. Frame.io support included in Creative Cloud enables secure sharing, collaborative review and project management for Premiere Pro edits, including direct export, upload and sharing capabilities.

Finally, Premiere Pro offers enhanced format support for RED V-Raptor X, ARRI Alexa 35 and Sony Venice v2 cameras, as well as expanded speech-to-text support for Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

And here’s what’s happening in After Effects:

• The Properties panel now provides quick access to important animation settings and displays the relevant controls in a context-sensitive way. This saves time and reduces the learning curve for new users.
• The new ACES and OpenColorIO features ensure consistent colours when sharing assets with other post-production applications. This makes it easier to create predictable and photorealistic images. You can read more about this in DP 22:06, where we spoke to Victoria Nece about the beta version.
• Other features include faster layer selection in the timeline, multi-frame shape rendering and new keyboard shortcuts for selectable track matting (i.e. coloured tracks).
• Plus a whole host of in-app bug fixes for potential workflow problems, system performance optimisations, simple interfaces for activating and deactivating plug-ins and diagnostic functions for resolving bottlenecks in caches and presets. This helps users to solve common problems themselves without having to rely on IT experts.

Firefly!

Adobe has also unveiled the beta version of Adobe Firefly, the first model of a generative AI product family designed to help users safely and quickly generate content for commercial use. Adobe is exploring a range of approaches for Firefly, including text-to-colour enhancements, advanced music and sound effects, fonts, text effects, graphics and logos, powerful scripting and B-roll capabilities, and Creative Guide features. By the way: you can find a first test of the beta version in next week’s DP 23:03!

Frame.io

Adobe has enhanced its video collaboration platform Frame.io to support photos and PDF documents. In addition, Frame.io offers advanced security features such as forensic watermarking to make the platform the most secure for creative collaboration. The platform is used by nearly 3 million creatives and allows content to be stored, managed, reviewed and shared in real-time in a secure cloud environment. New enhancements include support for PDF documents and the ability to transfer RAW photos from the camera to Frame.io’s cloud platform. The security features of Forensic Watermarking allow data leaks to be investigated with audits and guarantee the highest possible level of security for high-quality content.

The post Adobe at the NAB first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Jan also coordinates customer projects, takes care of meeting deadlines for deliveries. Before founding Cinegy, Jan‘s career included business unit manager at the former software developer Integraph Computer Systems (ICS), business development manager at Access Graphics, a subsidiary of the conglomerate General Electric, and sales and marketing manager at the IT company Cinegy. marketing manager at the IT company Aist Medialab AG. Jan is an alumnus of the University of Hamburg, where he studied history.

DP: What are the advantages of Daniel2?

DP: You say Daniel2 offers three key advantages: lower usage of of the system bus bandwidth, lower storage space/bandwidth consumption on the hard on the hard disk or in the network, freeing the CPU for other tasks. How did you and your team achieve this?

Jan Weigner: Unfortunately, this statement is only true to a limited extent and in ideal cases. If applications are adapted to the advantages of Daniel2, then one can achieve significant performance leaps that otherwise cannot be achieved even with the most expensive hardware. But if you look at Daniel2 like an easily exchangeable codec à la AVI or Quicktime, you will still achieve performance advantages, but not nearly as much. but nowhere near as much. To take advantage of a GPU-centric codec, the application must have a GPU pipeline into which the Daniel2 codec is integrated.

„Don‘t open your life jacket until you‘re off the plane!“ is another way to sum up Daniel2. If I use the CPU to decompress my video data, which then has to be shovelled by the CPU from system memory into the GPU, then we have a similar scenario. Ideally, the CPU is degraded to a data shovel, shovelling the compressed Daniel2 data back and forth – and leaving the rest of the work to the GPU, which can do it much faster. However, we have to admit, with the latest CPUs, which also have more and more CPU cores and faster RAM, we are now also getting very far. With just one 16-core AMD Epyc processor, you can achieve an encoding speed of over 800 fps 8K Daniel2, which is more than you can deliver in image data with eight BMD Decklink 8K Pro SDI cards, more than 32x UHD60 channels.

DP: What sparked the idea for Daniel2?

Jan Weigner: Daniel2 is a further development of our Daniel (V1) codec, which is already almost twenty years old. „Video for Windows (VfW)“ AVI codec with the main focus on preserving the alpha channel, i.e. the ability to preserve transparency in the output. The many problems with the AVI format were the initial spark, along with the official end of Windows support for VfW. We switched to MXF as the format and wrote Daniel2, the first native Nvidia GPU codec that can completely unload the CPU. This development process took several years until we had the first pure Nvidia Cuda video codec.

DP: Who else was involved in the development of Daniel2?

Jan Weigner: As a company we have been developing video codecs for over twenty years. Our team is partly recruited from AIST times. Maybe someone still remembers MoviePack? The software was sold almost a million times. Even then we developed our own DV codecs, MPEG1 and then MPEG2 codecs. Then came XDCAM and with our own H.264 codec also XAVC and AVC-Intra and -Ultra. We refrained from developing our own HEVC codec because we consider the pure CPU implementation of an HEVC encoder to be a waste of energy.

HEVC cries out for hardware acceleration, which is included in all common GPUs and also some APUs (CPUs with integrated graphics unit). During the development of our H.264 codec, we had already tried to accelerate it with Nvidia GPUs using Cuda but this quickly turned out to be impossible. The design of the H.264 encoder does not allow the sensible use of a massively parallel (GPU) architecture. architecture. The experience gained with Nvidia GPUs, especially Cuda, then flowed into the design of the Daniel2 codec.

DP: Why was Daniel2 developed with PC hardware in mind?

Jan Weigner: My six-year-old Dell XPS15 notebook with Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics is fast enough to cut 8K:60 using Daniel2 in Adobe Premiere – or play 8K:60 smoothly using our free player.

DP: Which projects would Daniel2 be disadvantageous for?

Jan Weigner: In reality, many editing projects remain in the codec format in which the recording took place natively, which also makes sense in many cases, as transcoding can cost time. If a camera records directly in ProRes, for example, then it is usually also edited in ProRes. So the productivity gain has to be big enough to justify a move to Daniel2, which is not always the case for small projects. When shooting directly in Daniel2 or rendering directly in Daniel2, this problem does not exist.

DP: What technical hurdles were cleared during development?

Jan Weigner: On the fastest GPUs, such as the Nvidia RTX 4090, we achieve around 4000 fps decoding and over 1500 fps encoding in 8K. The problems remain the same: The RAM is too slow and the system bus too small. The fastest PCIe-based graphics cards are are still based on PCIe 4.0 and are thus far too narrowly connected to feed the monster – consisting of thousands of GPU cores. More than 300 fps of 8K data will not pass over the PCIe bus, at least until PCIe 5.0 arrives, which will then allow for doubling, which is still far too little to fully utilise an RTX4090.

Conversely, of course, you can say that a much smaller GPU will do. We can save the planet at the same time because we burn much less energy. Or the unused 80 per cent GPU performance of the RTX4090, which I could at most utilise with image material generated directly on the card, remains for other tasks. 8K60 Daniel2 real-time encoding on an RTX4090 card uses about 4 per cent and 8K60 playback about 1.5 per cent. These values are so small, one can almost speak of background noise. A GPU fan does not start for Daniel2 8K60 encoding or decoding. With 32K or 64K, of course, it‘s different.

To achieve this speed, we have reworked every aspect of the codec over many years. RAM is slow, even on the latest and fastest graphics cards. Any RAM access, any avoidable operation that would require RAM access, has been avoided. The codec arithmetic has been tailored precisely to the optimal processing capability of GPUs. All together, it took almost five years of development work.

DP: The Cinegys website says: „Daniel2 aims for the same place in the production workflow as Avidss DNxHR, Apple‘s ProRes, JPEG2000 or Sony‘s XAVC.“ What similarities does Daniel2 share with these codecs?

Jan Weigner: Daniel2 is a DCT codec like MPEG2 or H.264; but it is an I-frame codec, so each frame is compressed individually, just like DNxHR, ProRes and JPEG2000. With XAVC, there is also a long GOP variant that also includes the adjacent frames. DNxHR, ProRes and JPEG2000 are wavelet codecs, just like RED RAW. XAVC is a DCT codec. We are talking about a nano-DCT codec in Daniel2, which shares some features with wavelet codecs like JPEG2000, such as progressive decoding and the option to compress lossless.

Progressive decoding means that if, for example, I have compressed an 8K video in Daniel2, but only select HD as preview in the editing programme, then I only have to read a fraction of the data from disk or over the network – and only need 5 per cent of the performance compared to 8K. In production, this means that proxy workflows become superfluous. Daniel2 can scale and convert colour spaces at the same time as decoding – and is faster than copying the same amount of uncompressed data from A to B in memory. Of course, Daniel2 still supports transparency using the alpha channel, and does so so efficiently that the alpha channel can always be left on. When it is empty, it does not cost any extra bandwidth or memory.

DP: The Cinegy website says: “All old dependencies and old codec architectures have been left behind.” Are there any disadvantages to this?

Jan Weigner: Catch 22 is what you would say in English. In other words: the world has not waited for another codec. To get more support for Daniel2, Daniel2 would have to be better supported. No camera manufacturer will include Daniel2 as a format unless most editing software supports it. No editing software manufacturer will support Daniel2 unless most camera manufacturers support it.

For Adobe CC (Premiere and AFX) we have had free Windows and Mac plugins for years, now also for MacOS ARM. But the Adobe customer has to find and install the plugin themselves. On top of that, the Adobe codec plugin architecture is not designed for GPUs, everything has to be copied again from the GPU to the CPU’s memory and then back again, which is idiotic.

Daniel2 is by far the fastest codec for Adobe Premiere, but with direct Premiere integration a further performance increase by a factor of three to six would be realistic.
We have been talking to manufacturers like BMD about Resolve for over four years. You only have CUDA and only Windows, they said at the beginning. In the meantime, Daniel2 also runs on Linux, MacOS, iOS, Android, OpenCL, Metal, and so on – but Daniel2 on Raspberry Pi4? Check! Jetson Nano/Nintendo Switch? Check! Intel ARC GPU? Check! Maybe one day we’ll get to BMD and Daniel2 will become an integrated part of Resolve. We can already export today, but that’s less interesting.

Cineform was one of the best codecs of its time and has dissolved into irrelevance at the latest since the GoPro takeover. As with Betamax, Video 2000 and VHS, the best technology usually never wins, but market power. We could shoot 8K 60 4:2:2 10bit on the latest iPhone with Daniel2 if the camera could. But at least 4K60 4:2:2 10bit would already be possible. Our Daniel2 codec has been ported to iOS for years. It’s just that Apple won’t let us (or anyone else) get that close to the iPhone’s camera hardware to make it a reality.

DP: For which type of media output is Daniel 2 most suitable?

Jan Weigner: Daniel2 is not suitable for Internet streaming in the conventional sense, and thus not for the usual live-streaming-YouTuber. There are a number of application scenarios in the broadcast sector, but these are now eclipsed by other industries and application areas. Daniel2 now scales up to a resolution of 4 billion x 4 billion pixels = 16 trillion pixels (18 zeros); this is well beyond what Premiere and After Effects support.
The most interesting areas at the moment are: desktop virtualisation, video surveillance, monitoring, AR/VR/XR, gaming and hyper-video walls.

DP: In which areas would you like to improve Daniel2?

Jan Weigner: We use Daniel2 in our own cloud products, sometimes for cloud-based playout within the AWS cloud. Daniel2 is hardly suitable as a delivery format, the data rates are too high for that, but within the AWS cloud I hardly have any bandwidth problems. Thanks to Daniel2, we can increase efficiency to such an extent that we can deliver the same playout features as the competition – in comparison to the competition, respectively on many times smaller AWS Cloud instances.

We do need a GPU as part of the instance, but it can be very small. Furthermore, using Daniel2 as the playout format leaves the Nvidia H.264/HEVC hardware unused and can be used for delivery encoding or decoding SRT Live input. For a FullHD playout channel, we only need a single CPU core, also thanks to Daniel2. This is just one application scenario. With Daniel2, we can offer an alternative to SMPTE 2110 broadcast workflows that can easily scale up by a factor of ten using the same hardware.

DP: Looking back, what would you do differently in the development of Daniel2?

Jan Weigner: We wasted a lot of time trying to get people who were never interested in working with us. The innovations have not been happening in broadcast for a long time. UHD still hasn’t caught on in linear television. In Germany, real HD on ARD and ZDF would already be an enormous step forward. We’ve been doing 8K for five years and now much, much higher resolutions. I don’t have to look for customers for this in the TV or film sector. Gaming and AI are fields that we concentrated on too late.

DP: In the near future, what developments await us in the in the world of codecs?

Jan Weigner: The next version of the Daniel2 codec is on the way – and it will be even faster, require significantly less bandwidth and offer better quality. That covers the horizon for the next two years. What will be in five or ten years, I can only guess. Resolutions will increase in any case, but I dare to doubt that this will happen through the TV sector. Gaming and AR are more likely. Daniel2/3 is the ideal codec for AI training. Faster than any hardware-accelerated JPEG or H.264/HEVC/HEVC decoder, with no resolution restrictions but progressive decoding. AI training image databases encoded with Daniel2 can be pushed through the AI cluster much faster.

DP: How do you view the fact that RED, or rather James Jannard and team, are taking legal action against competitors?

Jan Weigner: We’ve been following the action from the beginning. That RED ever received this trivial patent is a disgrace to the US Patent Office. There is clearly prior art (also called “prior art”. In patent law terms, refers to the technical and other knowledge at the time of the patent application. – Editor’s note). The RED RAW format is JPEG 2000. The fact that RED got a patent on a certain form of debayering is astonishing, as there is no technical innovation behind it. Others have brought better solutions to the market before.

DP: Was there a point in the history of Daniel2’s history that makes you particularly proud?

Jan Weigner: Various national American TV stations would not be on-air without Daniel2. Virigin Media’s first UK UHD channel (hosted in the AWS Cloud) could only be launched thanks to Daniel2, as the performance of the AWS instance was not sufficient at the time.

The post Daniel2 Dynamo? Next-gen Codecs! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.