LumaTouch has released LumaFusion 5.3 for iOS, delivering several workflow improvements as a free update for existing users. Editors can now apply any transition to multiple selected timeline clips by double-tapping in the Library. The Color and Effects Editor consolidates blurs, styles, and distortions into a single control to make room for incoming third-party plugins. A new search function in the presets library allows effects to be located by name.

Timeline handling gains batch addition of head and tail transitions or cross dissolves via the Add Clip Menu, plus a track height adjustment in Preferences. Clip previews can now be set to full fit mode or match the timeline’s fit mode. Creator Pass subscribers receive three additional transition sets: Circular Wipes, Mod Lines, and Anchor Slides.

Plugin API Debuts

The 5.3 release also introduces LumaFusion’s first third-party plugin architecture for iOS. According to LumaTouch, the system is an internal API based on Apple’s CoreImage CIFilter framework, extended to allow advanced capabilities such as custom plugin UIs. Developers can request access to the API, create plugins as CIFilters, and test them in a developer build of LumaFusion before release. LumaTouch confirmed they evaluated OpenFX but chose a customised approach for performance reasons.

First Plugin: PaintX for LumaFusion

The first tool built for the new architecture is PaintX for LumaFusion by CoreMelt. Available immediately as a $19.99 USD in-app purchase, PaintX offers paint-based retouching and effects with integrated planar tracking, based on Mocha. Tasks include painting out unwanted objects, applying tracked colour corrections, digital makeup, warping, and repair. Each effect is tracked with a single tap after drawing the stroke. PaintX is sold directly by CoreMelt.

Platform Availability and Pricing

LumaFusion for iOS and macOS is priced at $29 USD as a one-time purchase. Versions for ChromeOS and Android are available on Google Play and the Samsung Galaxy Store. The Creator Pass subscription, formerly Storyblocks for LumaFusion, costs $9.99/month or $69.99/year and includes speed ramping, enhanced keyframing, 12-track editing, adjustment clips, Multicam Studio, FCPXML export (iOS), and the Storyblocks royalty-free library. Enhanced features can also be purchased individually for $19.99 USD.

Caution for Production Use

As with all new software versions and APIs, professional users should test LumaFusion 5.3 and any third-party plugins within their own pipelines before deployment in active projects.

The post LumaFusion 5.3 Lands on iOS with New Workflow Tools and a Door for Plugins first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

This will be a short review – not least because I’m really enthusiastic about the tool, which is admittedly rare.

Do you really need it?

After the initial praise, I have to say that I doubt whether the Checkr will be used as much as it deserves. I have referred to the use of colour charts in many workshops – but I have never seen it used in any production myself, at least none that I have been involved in. Especially if you colour correct yourself and don’t really need it – except when the tools in Resolve don’t always work as far as Resolve’s automatic recognition procedure is concerned. If you wanted to counteract this – at least until now – you had to use colour charts manually, but this was only time-saving to a limited extent and usually quite inconvenient. Unhandy, sensitive and not really standardised. This has changed with the new Checkr video. And before anyone says anything: that’s not a spelling mistake “Checkr Video” is the name Datacolor uses.

There are now also so many different colour checker boards that it can be tedious for the colour grader to select the right module in Resolve using the auto-recognition function. But with the Spyder colour checker, this can be done manually using waveforms and vectorscopes and with any software that has halfway usable grading tools, including Media Composer, Premiere, Final Cut, etc.

Use in front of the camera

Enough adulation, how do you use it? Ideally, we hold it in the main light source or next to the face; depending on the image section, it can also be held under the face (pro tip: be careful, the head casts shadows). It is important to say this loudly (and repeatedly) to anyone who touches a colour chart: Do not touch the colour fields themselves with your fingers, as the slightly acidic skin grease destroys the colours.
Once you have the colour chart in the picture, slowly wiggle it vertically and horizontally. This not only looks funny, but above all ensures that the shiny black surface is at least once in the picture without reflection, thus providing maximum black for contrast. If you’re shooting with studio lighting: put it on a tripod. And if you have to employ an extra useless assistant (someone’s nephew)..

Ideally, we should also not overexpose (or temporarily reduce the aperture when exposing high key). It is also important to mark the shot as a separate clip and make sure that these clips have been exposed once for each lighting situation for all cameras. You can give this to your colourist as a separate collection and save a lot of time when colour-matching very different cameras.

Use in post

The colour warper in Resolve is still quite new and is best suited for colour matching. In all other programmes that do not have one, the Hue vs. Hue and also the Hue vs. Sat controls should be used. However, the latter require more time (especially in Final Cut or Premiere) than the same tools in Resolve. The colour warper is also available as a plugin from Nobe – is.gd/color_remap – it’s really worth the money and we’ve been fans of it for years. If you want to know exactly what’s in the latest version, you can take a look at Uli Plank’s text from page 70 onwards. And to be fair: The 3D LUT Creator by Oleg Sharonov was the first to bring these functions “Conveniently” to the people – See DP 19:03, or in full text here: is.gd/dp_3dlc

Colour grading

Before we do anything with the frames, it is necessary to optimise lift, gamma and gain according to waveform. Colorwarper is then the tool of choice – in comparison, with Hue vs. Hue and Hue vs. Sat you have to use two different tools one after the other and alternately, where you also have to set the colour vector points first, which is particularly time-consuming in Final Cut.
In the colour warper, you can work directly and can already touch the vectors. Only if too many vectors were previously preset, then you should reduce them to six.

Conclusion

The Checkr belongs around the neck of every cameraman or AC or VFX supervisor. And as soon as several cameras of different types are involved, it generally does no harm even with VFX shots if no others are used!
But one more tip: If the part is regularly used outdoors, then you should get a new one every year or every two years (the Checkr costs around 150 euros), because these colours also fade over time, especially due to UV radiation in the sun!

The post Spyder Checkr Video first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Michael Radeck.

Our test device was well equipped, almost the maximum, with an M2 processor, 16 GB RAM and 1 TB of space. The latter is mandatory, as the highly recommended 16 GB are not available with a smaller SSD. Included are 8 CPUs, 10 GPUs and 16 neural engines. A test installation on an older and much weaker iPad was not refused (using iPadOS 16.0 and the A12 Bionic chip). But the installer immediately points out that it only runs in HD and that the memory is too small for some tasks. The bigger handicap for slightly older iPads is probably the question of how to get the videos onto the device. Apple’s “Lightning” connection only provides USB 2 speed and Wi-Fi is also not a serious alternative for video data. Our device, on the other hand, has a USB-C port that also supports Thunderbolt.

Unfortunately, the disc speed test from Blackmagic (BM for short) is not available for the iPad; we measured with Jazz Disk Bench Pro. The internal SSD managed a full 3 Gbps when reading and 1.36 when writing. A fast, external SSD with Thunderbolt achieved 2.4 Gbps read and 1.2 write. But even an inexpensive SSD with USB-C should be completely sufficient, a Samsung T5 read 360 Mbps and wrote 164. Incidentally, the same SSDs on the laptop with the BM test achieved slightly higher values, so the data cannot be fully compared. Unlike with Mac OS or Windows, data carriers do not have to be logged off here, but logically they should not be in use when pulling the plug. Don’t leave them connected all the time either, as SSDs can drain the battery over 1-2 days.

The device’s 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR screen is one of the finest Apple currently offers (the smaller iPad is not XDR). With SDR, it manages 600 nits and is perfectly suitable for working outdoors – hey, it’s spring! If you want to work with HDR, you can even get 1,000 nits and locally up to 1,600 (it has mini LEDs for backlighting). Anyone looking at HDR material with this should almost be dazzled. The principle-related disadvantage is slight blooming around strong highlights, which in my view is completely tolerable. Anyone who hates the notch on current MacBooks or iPhones is well served here: the bezel is wide enough to do without it.

An external display is supported by M1 or M2 CPUs up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz. But apart from the inflexible programme (more on this later), its use is also not easy due to the only socket on the device. Despite enormously long runtimes – we still had 80 per cent energy left after rendering an hour of film – you still have to charge from time to time. The best choice is therefore a screen with Thunderbolt that also supplies the iPad with power, such as the 32UL950-W from LG. It doesn’t have to be the much more expensive OLED, but it is recommended for HDR. Of course, a device with a display port also runs natively on USB-C, but where do you get the power from or plug in external discs? For all other solutions, you’ll have to pack a hub again.

The socket remains free with fast and reliable Wi-Fi with AirPlay, which is now supported not only by TVs but also by some monitors. But don’t be fooled by claims such as almost 100 percent P3 coverage: By design, these are not control monitors. You can read about the problems of calibration, especially of OLED devices, in great detail from my colleague Michael Radeck. He regularly conducts tests for DP, most recently in DP 23:02 on page 30. One more thing: I/O devices, such as the UltraStudio Monitor 3G, unfortunately are not supported by BM on the iPad. You can at least set the internal screen to “Reference Mode” so that functions such as “True Tone” or “Night Shift” don’t interfere.

The camera equipment is similar to the iPhones with 2 wide-angle lenses, one of which is for “Centre Stage”, which can automatically keep you in the picture. There is also a LiDAR. Personally, I don’t find it so convincing in terms of artificial “bokeh” (reduced depth of field) due to the lack of resolution. However, it is extremely useful for the photogrammetric capture of objects or rooms in 3D, which is significantly improved. The camera can also optionally record in UHD (from 256 GB internal memory) in ProRes – according to Apple’s advertising. But you won’t find it in the regular camera app, as the codec is currently only supported by FiLMiC Pro. However, this was recently switched to a subscription model and is now quite expensive. Embarrassing, Apple!

DaVinci Resolve

Unlike the version for Mac OS, DaVinci Resolve (DR for short) is only available in the App Store. The free version is offered there, the studio version is not exactly imposed on you. The discreet “Buy Studio” button is in the Library Manager at the top right. The offer also appears when you call up a function of the full version. At around a third of the price, it is quite cheap compared to the version for other operating systems, although BM has clearly put a lot of work into it. The launch went smoothly here. But there are reports that it is better to restart the iPad after installation and then get started.

You are greeted by the cut page, which is currently the place for editing. If you don’t like it, you should stay away for the time being. I presented the operation in detail in DP 21:06 on page 100, including the Speed Editor – download it for free here: is.gd/bmd_speededitor. This would be highly recommended for the iPad, but unfortunately weighs about 100 g more than the iPad itself (685 g). Darren Mostyn also has a very good video on the Cut Page: is.gd/darren_cutpage. At least BM has solved the pen operation quite well. I would even say that it is absolutely essential, even on the larger iPad, because it is one of the device’s strengths. It doesn’t have to be the sinfully expensive Apple Pencil 2 for DR, we found a no-name product for a good third of the price (alright, it’s called “Mils”).

The pen not only looks almost the same as Apple’s, it even has largely the same functions. Even “hover scrubbing” works when previewing effects or LUTs, but with our pen only at a slightly shorter distance than the original, which takes some getting used to. Contactless charging and angle-controlled colour application in painting programs are quite fine things. In DR, the pen helps with precise trimming, connecting nodes and especially when drawing freehand masks. It is also useful in the colour page for the precise adjustment of colour wheels or sliders instead of using fingers, however small they may be. It should be clear that no control panel is supported here – who wants to lug that around?

Input and output

For now, there is nothing more than Cut and Colour. The material is imported via “Media” in the cut page. All common variants of H.264 and H.265 up to 8K are supported here, as well as BRAW and most photos. Other RAW formats, from Arri to Venice, do not work. Not even the DNG image sequences from BM’s older cameras can be imported; they only appear as stills. ProRes is of course supported, with M2 even via dedicated hardware. ProRes RAW is still not, although it appears with an image in the file selection – but the operating system takes care of the thumbnails. Cineform, on the other hand, works, in addition to MOV even as AVI, but DNxHR does not. This means that material can be transferred in high quality from PCs.

Output is via “Export”, as with “Quick Export” in the previous Cut Page, the Deliver Page is still missing. There you will only find H.264, H.265, ProRes 422 HQ and settings for direct output to YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Dropbox. H.265 is in 10-bit when “Master” is selected, but unfortunately with 4:2:0 subsampling. Stills from the Gallery can only be exported as DPX. Unfortunately, no proxy generator is offered yet, so you have to do this on another computer or one of the cloud devices. On the other hand, thanks to hardware support, you can work with all variants of H.264 or H.265 in the original, as well as in ProRes and even in BRAW. We were able to easily use 25p material in 12K BRAW in a timeline with UHD.

The connection to the BM Cloud works well, we had no problems transferring a four-hour documentary (but the Cloud is still beta). Only the somewhat rudimentary chat function is difficult to replace with better programmes on the small screen. If you want to find out more about collaboration in the cloud, you should definitely read the detailed article by Bernd Klimm in DP 23:02, further information can be found in my article on teamwork in DP 22:05. What is annoying here is the exclusive support of Dropbox (under “Share”), while Google Drive is already available on the cloud devices as an alternative. In the future, Dropbox can only be used on Apple’s internal SSD, which will be full sooner rather than later with video.

One more thing about the hack circulating on the net, for which you need a keyboard. Practically any keyboard with Bluetooth works on the iPad, just like the mice if required. In fact, almost the whole program has already been ported to the iPad, but is not yet available to users. Until now, the usual Option Command K keyboard shortcut can be used to access the settings and unlock the other pages. You might be disappointed, though, because in our tests trying out other pages led to a crash after some time. But you can assume that more is in the works.

Operation

A keyboard is less important than the pen, because BM has adapted the operation quite cleverly to the smaller screen. The software even works on the smaller 11-inch iPad. The side function areas now deactivate each other so that only one is accessible at a time. This works very well via touch or pen, but it is irritating that the viewer is moved back and forth. Nevertheless, I could imagine that this would also be an elegant solution for laptops such as the MacBook Air, where the screen is hardly any bigger. Zooming in the viewer with two fingers is only possible in the colour page, with Cut a full screen is always shown (as was previously the case in the full version).

The Media Pool and Lightbox are missing from the Colour Page, which is understandable on such a small device. Some people will also miss the RGB Mixer, 3D, Colour Match and the additional clip info. This should be bearable for work on the move, but one area is problematic: the motion effects are also missing. DR Studio does have both Noise Reduction (NR for short) and Motion Blur among the filters, but as in the version for Mac or PC, this is much slower for some unknown reason. Of course, we also compared the speed of other complex functions.

A manual for the iPad version is not yet in sight, and despite Hover Scrub there are no tool tips to be found. If you are familiar with the previous version, you can find advice on switching back to Darren: is.gd/darren_tour. A more detailed video for absolute beginners is available from Casey Faris at is.gd/casey_crashcourse. As the iPad version is not drastically different, the free tutorials from BM are also helpful: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training. These finally include books in PDF format for version 18.

Despite the “Stage Manager”, a second screen is not very helpful with DR. If you have a mouse or touchpad, you can move the programme there. However, it cannot be scaled freely and only offers two fixed sizes, obviously for 11 and 12.9 inches. The text size can be set in the system, but this only leads to overlaps in the GUI. Other programmes make better use of such a configuration, e.g. you can work in Affinity Photo on the iPad and see the image large on the external screen at the same time without a GUI. DR, on the other hand, does not offer Clean Feed, nor can you outsource the media pool, scopes or the lightbox (the latter is not yet available anyway).

Performance

As the iPad already showed good performance with demanding codecs, we used an M1 Pro laptop to compare performance. In each case, we transferred via the cloud with identical settings and tested Motion Blur, Speed Warp, Magic Mask, Aperture Diffraction, Dirt Removal, Film Grain and Depth Map in addition to NR. The laptop was between 0.5 per cent (for Motion Blur) and 95 per cent (Aperture Diffraction) faster than the iPad. On average, it was a good 50 per cent. This corresponds pretty much exactly to the GPU cores: 10 on the iPad and 16 on the laptop.

In a few cases, the iPad was even faster, as in the analysis for Face Refinement. An iPad with M1 was not available for comparison, but Darren compared this at is.gd/darren_m1_m2. He came up with 30 to 100 per cent more performance with M2. The latter with ProRes, which is certainly due to hardware de- and encoding.

In most cases, our initial estimate was shockingly high and then normalised. With one exception: NR took almost four times as long on the iPad as with the same settings on the laptop with the function in the colour page for Motion Effects. That’s very annoying! After all, it can happen that you have to test a shot under poor lighting conditions on the move to see whether it can be used with NR or whether it should be reshot. Unfortunately, like many useful plug-ins, NeatVideo is not yet available for the iPad. Only MotionVFX has managed to port its plug-ins (with the exception of those that rely heavily on Fusion).

In this context, the question arises as to whether the iPad is throttled under continuous load. After all, there is no active cooling, whereas our M1-series laptop never got too warm in any test. The iPad exported one hour of film in HD in just under 25 minutes. At a room temperature of 28 degrees, it clocked down quite quickly from 3.5 to 3 GHz, sometimes even to 2.8 GHz. When it is really challenged, the iPad also goes down to 1.7 GHz, i.e. around half. It didn’t help much to remove the cover, but it never switched off. The laptop was almost twice as fast during long rendering sessions.
We rarely had crashes. In one case, it was a non-compatible plug-in for a project from the cloud, which was therefore not licensed on the iPad. It showed its watermark very briefly, then DR went away. So you have to be careful when transferring projects. The other case was due to insufficient memory: The attempt to add simulated fog to a clip using Depth Map plus Fast Noise led to a crash in UHD. We used the CPU-x app to monitor the memory load, and it did indeed approach 100 per cent shortly before the crash. The same effect was calculated in HD without any problems and used about 30 per cent of the memory.

The iPadOS itself never froze or crashed. Another test, because depending on the application, you may need quite a few Bluetooth connections. We tested it with the Speed Editor, pen, keyboard, mouse and high-quality headphones. There were no delays or sound interference, Apple obviously has this well under control. The use of an external screen, on the other hand, is less reliable and less useful for DR than with a laptop. The iPad cannot be deactivated despite the keyboard and mouse.

Comment

Yes, you can realise and publish a complete production for social media on an iPad with DaVinci Resolve alone – if you don’t need overly sophisticated effects in UHD, a calibrated screen, foreign RAW formats or special plug-ins. Does this make sense compared to a similarly equipped MacBook Air, which is also comparable in price?

In addition to the power supply, the laptop would have two USB-C ports available, support an additional screen and professional monitoring via I/O devices. It weighs almost twice as much, but comes with its own backlit keyboard.

However, the built-in screen is hardly any bigger on the move, the iPad version utilises the surface area more skilfully and offers much more brightness for HDR. The cameras in the iPad are better, even if filming or taking photos with them looks a bit strange. The greatest strength is the operation via touch or stylus. Graphic designers who create illustrations as well as videos outside the home are usually delighted with this.

The post Tech demo or working tool? DaVinci Resolve on the iPad Pro first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

Non-linear video editing with computers (NLE for short) has given us enormous freedom. Not only the fiddling with adhesive presses and cotton gloves, synchronised tape machines or even toxic carbon tetrachloride in magnetic magnifiers from the early days of videotape are a thing of the past. today, “cuts” are non-destructive and can be altered at will (sometimes all too often). But the whole thing has one disadvantage: the individual components are actually scattered around on storage media and are only accessed at lightning speed. If the end product is to be passed on or archived, a final rendering must therefore be carried out. Depending on the complexity of the visual processing and the codec used, this can sometimes take longer.

However, customers sometimes (or usually) have last-minute change requests. We ourselves are not perfect and sometimes only discover errors shortly before delivery. Careful quality control under human eyes is essential in any case because of technical errors. These can range from faulty field sequences to the erratic rendering errors of overheated graphics cards (just think of the infamous D700 in the MacPro). Such errors are particularly time-consuming because they can occur in completely different places when rendering again. In the final check, the entire file must therefore be reviewed one-to-one, even if only a short section has been corrected – sometimes it’s just a single line in the credits.

Experienced specialists in the fields of 3D animation and VFX, where the final rendering can take an extremely long time and errors often occur in completely unexpected places, therefore generally use numbered image sequences instead of contiguous individual files. This allows faulty parts to be specifically recalculated and inserted. However, such sequences take up an enormous amount of space and require very fast storage media for smooth playback. Errors during copying would also easily lead to shifts in image and sound or separate alpha masks. Compared to DPX master files (Digital Picture Exchange), ProRes 444 or DNxHR can be up to a factor of 10 smaller. In the broadcast sector, individual files in high-quality codecs are therefore in demand today, which usually also include numerous audio tracks and subtitles due to the international evaluation. What if it were possible to correct a section or individual tracks without affecting the rest of the content?

Until now, people have said: “That’s not possible!” Charles D’Autremont from Cinedeck proudly explains (presumably with a twinkle in his eye): “But we didn’t know that, so we did it.” The company does indeed have a unique selling point with CineXtools, even though Avid has announced a similar function for its NLE. However, this is still in beta testing and will only work with the company’s own system in the OP1a container anyway, while CineXtools support the common intermediate and broadcast codecs in both popular containers. In addition, they have already proven themselves at several large production houses, which is the most important thing for such a tool. The whole thing is open-heart surgery, so to speak, because the target file is irretrievably changed in the process. If you cannot rely on the integrity of all other parts afterwards, the enormous time advantage of a targeted quality control of the corrected parts alone is lost.

Technical requirements

The central condition for such an operation is that the file structure allows the exchange of any image sequences, even with changing content. This not only rules out temporal compression methods, but also codecs with pure I-frames but variable bit rate (VBR) are unsuitable. After all, you cannot rely on the content of an image to be exchanged being compressible to the same extent as the original image. What is needed is a framework for the individual images that corresponds to the maximum expected image content. Only codecs with a constant bit rate (CBR) fulfil this requirement. Apple’s ProRes, Avid’s DNxHD/HR and, as optional upgrades, Sony’s AVC-Intra and XDCAM-HD are currently supported. For XDCAM, only the versions with CBR are permitted. In addition to MOV (Quicktime), both versions of MXF are also suitable as containers, depending on the codec. While DNxHD/HR theoretically also allows VBR, in practice it always occurs in CBR, ProRes is usually output as VBR.

DaVinci Resolve also supports ProRes in CBR as an option for output under MacOS, as do the video products from Autodesk. Plug-ins from Cinedeck are available for Adobe and Avid, which enable output in CBR. Alternatively, CineXtools also offer re-wrapping from ProRes to CBR. In this process, only the container is filled with empty data so that the maximum permitted data rate can be accommodated – this is also known as padding. This is not a transcoding of the image material, which remains completely untouched (even if the generation losses with ProRes would be very low anyway). Due to Apple’s licensing policy, however, some ProRes functions are only available for MacOS, while the other parts of the program are available for PC and Mac and a CineXtools licence can even be transferred between the two systems. The programme’s system requirements are modest: OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) is sufficient on the Mac, while we tested on High Sierra. On the PC, everything from Windows 7 (64 bit) with Service Pack 1 or newer is possible. The programme is also frugal when it comes to hardware, even if transcoding and copying processes are of course significantly faster on powerful machines. During re-wrapping, the metadata in the header is also cleaned up in such a way that it should pass a quality check for broadcast – unfortunately, this is not a given with every NLE system.

If CineXtools is primarily used for quick last-minute changes, it makes sense to output all master files in CBR, even if they take up a little more space. In the test, the CBR version of a professionally produced short film with low-noise image quality and typically easily compressible elements (such as opening and closing credits) was around a third larger than in VBR due to the padding. On the other hand, the new tools save the space that new full-length render files would take up during corrections. If ProRes is frequently delivered in VBR, the re-wrapping by the CineXtools is primarily dependent on the disc throughput. When reading and writing the material to a single USB 3 hard drive, you have to expect considerable waiting times, whereas padding is done very quickly with two separate SSDs or fast RAIDs. Our test film took almost seven minutes on such a single hard drive, while the process on an SSD RAID connected via USB-C took 45 seconds. A free tool for re-wrapping with automation via watch folder has also recently become available. For projects where the length and format have already been determined but most of the content still needs to be created, CineXtools can prepare a suitable blank file with all the desired additional tracks using “Create Insert Media”.

The above conditions apply to the full-length master file. The patches to be inserted (i.e. the corrected sections) may also be in VBR and even in another of the above codecs and containers, as they may be quickly converted during insert (this is then logically a real transcoding). JPEG2000 in YUV with 4:2:2 subsampling is also accepted as a .mov file for patches
for patches. Even the support of several formats for single image sequences such as .dpx, .tiff and OpenEXR is in the works: we have already been able to try it out with .dpx in 10 bit and .tiff in 16 bit. Even different colour depths or colour spaces are accepted for patches, but this can certainly lead to image jumps when inserting into parts of existing scenes. The responsibility for this therefore lies entirely with the user, who should select the same output format and the same software as the original file if possible. Logically, insertions in the appropriate format without recoding are the fastest. Changes to audio or subtitle tracks are possible without affecting the picture, even with files in VBR. The resolution can be over 16,000 pixels, but must be the same for the patch and target file, as must the frame rate and line structure (interlaced or progressive). Sound to be inserted from external files must be in .wav format with 24 bit and 48 kHz, .aac or even .mp3 are not accepted.

The tools

First and foremost is “Insert Edit”, i.e. the insertion of patches into a film file. The term is not used here in quite the same sense as in conventional NLEs, as the area is not inserted in the target file, but overwritten in the same length. This is more of an “overwrite” in the modern sense, but it was no different with tape machines. Because of the similarity to working with tape, the manufacturer also likes to use analogue terms such as the classic “Black Striped” for an empty file – many users are obviously still familiar with this. Video, audio and captions can be selected in any combination as content to be changed, the timecode (TC for short) can be rewritten for patch and target (“Restripe”) and the reel tape ID of the target file can be corrected.

For audio, there are also extensive options for reassigning up to 32 channels in patch panel style, adding external sound files and, if necessary, crossfades for critical connections of the sound content. The target file can be renamed, but editing is still a change that cannot be undone. If you have enough time for copying, it is therefore better to work with duplicates.
The actual insert cut is very simple: For example, you specify an entry point in both windows and an exit point in one of them, and the area to be replaced is marked in both windows (known as a 3-point cut). The convention of band cuts applies here, i.e. the out point corresponds to the first image that is not changed. If the TC matches, the cut points can also be conveniently copied to the other window. Finally, there is an opportunity for a preview or to trigger the hot cut, which does not take place without a warning that the file will inevitably be changed. Incidentally, unlike a rendering process, the file can already be checked in a player while a somewhat longer insert is running elsewhere. This means that another person can continue quality control under time pressure while corrections are still being made.

A further tab (Multiple-Source Single Target) allows a whole list of patches to be inserted into a target file, so basically not just batch processing, but almost a rudimentary editing function. The target file can of course also be a “Black Tape” generated in the programme with “Create Insert Media”. With “Extract Audio to File”, you can extract audio tracks from existing films and write them to separate files; you can also select a different track assignment. The “Rewrap & Audio Versioning” tab is also basically self-explanatory: In addition to the conversion from VBR to CBR, comprehensive reassignment and the addition of audio tracks are offered, whereby their starting point can be redefined in relation to the TC of the target file. If required by the customer, this tool can also convert a CBR file back to VBR after correction. Pure audio inserts are also possible with VBR or GOP codecs anyway.

Finally, the programme also offers the option of editing or adding subtitles: Corrections are written directly into the file here. Subtitles as .mcc and .scc files are supported directly, as is extraction to sidecar files. Subtitles (or closed captions) can be imported in .cap format (Cheetah International) or as .scc files (Sonic), unfortunately not in the popular .srt format. But there are plenty of tools for converting subtitles: free online services such as subtitleconverter.net, subconverter.rest7.com or rev.com/caption. Those who are reluctant to entrust their texts to a third-party website will find professional tools in Subbit’s Subtitler (PC and Mac) or Annotation Edit Suite (Mac). Another option is the editing of metadata in accordance with the British broadcast standard AS-11 DPP (Digital Production Partnership), which is increasingly gaining acceptance in North America and Scandinavia.

Getting to know

While the available Quick Start PDF still looks a little immature and some links are missing, the manufacturer provides easy-to-understand and detailed video tutorials(cinextools.com/video-tutorials). They all look like Mac, but apart from ProRes conversions, everything works exactly the same on a PC. There is also a freely available basic version, which is limited to formats up to 10-bit colour depth, maximum 2K resolution and master files with two audio tracks. If you would like to get to know the full version better, you can request a one-week trial licence. Incidentally, the licence is issued using the iLok system familiar from Avid. This is somewhat cumbersome, but does not require a constant Internet connection, as is often required for production machines. The licence can be transferred to a computer via a temporary online connection or written to a dongle for full mobility.
The user interface still lacks clarity, with hardly any visual differentiation between important and less important buttons and information. Our test version also showed some minor quirks when controlling the Playhead in some formats. However, these are blemishes, activated tooltips make the individual functions quickly understandable and the core functions ran smoothly with clean source files. Unfortunately, it should be noted that some software and hardware manufacturers only loosely adhere to the standards, and FGPA-based cameras and field recorders in particular are notorious for this. It is therefore essential to use the test version to check whether your own workflow works without any problems. In our test, for example, the mixed insert between XDCAM-HD material and DNxHR in the MXF wrapper from DaVinci Resolve did not work reliably, while there were no problems in combination with DNxHD/HR in the MOV wrapper. However, Cinedeck is known for dealing with such problems quickly – this was also the case in our test.

Comment

At a time when editing programmes – albeit sometimes of dubious reliability – are being given away, the price of CineXtools seems rather steep. However, this programme is not aimed at amateurs and semi-professional users, but at users who will quickly amortise the price through massive time savings. This ranges from quality control for last-minute corrections to the creation of different versions from partially identical material, right through to internationalisation and multiple evaluation with subtitles or varying audio tracks. In addition to Technicolor PostWorks and NBC Universal’s “The Voice”, even pure audio houses such as RH Factor are already using the software. Anyone in DACH who is interested in CineXtools can order it from DVEAS (www.dveas.com).

The post The virtual glue press:CineXtools from Cinedeck first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.