Based on an abundance of caution and respect for the continued productivity of our customers, AJA is recommending that U-TAP updates be performed either on Windows, or else on Intel-based Macs for the time being. AJA is working diligently to understand and remedy any problems that may be present. In the meantime, if you need help or advice, please contact AJA Customer support at support@aja.com.

M1 Macs support ONE external monitor via Thunderbolt 3 port. Connecting a second monitor to a different Thunderbolt 3 port will not work. Yet. We assume this will be rectified in a later Mac OS update.

Colour looking too bright on an M1 Mac?

The signal from the Mac computer changes to YUV Limited Range, which may cause banding and colour issues particularly in a wide gamut monitor. ColorEdge fix: Access the administrator menu (switch off monitor, switch back on holding down either the far left or 2nd from the far left button (depending on model), until the admin osd menu appears. Change the Signal Format from Video / Yuv to PC / RGB.

ColorNavigator 7 calibration system for ColorEdge monitors

M1 compatible version planned to be posted at the end of March. Watch this space.

This month, I'd like to discuss binding Avid Nexis systems to Active Directory (LDAP). While it's quite simple once you have observed a working setup, I find the instructional steps in the Avid documentation a bit lacking in some information.

The instructions from Avid are quite good, assuming that you know both AD Authentication and Nexis quite well – but if you're unfamiliar with some aspects, it may be challenging – hopefully, these instructions will provide a bit more light into the requirements.

To bind a Nexis to LDAP, there are four crucial steps, in particular order.

1. Adding MS DNS entries for Nexis hardware and ensuring all hardware can be pinged by name and in all directions
2. Setting external authentication via Nexis web UI
3. Run Avid's LDAP Sync Tool (on a client machine) to sync up and choose accounts/groups to share.
4. Give AD users access via the Web UI, as you would a local Nexis user.

In more detail..

1. First, open MS Windows DNS Manager, add new host entries for the Nexis Director and Controller.

After adding the hosts (A records), confirm they are visible in the list of machines.

2. In the Nexis web UI, ensure your DNS is set to the master server (Web UI > System > System Setup)

Important note: Now is a great opportunity to set NTP, which is crucial for proper binding and authentication. (Your NTP servers will likely have different IP addresses to what is shown below).

Ensure the Nexis can ping them all – in our case, we ensured we could ping the Nexis Director, Nexis Controller, and Domain Controller from Nexis by both hostname and fully qualified name

In our example:

To do this, we jumped back to the command line on the Nexis and performed test pings.

Now we have confirmed DNS looks solid, we will set the details in the Nexis Web UI > Users > External Authentication

Important note: the Domain Name must be a NETBIOS compliant domain structure (no dots allowed, as these tell applications to distinguish domain and netbios names) – in this example, Domain Name is digistor

The server entry is the fqdn of the AD host – in this example, Server 0 is DSINTSYSDC01.DIGISTOR.NET

We can confirm the above domain name by running the following command on the Domain Controller: 'get-addomain | f1 name,domainmode'

3. Setting the details in the Avid LDAP Sync Tool

Check the Account details of the binding account (DSmaster in this example) with the command 'Get-ADUser DSmaster' – this shows the CN path we require

Now open the LDAP sync tool and log in using the engine name (and Nexis administrator password)

Once in, we fill in the details as below – we could also use the hostname for LDAP if we wanted.

We then chose the groups to sync and potentially individual users within those groups

Then choose 'Synchronise Marked', and agree to add the user(s)

When complete, the application should advise the sync was successful

4. Back to the Nexis Web UI > Users, we should see the new AD user(s) have been added and flagged as 'Remote' – in our example below we can see their password is controlled by the Domain Controller.

Now simply give remote users access to workspaces and privileges as you would any local user.

I hope this rundown is useful for anyone who is wanting to setup their first AD sync with Avid Nexis.

Until next time, stay safe and productive!

Bring Game-Changing Cloud-Based Video Workflows to the APAC Region

Strategic partnership brings cutting-edge remote collaborative workflow solutions and cloud-managed service capabilities to the creative media and brand sector within Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.

IPV, experts in intelligent video content management for more than 20 years, have announced a partnership with Australia-based media tech integrator Digistor to deploy and support end-to-end workflow solutions for remote creative teams in the APAC region. IPV Curators deep integration with Adobe Creative Cloud unlocks remote and collaborative capabilities within the worlds most used video editing suite, enabling media organizations in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania to avoid critical production disruption in the global pivot to remote workflows.

This collaboration will combine IPV Curator's advanced cloud-based remote video editing and workflow capabilities with Digistor's 30 years' experience in providing consultation, design, installation and integration within the media and broadcasting industries.

"Digistor are blazing the trail for innovative new tech in the APAC region. Through this joint collaboration, we'll empower broadcasters and post-production facilities in the area to be among the first movers who are migrating their media operations to the cloud," says Daniel Mathew, Chief Revenue Officer, IPV. "Ease of access and remote collaboration are incredibly important, especially now, and so the remote capabilities of Curator will be an exciting advancement to bring to the ANZ market, where it will be at the forefront of such technological innovation".

"Digistor are blazing the trail for innovative new tech in the APAC region. Through this joint collaboration, we'll empower broadcasters and post-production facilities to be among the first movers migrating their media operations to the cloud"
Daniel Mathew, Chief Revenue Officer, IPV

This partnership offers multiple exciting benefits and possibilities, as Digistor brings Curator specifically to the regions of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, where the media industry's crucial transition to the cloud is just beginning to take place. Digistor are widely recognised within the industry through their success deploying integrated end-to-end solutions for customers. Along with Digistor's knowledge and reach within the region, the company's AWS certified engineers and their strength in providing cloud managed service capabilities will be of a particular benefit to creative teams in the region.

IPV serves a wide range of clients, including HBO, YouTube, Nintendo Home Depot and Sesame Street, and with the addition of Digistor's extensive local knowledge and support, this partnership will be of significant benefit to a number of industries, including broadcast, post-production, marketing and advertising, retail, sports, corporate, education and government.

Technical Innovation

Together, IPV and Digistor hope that this partnership will continue to inspire the achievement of further technical innovations. In particular, Curator's advanced remote editing and workflow capabilities, combined with a very powerful and unique Adobe Premiere integration make IPV's Curator a standout video content management platform. Digistor believes that with more Enterprise customers choosing Adobe Premiere Pro as their editing platform of choice, Curator presents as a very compelling solution for media management and workflow efficiencies.

For additional information please visit the IPV website.

About IPV

Market leaders in creating software to manage and edit video remotely and at scale. Curator, their media and video management platform accelerates video workflows and enables editors, producers and media managers to work more productively, and together, from anywhere. Used by world-leading broadcasters and brands: WarnerMedia, Nintendo, The NBA, NASA, AMPAS and many more.

In this article, we are going to consider the growing market of Live Streaming and how it is becoming more accessible to create original content at a prosumer level.

At Digistor, our engineers are fortunate enough to get their hands dirty on a wide variety of devices at various levels. Ranging from Enterprise AWS Streaming servers for TV stations, all the way down to single camera setups in someone's spare room. Our focus here is on the smaller scale systems.

Following on from the significant effects of Covid on the production industry, the amount of new original content has decreased, while the demand for it is constantly increasing. This has opened up an opportunity for smaller players to publish their own original content and garner an audience of engaged viewers.

Recently, we have been looking at entry level to small scale options that are a step above simply using your phone camera to stream live to Facebook. We want to introduce a bit more tech and function, such as portable stream encoder devices with overlays and multiple destinations, plus ability to introduce more than one camera source to the mix.

Why are we doing this? – We want to show everyone how simple it can be to add extra value to a production with these products and without breaking the bank.

Kiloview

Considering a basic level, we have been looking at the Kiloview range of encoders and streaming devices – these units fit in the palm of your hand and have some basic image manipulation functions.  It's as simple as turn it on, get online, plug in your camera and you are streaming.

The Kiloview E2 will take a HDMI input and convert to NDI|HX stream, with the added benefit of being able to stream to multiple destinations simultaneously, including locally attached network storage – it literally took me 15 minutes to setup a YouTube channel, plug the address and stream key into the E2, turn on the camera and see my feed online.

First, we choose the appropriate service – in this case, RTMP push to YouTube

Grab the Stream URL and Stream Key from your YouTube channel

And place that into the E2 RTMP stream settings

I see the Kiloview E2 as a good fit for a single camera setup, with the ability to add overlays (sponsor logos, lower thirds, etc), and it's very portable. It can be tethered to a phone to provide setup access via the web UI, but still requires a wired ethernet connection to get out to the world. For Example:

In conjunction with the Newtek NDI tools, the NDI|HX feed can also be used as a camera source in various conferencing applications, such as Zoom.

Below is a quick rundown of the E1 (SDI) and E2 (HDMI) capabilities – the only difference between them is the input type (From the Kiloview documentation)

Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro

Going up a notch, we really like the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro.  These units can take up to 4 HDMI sources and stream directly from the device to YouTube, Facebook or Twitch.

The free ATEM Software Control application is nicely integrated and works over both ethernet and USB. It is designed in such a way that multiple operators on different machines can control various functions simultaneously. For example, one operator may perform video switching while another operator can manage the audio levels, etc.

The two microphone inputs are 3.5mm TRS, with selectable Line/Mic level, a large attenuation range and minimal processing delay.

Once again, we had this unit up and streaming with minimal time and effort. The destination options in this iteration of the software are Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

The ATEM Mini Pro can also act as a USB Webcam source for various conferencing applications.

Our Technical Sales Consultant and Project Delivery Manager, Jordan Tiburcio, regularly uses his ATEM Mini and Wirecast Pro to capture and stream games for his local community basketball league to Facebook (complete with live commentators, live stats, live scoreboard, high end graphics, multicamera switching, and ad breaks).  Check out Jordan's Joflow Basketball League Facebook page to see what he can do with this hardware!

Wirecast Pro

Stepping up, we look at the Wirecast Pro Software, which can be hosted on Mac or PC, and has ability to take in various sources including NDI (Kiloview Encoders) and Rendevous over the network. As more devices are connected (either directly to the host machine or over the network), Wirecast will automatically update the list of available sources.

Having a system that can decode NDI sources over a network, we are no longer limited to a physical Video IO card on the host machine – just a single ethernet cable can provide access to many live sources.

Wirecast Pro is configured to send to a multitude of online destinations, enabling a much wider audience reach.

Wirecast Pro has built in PTZ control interface, enabling Pan, Tilt and Zoom control of network compatible cameras, including the BirdDog P200 and the Ikan Ottica.

There is a free (watermarked output) version of Wirecast if you would prefer to get familiar with the interface before committing.

In reality, there are many different switch and streaming applications, including vMix (which can be hosted in the cloud), and OBS (free and open source) – these are also worth consideration, and have many similar features to Wirecast.

Cameras tested
We performed our testing of the above products using a variety of cameras, including:

• Canon Legria HFR806 (entry level HDMI camera)
• Ikan Ottica (NDI, SDI, HDMI, PTZ)
• BirdDog P200 (NDI, SDI, HDMI, PTZ)
• BirdDog A300 (NDI, PTZ, wicked Night Vision, Weather Proof)

In summary

Overall, we were quite impressed by what can be achieved with these products and have observed a noticeable increase in demand for streaming solutions by broadcasters and sole operators alike.

We have a range of demo units from Kiloview – reach out to your Digistor Sales Representative if you want to get more hands on with any of these.

Digistor has compiled some Streaming Starter Kits using combinations of the hardware and software reviewed above – if you are interested in getting your content out there but not sure how to, please give us a call – we'd love to help!

This recommendation also applies to Autodesk partners who have installed 3ds Max, as well as users of 3ds Max educational licenses, 3ds Max Indie, and 3ds Max Trial versions.

Recommended action:

• Download Security Tools for Autodesk 3ds Max 2021-2015SP1.
• Double-click to run the Autodesk 3ds Max Security Tools MSI file.
• Choose Install Now.
• Security Tools for 3ds Max must be kept enabled to automatically detect and clean known exploits. Security Tools for 3ds Max is enabled by default.

For more information, please refer to Autodesk Trust Centre

Contact Digistor or Autodesk if you need further assistance

Compared to traditional scale-up architecture, scale-out storage systems allow users to add controllers at the same time of adding storage inventory. Thereby system processing power can grow linearly whilst the capacity expands.

In scale-out systems, instead of adding JBODs behind existing controllers, we add nodes to a cluster. A storage node has both storage function and computing function, which eliminates the bottleneck of total processing power in scale-up systems.

Digistor provides solutions with a number of the most well-known scale-out storage solutions, including Dell EMC PowerScale & Isilon, EditShare EFS and Qumulo. These systems meet our customer's production requirements, and they allow customer to:

• Scale elastically with low marginal cost and minimum downtime.
• Independently scale performance and capacity.
• Have consistent node performance.
• Have almost unlimited storage lake capacity within the same namespace
• Have more flexible control of protection levels.
• Have better operational experience.

The Infortrend CS System

Infortrend just entered scale-out market with their newly designed CS series of storage nodes. We recently received a 3-node CS 4024G cluster from Infortrend to test with M&E workflows. I would like to share my testing progress and results here in this series of blogs.

There are a few interesting design in the Infortrend CS system, which can rarely be seen in other competor systems:

1. Mixed scaling models
   The CS system supports both scale-up and scale-out in their scale-out architecture, users can deploy the system with a mixture of both scale methods in a single cluster.

1. Data protection with both RAID and erasure code
   When Isilon first invented scale-out NAS, their method of purely using erasure code (128KB FEC blocks) is adopted by almost all scale-out storage systems. This approach demands a massive amount of computing power during calculating and recalculating jobs, because the FEC algorithm can only execute with general CPUs. Infortrend chooses the way of mixing intra-node RAID and inter-node erasure code to accelerate the data protection process. RAID controllers process parity bits and data distribution with hardware-based ASIC and FPGA/CPLD, while CPU resources handles the erasure code for node redundancy. This application of RAID is also the reason why CS supports scale-up in its scale-out architecture.

1. Distributed mode for throughput-hungry environment
   Infortrend's 'distributed mode' writes only one copy of a file to one node only (node is selected dynanically based on hashing algorithm). Files are protected by RAID only without erasure code, thus the system can deliver better throughput. This mode is suitable for environments demand heavy I/O over extreme protection.

Infortrend CS 4024G 3-Node Cluster Setup

The CS 4024G nodes support 10/25/40GbE networks in both front and back ends, and is capable of handling multiple HD and 4K streams in large-scale editorial and postproduction workflows.

Our workshop test includes the below hardware components:

• 3 x Infortrend CS 4024G nodes
• 72 x 12TB Seagate SAS drives
• Mellanox SN2100 100GbE fibre switch
• Dell 5548 1GbE switch

Back-end and Management Network

In our setup, each node uses two 25GbE connections to the back-end switch (Mellanox SN2100) and the management interfaces are connected to a seperate management switch (Dell 5548).

Front-end Network

The core switch of the front-end network is the same Mellanox SN2100, I use different VLANs to separate back-end and front-end traffic. The access switch where client machines connect to is a Dell EMC S4128F-ON, with an 100GbE uplink to the core Mellanox.

Each node has 6 front-end connections: four 10GBase-F and two 25GBase-F. I setup LACP for each port group to simplify the management and round-robin access load-balancing.

Storage Pool

After the initialisation of each node, and setup a protection level, the system presents us a storage pool with 684TB usable capacity. For the first test, the protection level is setup as:

• RAID5 on each node (optimal performance)
• Erasure code 2+1 for the cluster

While I am still running a set of benchmarks on the system, just to quick show you how the cluster looks in the rack:

In my next blog, I will share some of my test results, meanwhile, feel free to leave a message and let me know what you are expecting to see in the benchmark. I am happy to include a few extra tests based on the comments.

Delivers discipline-specific solutions that complement Autodesk software to AEC customers

Digistor was recently recognised as an Autodesk Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Specialist. AEC Industry Partners are third-party technology providers that engage with Autodesk to deliver discipline-specific solutions that complement Autodesk software offerings to help solve unique business and industry challenges.

Across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, media and entertainment industries, if you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, the chances are you've experienced what millions of customers are doing with Autodesk software.

Extend rendering into the cloud

Digistor marketing manager Mark Richards explained, "In the AEC market, it's critical for organisations to be able to present their ideas rendered realistically at very highest quality and Digistor can help them with the technology to achieve that. One of our key offerings in this space is the Digistor Cloud Render Onboarding Package which enables studios to extend their rendering into the cloud for enhanced render speed and scalability.

Utilising Digistor's extensive experience in deploying and supporting cloud-based workflows, we can set them up to scale their rendering power in minutes and to control how quickly they want to complete projects, getting incredible computing elasticity and cost control while only paying for what is used."

"One of our key offerings in this space is the Digistor Cloud Render Onboarding Package ... for enhanced render speed and scalability."
Mark Richards, Marketing Manager Digistor

Overall this is an ideal solution for those who wish benefit from less time spent waiting for renders to finish and from more time to take on more projects or finish higher quality work. Once configured, users can either choose to maintain the cloud setup as is, or engage Digistor to provide ongoing support via a subscription-based support contract.

Optimised technology

Today all three AEC industries rely heavily upon technological applications, software programs and hardware provided by specialists such as Digistor as, with the shift towards urban living, cities require housing and infrastructure more than ever.

This has presented not only a massive opportunity for the AEC sector but a critical requirement for technology specialists such as Digistor, a company with over 30 years' experience in providing clients with the competitive edge, through a plethora of integrated technology solutions and services to enhance architectural visualisation.

Mark Richards continued, "With Digistor, architectural and design firms can partner with a technology supplier to optimise the technology they use, to control software licensing and costs, achieve faster and better renders, speedily resolve technical issues and to leverage cloud and other developments. They can also increase productivity and creativity to win more work."

Utilise state-of-the-art tools & techniques

Recently Digistor ran its Architectural and Design Visualisation Today virtual conference which included presentations, demonstrations and interactive panel sessions on current state-of-the-art tools and techniques for visualisation.

Some of the sessions were presented by industry experts including Andrei Dolnikov, the founder and CEO of Binyan, the global creative production company and community of diverse thinkers, storytellers and leaders of immersive architecture.

Dolnikov explained, "We are an 'arch vis' company who have worked with Digistor for many years. We partner with Digistor so we can combine creativity with technology and push limits to achieve effective, inspiring work for both global and local audiences. Our services include CGI rendering, animation, concept development, VR and interactive applications so our choice of Digistor as our technology and support partner is absolutely critical to our success."

"We partner with Digistor so we can combine creativity with technology and push limits to achieve effective, inspiring work..."
Andrei Dolnikov, CEO, Binyan

Most recently Digistor has supplied Binyan with technology, software and services including Autodesk 3ds Max, Chaos Group V-Ray and a significant array of enterprise hardware.

Dolnikov continued, "Put simply Digistor has helped us grow over many years. Their responsiveness, personalised service, world class understanding of the tools we require and how they interact with us as a partner is second to none. They really are excellent in helping with every aspect of architecture, engineering and construction technology and application support."

Benefit from expert assistance

In short Digistor has significantly expanded into the booming AEC sector and as a result helps their clients find the technology that will assist in areas including, amongst others, 3D architectural rendering, 3D visualisation, modelling, animation, AR, VR, shared storage solutions and remote data duplication.

Andrei Dolnikov concluded, "Let's take 3D rendering alone as an example, where you're only as good as your last presentation so every presentation has to be excellent. Before the evolution, architectural rendering was created by hand. With that in mind it's not difficult to see the benefits of the software alternative as a building or space's entire plan can be rendered and checked for structural and design flaws before it even leaves the drawing board. Thereby, the rendering process is far more effective and cost efficient.

This in turn facilitates design experimentation without the stress of money wasted on unnecessary equipment. Designs are also able to include more detail and the entire process provides architects with far more control over the entire project. Then there's the cloud. We all know about the cloud but how do we leverage it in terms of 3D rendering? That's where Digistor comes in as a company that understands exactly which kinds of software, hardware, workflows and ecosystems are required. It's that knowledge and support that is invaluable in the AEC industries."

"That's where Digistor comes in as a company that understands exactly which kinds of software, hardware, workflows and ecosystems are required"
Andrei Dolnikov, CEO, Binyan

For more information

Find out more about how Digistor can help with Architectural Visualisation technology solutions.

Getting up and running with Media Composer in the cloud couldn't be simpler. It is practically a one-click operation.

Apart from choosing a region for your deployment, the deployment process and underlying cloud infrastructure layer is abstracted from the user. This makes it incredibly simple as no knowledge or experience with cloud computing services is required, nor any account with a cloud computing service.

Avid | Edit on Demand uses the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. However, this is totally hidden from the user experience.

You simply log into your Avid Master Account and redeem your Edit on Demand code. Deployment will take a few hours, but it is fully automated. An email will notify you when it is ready to go. You will then have access to the Avid On Demand Portal where you can create users, get system information and monitor usage.

Once done, your cloud workstation(s) will be ready to connect to using the Teradici PCoIP client. This is installed on your local machine. The client software is available for MacOS, Windows, Linux and even iOS and Android mobile platforms.

The Avid | Edit On Demand cloud workstation is a high-spec'd Windows virtual machine running your chosen version of Media Composer. Everything is ready to go. The Avid NEXIS Workspace is mounted and a fully-licensed Media Composer | Ultimate launches automatically.

To copy files to and from the cloud NEXIS shared storage, simply open a link in a web browser on your local machine to the file transfer agent (FileCatalyst). From this web page, you can copy to and from a folder on the NEXIS. This requires zero user configuration. It was managed by the initial deployment process.

At the end of your editing session, you can shutdown your cloud Media Composer workstation, or just sign-out as it will automatically shutdown when idle for 15-20 mins.

When you need to connect again, you just launch the machine again. This process takes a couple of minutes.

Avid | Edit On Demand is still in early access, but as you can see, setup and deployment could not be easier.

For the previous three years, Digistor has hosted, technically produced and streamed a live event for Australian Screen Editors called "Edit Royale". As the date for Edit Royale 2020 approached, we needed to decide what sort of live competition event we and the ASE could produce while managing the restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

Edit Royale is an event where five emerging editors compete to show off their editing artistry and speed by editing a complete music video from unseen media in only two hours. It's a fun, live and interactive event where an audience can witness programmes emerging from the raw media while enjoying live commentary.

For 2020, we were faced with producing a live event which has in previous years included a large, dynamic local audience, enjoying beer and pizza and each other's company and a small number of remote viewers. This year we were going to have to invert the concept so that we had no local audience and a large number of dynamic remote attendees in their own homes that we had to keep engaged. Essentially, the live programme would be produced within Digistor, with multiple programme participants, and the viewing audience would be entirely remote as would some additional programme participants we needed to bring in to the programme as required.

Clearly, this was going to take some head-scratching, experimentation and technical nouse.

When we mapped out the requirements to operate the live event within the confines of COVID-19 restrictions, this is what we came up with.

Personnel required at Digistor

• 5 X competing editors
• 2 X roving MCs
• 1 X producer
• 1 X live switcher operator
• 1 X roving cameraperson
• 1 X Digistor technical staff
• 1 X Digistor presenter

This brought us to 12 people in the space which was within the effective social distancing requirements.

Just for added complexity, we were required to have remote talent to participate in the programme and be seen and heard by the remote audience and to communicate with the MCs in the room and with each other – effectively a multi-location live cross. These remote participants included

• The ASE President, Fiona Strain
• Sponsor representatives from Avid, Adobe, Wacom and Blackmagic Design
• "Lucky Door Prize" winners (randomly selected from remote attendees)

We also had pre-recorded video content that needed to be played at high quality along with graphics overlays and titles, plus we needed to mix all the audio sources.

So, in summary, we needed to produce a programme with live switching between multiple sources at Digistor and external sources while delivering a live mixed programme to an external audience via the internet. We wanted to stream live via Facebook Live for "passive" viewers and record the whole thing to post on-demand after the event.

We had conducted Zoom webinars previously, so we explored using this platform as an option for delivery of ASE Edit Royale to the remote audience. After much experimentation, we were able to get good results from Zoom when used as follows

1. The mix from the live event in the room (programme out of an ATEM switcher) was fed into Zoom via an NDI signal over an ethernet connection to a Mac Book. Newtek's NDI Tools software on the MacBook Pro enabled us to define the NDI ethernet feed as a camera input selectable in Zoom. We used a Kiloview E1 NDI SDI to NDI encoder to encode from SDI audio and video to NDI. The Kiloview E1 also gave us the ability to insert a graphic bug over the programme output from the room. This device could also have recorded the show and streamed it live, but we wanted to include the remote elements in the stream and recording, not just what was happening in the room.


2. Pre-recoded video cannot be effectively played in Zoom via screen share because the fame rate and audio sync experienced by the audience is poor. Screen Share is OK for computer screens but unusable for full-screen video playback. To get around this, we used an external computer to playback the pre-recorded video as an additional source into our ATEM switcher. In this way, we were able to play these full-screen into the Zoom camera input achieving full frame rate and good audio for the remote audience.

Once we settled on using Zoom Webinar, there were a few other elements we could introduce to keep the programme exciting and audience member "attendees" involved. These included

1. Polls. We introduced polls throughout the show where the remote audience could respond to pre-determined questions and then we were able to show the results. This enabled us to conduct a live vote for our winner of the competition too.
2. Q&A. The remote audience was able to send questions to the Producer, who could then answer privately or publicly by text or could put the question to people in the room for it to be answered live.
3. Interactive Chat. We chose to limit this so that audience members could only chat with our Producer. It gave the audience a way to provide direct feedback on the show, technical difficulties, etc. There is a setting for Chat in Zoom that either allows audience members to Chat to Panellists or everyone. If you want a chance to moderate Chat, make sure you set this to Panellists only.

In addition, Zoom gave us a cool way to resolve the "live cross" problem where we wanted to bring external participants into the programme. Zoom Webinar has a concept of Panellists and Attendees. Attendees are passive watchers and do not share their camera or mic. Panellists share their camera and mic and can be seen and heard by all attendees. When the time came to introduce an external sponsor, for example, our Producer could "promote" them from Attendee to Panellist, and they would turn on their Zoom camera and mic. The attendees would then see a split screen between the room mix and the sponsor.

Each time we needed to introduce another external participant, we could promote them, and Zoom would split the screen again. It was then possible to have a multi-way conversation between the talent in the room and multiple remote "panellists". When it came time to remove them from the programme, we simply "demoted" them back to Attendees and they would be removed and re-join the programme as attendees watching only.

There was one problem with the Zoom "live cross". Those in the room needed a way to see what the audience was seeing and to be able to speak to people remotely. The solution we came up with for this was to use another laptop permanently connected as an "attendee" that we projected onto a wall in the room and played through house monitoring speakers. This gave the MCs the ability to "talk to" the projected images of the remote talent. It had a side benefit of allowing us to monitor at all times what the external attendees were seeing and hearing as a form of "confidence monitor".

Zoom gave us a way to present a "virtual barrel roll" to select the "Lucky Door Prize" winners (Are there "door prizes" when an audience is remote? Anyway, I digress). We wrote a FileMaker app to import all the registrations for the webinar and, at the press of a button, randomly select the winner with an animated "spin" through the names. The operation of the app could be shared with the audience by using Zoom's Share Screen function. While not suitable for sharing video, this worked great to let the audience see the winner selection. If the winner was present on the webinar, they "raised their hand" in Zoom so the Producer could promote them to a "Panellist" and turn on their video and audio to accept their prize from the sponsor. At this point the room action, remote sponsor and prize winner were "live", allowing a three-way interaction.

Interestingly, it appears that Zoom sets up a "virtual attendee" in the cloud at 1280x720 at 25fps and uses this attendee's view to

• make the recording of the webinar
• stream to Facebook Live

The only "gotcha" here is that Zoom does not record the Polls and their results. I assume this is also true for Surveys, although we did not test this. So, if you want to include the Polls in the recording, you'll need to do a screen grab or similar and then edit them into the recording after the event (fix it in post).

It's also worth noting that Facebook Live viewers won't see the Polls either and can't vote. We should have warned audience members of this so they either joined the Zoom webinar or we should have worked out a way to conduct Facebook polls at the same time (complicated!).

Zoom also recorded separate text files as a record of the Q&A, Chat and Polls for download and review.

So, let's look at the room setup…

A picture paints a thousand words, and the diagram below outlines the full configuration and connections. I'll point out a few items of interest.

We added a remotely controlled OTTICA PTZ NDI camera into the mix to give us additional POV camera shots without adding additional personnel to manage a camera. This camera had pre-set pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) settings with auto-focus to give us different pre-defined views within the room. Camera control was managed over ethernet.

The real "hero" of the mix was the Blackmagic ATEM Television Studio Pro HD. Using the ATEM, we were able to take in 8 video/audio sources and mix these live with graphics and overlays. Fades and transitions added interest, and our technician was able to remotely assist using the ATEM interface on his laptop via the ethernet connection.

Points of failure

As our local politicians are want to say, there were several "learnings" from this experience that we should share.

1. Learning: Lock down and secure cables
   Our complete mix was being encoded into NDI and sent down a single ethernet cable into a laptop with a USB-C to ethernet adaptor. Of course, this is the only cable that was "kicked out" on the night, prompting a frantic scrabble to plug it back in! Zoom recovered quickly from having the NDI camera feed removed, but it was a heart-stopping moment. USB-C connectors do not lock and are easily knocked out. After we plugged it back in, we gaffer-taped it to the computer.



2. Learning: Allow plenty of time for setup
   Two of the competitor's edit suite licenses failed on start-up 10 minutes before going live while the roving mics in the room were still not working, and the Producer could not hear any audio. Needless to say, it was all fine in rehearsal, but we really needed an extra 30 mins before the start to smooth any wrinkles. Better to have nothing to do while the last seconds tick down than to be resorting to last-minute workarounds!
3. Learning: Have a back-up internet connection
   Digistor has a 400Mbs up/down internet connection in the office with guaranteed up-time, which is just amazing, but most offices are not that lucky. Have a 4G modem (dongle) ready and live that you can swap to if the main internet connection to your streaming machine goes down. These generally have a wifi service built-in, so other systems can join the network too if needed. If your primary internet connection is sometimes a bit slow, you may wish to use both this and 4G – one for the main stream and the other for machines viewing, etc.
4. Learning: Don't use wifi for anything critical
   Wifi connections add an extra level of uncertainty and potential failure. Use wired ethernet where you can.

A final word

This blog has considered the production from a technical configuration and functionality point of view. Of course, that is just the beginning of the story. The show could never have happened without the tireless work and flawless coordination of ASE member and editor extraordinaire, Danielle Boesenberg. We also need to recognise the fabulous performances of MCs Scott Walmsley and Sally Fryer. Scott also produced the fantastic artwork. Cameraperson Adrian Barac once again managed to film the entire 3-hour event with flair and without flagging. Editor Emily Clulow (a previous Edit Royale winner) was on the live switching for the night and never left her station! And of course, the talented editor competitors Carly Anne Kenneally (the winner!), Angus Roche, Keaton Stewart, Matt Hodges and Bettina Otterbeck. Many others helped make this event a success – you know who you are. Thank you.

You can watch the Edit Royale 2020 replay and final edits on Digistor's website.

Kiloview and Digistor are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership, with the mutual goal of expanding business in the ANZ region. This partnership combines Kiloview's cost-effective AV-over-IP hardware and software solutions with Digistor's over 30 years' experience in providing consultation, design, installation and integration within the media and broadcasting industries.

Andrew Mooney, Digistor's Managing Director, stated "I am extremely excited to be working with Kiloview and offering their AV-over-IP products to the ANZ market. We're seeing an explosion of interest in IP based video delivery, be it NDI, SRT or other more traditional transports and Kiloview is ahead of the curve in offering support for all formats."

Mooney continued, "Their product range enables cost-effective remote production, be it on-premise or in the cloud, and complements existing products we represent including those from Telestream, Streamstar and Simplylive to name a few".

"We're seeing an explosion of interest in IP based video delivery..."
Andrew Mooney, Digistor

Judy Zuo, Kiloview's Sales Director, also commented on the partnership, stating "With Digistor's sales network across the ANZ region, this joint partnership provides customers with valuable support to choose the best Kiloview product for their individual needs. We believe the collaboration of Kiloview and Digistor represents a positive change for the broadcasting industry in the ANZ region."

Broad Adoption of Remote Video Production

With the broad adoption of remote video production, AV-over-IP has become necessary for businesses to retain or gain a competitive technical edge. Reliable, low-latency and cost-effective solutions in this space are increasingly important to the media and broadcasting industry. The Kiloview–Digistor partnership brings together flexible solutions in AV-over-IP in areas such as live-streaming, broadcasting and program production.

Kiloview products provide customers with a multitude of options to fit their requirements, and Digistor has the technical experience and skill to propose the best solution.

AV-over-IP has become necessary for businesses to retain or gain a competitive technical edge

Kiloview offers a complete solution for AV-over-IP including video encoding/decoding hardware, either stand-alone or rackmount, with H.264/H.265/NDI that supports almost all protocols in the market including SRT, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, RTP, TS-UDP and ONVIF.

Also supported is AV transmission over Ethernet, WIFI, 4G-LTE and 5G-LTE. Kiloview has software that supports automatic device discovery and management, which significantly enhances usability for remote production. As a manufacturer with strong R&D, Kiloview can supply Digistor and its customers with customised and flexible solutions.

About Kiloview

Kiloview, established in 2010, is a professional hardware manufacturer, software developer and solutions provider in the field of IP-Based video transmission and management. They provide a broad range of products including; video encoding, decoding, conversion, IP based video switching and streaming, including SDI/HDMI (HD or 4K UHD) to IP via H.264/H.265/NDI by Ethernet, WIFI, 4G-LTE and 5G-LTE.

With the philosophy of providing high quality and reliability video transmitting products, Kiloview continues to innovate in hardware and software, to help thousands of professional customers in Broadcast, Sports, Education, Medical, Security, Enterprise, etc.

Kiloview supports full protocols including NDI, NDI|HX, SRT as well as RTSP, RTMP, HLS, RTP, TS-UDP, ONVIF, SIP, with flexible types of rackmount multi-channels and functions such as PTZ control, recording, streaming services, which makes Kiloview capable of offering the most versatile AV-over-IP solution in the world.

• You can now name the NDI stream to a custom name, no matter who logs in. Refer to the ReadMe for instructions
• You might have received a “Quality Manager Relink Master - new track length does not equal original track length” error when checking clips in and out
• In some instances, linked MOV files failed when performing a background transcode
• (macOS) Bins that were minimized in the Dock did not display properly
• Pitch correction during shuttle did not work
• When working with Shared Bins, if a shared bin is renamed or moved while open it may have caused Yellow lock bin to save a copy of the bin
• Not all enabled audio waveform tracks displayed when working with linked Apple ProRes 422 HQ

Get more details about all updates and fixes in AVID Media Composer 2018.12.12 LTM.

All the technical services and plans are managed and run by Digistor's skilled team of highly trained and accredited engineers and include personalised telephone, email and remote support, on-site service, workshop services and regular support bookings. The new Customer Assurance Plans also have priority service and response times.

Simplified Plans and Services

Digistor CEO Andrew Mooney explained, "Digistor has had Customer Assurance Plans in place for over ten years but, more recently, we were finding that clients would often ask if we had simpler plans and ones that could be paid over the course of the plan rather than as one upfront payment. Our clients engage Digitsor to not only be there when they are in trouble but also to provide a more proactive service to ensure their equipment and facility are healthy and performing as expected – a bit like getting your car serviced every year even if it has not broken down.

"With this in mind, we created new plans with several subscription offerings, from the entry-level Bronze plan up to the comprehensive, bespoke, Platinum offering. The Bronze plan offers basic peace of mind that, if something goes wrong, we'll be there to help. The higher-level plans include more proactive services where we perform regular check-ups and reports to help identify any potential problems before they occur and ensure maximum uptime for the client."

" Our clients engage Digistor to not only be there when they are in trouble but also to provide a more proactive service, to ensure their equipment and facility are healthy and performing as expected."
Andrew Mooney, CEO, Digistor

In addition to the new subscription-based Customer Assurance Plans, Digitsor provides a comprehensive range of technical support offerings from simple Support Tokens for one-off issues, to Pre-paid Support Accounts that can be drawn down as required, and the more traditional Customer Assurance Plans. Digistor also provides a range of packaged services for specific tasks such as facility relocation and SOE Deployment.

Mooney continued, "Our traditional Customer Assurance Plans and pre-paid accounts have proven very popular over the years. Moving forward, the new subscription-based Customer Assurance Plans are becoming the most popular choice and will become an industry-standard offering.

"Our services and plans are specifically designed for the media and entertainment market sector, and we arguably have the most highly skilled engineers in this space. We also have a more comprehensive portfolio of offerings than other companies, all of which enables our clients to do what they do best, without worrying about the underlying technology".

"We take care of the technology so that our clients are the most productive and creative they can be."
Andrew Mooney, CEO, Digistor

Digistor has a vast number of clients who happily use their Technical Services and Customer Assurance Plans. One of these, Michael Messih, the Post Production Supervisor at Hogarth Australia, said, "Digistor's service has been a terrific support to our business. They are agile, thorough and proactive in how they monitor and maintain our servers, backup, archive libraries and edit suites. Their pricing model for support has meant that we've been able to quickly scale and adapt our support requirements across our three office locations."

"Digistor's service has been a terrific support to our business."
Michael Messih, Post Production Supervisor, Hogarth Australia

Digistor's Technical Services Coordinator is Claire Boskett, and her take on the new services and plans is simple, "We give the clients what they want, which is specific, timely ongoing reliable support. We establish great working relationships that tailor each service and plan to individual customer's requirements. We understand your problems, we are here to listen and have the answers and solutions."

Highly Satisfied Customers

Tristan Velasco, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Chello echoed Boskett's sentiment adding,"We met Digistor when we were a young agency looking to upgrade our server infrastructure to bring more rigour, efficiency and security. We use the pre-paid service for technical requests and work closely with the Digistor team to come up with a suitable solution and the right products that meet our needs. They are and have always been incredibly approachable whenever we had to escalate any issues, most of which are normally addressed almost immediately.

"We used to engage with other service providers, but now it's just Digistor as their industry knowledge combined with references from other agency owners I know, helped us build the best working relationship. The fact that we have Digistor as an 'external IT team' allows us to focus on what we do best - brand and content - with the confidence that Digistor will address any technical issues very efficiently."

"They are and have always been incredibly approachable whenever we had to escalate any issues, most of which are normally addressed almost immediately."
Tristan Velasco, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Chello

Boskett continued, "We are a trusted point of contact, giving you access to the expertise, skill and knowledge when it is needed. Our technical services and customer assurance plans give clients all of these elements provided by our friendly team of highly industry specialists - Digistor gives you the security of a respected established business that's been around for over 30 years."

Shark Island Productions is another satisfied client that uses Digistor's technical services and customer assurance plans. Set up 15 years ago by Ian Darling, senior editor Sally Fryer has cut all of Darling's films since. In 2019, the documentary The Final Quarter, also edited by Fryer won the 2019 AACTA Awards for Best Editing in a Documentary amongst many other awards.

Fryer has also been the company's main contact for Digistor as she explained, "Our first office was at Fox Studios in 2005 until we moved to our current offices in Woollahra. We needed smart technical advice from day one, and for that we turned to Digistor. Honestly, they have never put a foot wrong since.

"We needed smart technical advice from day one, and for that we turned to Digistor."
Sally Fryer, Senior Editor, Shark Island Productions

"Digistor managed all of our systems and tech support at Fox Studios, our move to Woollahra and everything edit suite, technical and storage-related in our new facility. Their service and support is head and shoulders above anyone else in the industry, their relationships and professionalism are second to none, and we feel like we are taken care of 24/7 which is simply invaluable."

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 16.2.4

• Support for Blackmagic RAW SDK 1.8.

• Improved debayering support for EOS-1D X Mark III and EOS R5 raw clips.

• Improved syncing of playhead between timeline and viewer in the sync bin.

• Improved tone mapping behavior when performing wipes in HDR projects.

• Improved Kakadu JPEG 2000 decode performance on Linux and Windows.

• Addressed an issue with cropping the upper track in some scenarios.

• Addressed an issue with removing freeze frames in retimed clips.

• Addressed an issue with adjusting volume on a multi-track audio clip.

• Addressed an issue with saving the project after moving audio keyframes.

• Addressed an issue with waveform displays when scrolling the timeline.

• Addressed issues with audio waveforms in sync bin and sync clip window.

• Addressed an issue with resetting the MediaIn node in the inspector.

• Addressed an issue with trimming still images in the Fusion page.

• Addressed an issue with flashing alpha on EXR clips with Fusion comps.

• Addressed a preview issue with aux channels and combiner nodes.

• Addressed an issue with slow renders for Fusion custom tools.

• Addressed an issue with gradient modifiers applied on color controls.

• Multiple performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16.2.3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.2.3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details about DaVinci Resolve 16.2.3 update

Get more details about DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.2.3 update

• All previously published CVEs related to Ripple20 were patched in our June release

• Due to the severity of this newly reported CVE, we decided to provide customers with a point release immediately rather than waiting for 20.07 next week

• Both the new point release of 20.04 and the 20.07 release include all Ripple20 related patches that Treck and Teradici are aware of

• Customers can get this new Zero Client Firmware HERE

• Customers can get this new Remote Workstation Card Firmware HERE

If you need assistance in upgrading the firmware for your zero client and remote workstation card, please contact Digistor.

Please refer to the manuals and readme for additional information.

Adding an engine to an existing system:

1. Make a note of the IP address, system name <system-name> and version of existing system

2. Rack mount the engine, connect the 10G or 40G network interface, power up the engine

3. Using a laptop connected to the 1Gb management port install same Avid NEXIS version as the existing system, reboot the engine

4. open the agent page and configure;

• Storage System Name: enter the SAME name as the system it is joining
• Enter a unique name for the engine and optionally an enclosure ID
• Do NOT check the box to “Run as System Director”
• Add the unique IP address for the 10Gb or 40Gb network interface(s)
• Click submit to reboot the engine to save changes

5. After the new engine reboots, login to the existing management console for the existing System Director, the new engine should appear with unbound Media Packs

6. Bind the Media Packs and Add to Storage Group as required

Do NOT create a new file system when adding an engine to an existing system.

Creating a new Avid NEXIS system:

When creating a new Avid NEXIS it must have a unique Avid NEXIS System Name and unique IP address. If other Avid NEXIS systems exist on your network make a note of any Avid NEXIS systems.

1. Note the IP address(es) system name(s) and versions of any existing Avid NEXIS in the network

2. Chose a unique IP address AND system name for the new system (system name CANNOT be the same as any existing NEXIS)

3. Rack mount the engine, connect the 10G or 40G network interface, power up the engine

4. Using a laptop connected to the 1Gb management port install the current Avid NEXIS version, reboot the engine

5. Open the agent page and configure;

• Storage System Name: enter a unique name (Not the same System Name as any other Avid NEXIS)
• Enter a unique name for the engine and optionally an enclosure ID
• Check the box to “Run as System Director”
• Add the unique IP address for the 10Gb or 40Gb network interface(s)
• Click submit to reboot the engine to save changes

6. After the new engine reboots, login to the management console for the System Director, the engine should appear with unbound Media Packs

7. Create a New File System (only do this on new engines / systems, all previous file and media will be removed)

8. Bind the Media Packs and create a Storage Group

9. Create Workspaces

10. Create users and assign permissions to users and workspaces

Do NOT use the System Name of an existing system when creating a new, separate Avid NEXIS System.

Avid NEXIS Documentation

The most recent and recommended release is Avid NEXIS 2020.5 and all systems recommended to be Avid NEXIS 2019.12 or higher.

If you have any question about your Avid NEXIS system, please contact Digistor.

Deliver faster. Take on more projects.
Scale into the cloud.

The Digistor cloud render 'onboarding package', enables users to scale on-premise (in-house) rendering capabilities into the cloud for enhanced render speed and scalability.

Using cloud-based rendering, you can scale your rendering power in minutes to control how quickly you want to complete your project. You get incredible compute elasticity and cost control and only pay for what you use.

This is an ideal solution for those operating in the areas of visual effects, visualisation, animation and editing, who would benefit from less time spent on waiting for renders to finish, and would like to utilise Digistor's extensive experience in deploying and supporting cloud-based workflows.

Digistor's 'onboarding package' enables you to take advantage of cloud rendering utilising the AWS Portal, taking you directly to the cloud by setting up and configuring the AWS cloud environment and communicating with an on-prem Deadline environment.

AWS Portal simplifies the process of launching infrastructure and rendering in the cloud, by extending an on-prem Deadline environment into the cloud, using AWS EC2 spare capacity (EC2 Spot). It also facilitates secure communication between the on-prem and AWS cloud environments, handling the asset transfers and software licensing.

Get Onboard Now

Complete and submit the form and we'll get straight back to you to start the process.

Package Includes

The onboarding package includes everything required to get you started with bursting into the cloud including:

• Initial consultation meeting to discuss requirements
• Preparation of AWS Portal Server
• Configuration of cloud infrastructure
• Building custom image if required
• Establishing communication with the on-prem environment including firewall considerations
• Basic training and handover documentation

Cost

Pricing starts at $4,840 inc. GST for those with an existing on-prem environment. For on-going support and upkeep of the environment, including any image updates and resource utilisation reviews, we recommend either our Bronze or Silver Customer Assurance Plan.

Onboarding Process

Complete and submit the form and we'll get straight back to you to start the process. The first step will be an initial consultation meeting to discuss requirements. The onboarding process typically takes one week to complete.

Once the cloud environment is configured you can either choose to maintain the environment or engage Digistor to provide ongoing support via a subscription-based support contract.

Supported Applications and Render Engines

	Autodesk 3DS Max	Arnold Renderer	Cinema 4D	Clarisse	Deadline
	Houdini Engine	Katana Render	Keyshot Render	Krakatoa Render	Mantra Renderer
	Autodesk Maya	Nuke Render	Redshift Render	V-Ray Render	Yeti Render

If you are using another application and / or renderer please call to discuss.

Pre-requisites

Suitable Portal Server (Digistor can quote and supply if needed)

• Low-spec on-prem Windows or Linux server, physical or virtual
• Could be existing Deadline Server

Existing AWS account

• Alternatively, Digistor can host the cloud environment if required and/or configure a new Customer account if necessary.

Reliable internet connectivity with Min 15Mb upload speed

• Higher upload speeds will shorten asset upload times and enable render jobs to start sooner in the cloud.

All required licenses for the host application, renderer and all plug-ins

• Digistor will help determine license requirements as part of the initial consultation process.

Why Digistor

Digistor specialises in technology solutions for content creation, management and distribution, including architectural visualisation. We have advanced expertise in the areas of

• Architectural Rendering
• 3D Visualisation
• Modelling & Animation
• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Shared storage solutions & remote data duplication
• On-prem, cloud and hybrid render farms
• Services; support agreements, render farm installations and upgrades, software license management optimisation
• Training

Whatever your requirements, Digistor has you covered.

View a recent project we completed with Skyhouse Studios.

Welcome back to the Digistor blog – today I'd like to touch on the importance of Naming Conventions and Consistency when working in shared environments. Where the client machines (and servers) may be leveraging different operating systems and connection protocols.

This is an issue most often seen between Windows and Mac OS machines, usually initiated on the Mac OS machine, which has a more lax set of rules regarding allowed characters and combinations in file and folder names.

A classic case is connecting to an SMB share and finding a folder that is 6 alpha-numeric characters, a ~ (tilde) and finally one last alpha-numeric character. But when viewing this same folder over a fibre connection we can see the intended name correctly.

For example

Original file name: test:file.txt
Display name under Windows: T8S6CH~R.TXT

This is a well-known name mangling problem where SMB is converting filenames down to DOS 8.3 style and is most often caused by trailing whitespace or another special (non-alphanumeric) character in a name created by a Mac OS user. This can become more of an issue if your backup system is, say Windows and your main NLE's are OS X – the windows machine may mangle the names, or worse still not be able to back up some parts of the data.

Fortunately, there is a workaround (albeit partial) for this by editing the smb.conf file's [global] section to include "mangled names=no". I don't see this as a fool-proof fix, particularly if you are sharing this data with people outside your organization and they may not have the above settings applied locally.

Apart from these system side limitations, it makes very good sense to have a logical and concise naming convention for your data to facilitate finding and retrieving it several months or years down the track. Many clients we work with will have a WIP (Work In Progress) folder at the root level of their share, into which they logically break down each project into sections. Completed projects may then be moved in their entirety to Archive, freeing up space on the main storage.

For example

//MyShare/WIP/<client name>/<project name>/
And then inside the <project name> directory, we break out the components of the project
├── 01_Admin
│   ├── Files_to_Client
│   ├── Reference
│   └── Scripts_and_Storyboards
├── 02_Media
│   ├── Location_Audio
│   └── Rushes
├── 03_Audio
│   ├── Guide_VO
│   ├── Mixes
│   ├── Music
│   ├── Sound_effects
│   └── VO
├── 04_Graphics
│   ├── AI
│   ├── Fonts
│   ├── PS
│   ├── Stills
├── 05_Premiere
│   ├── Adobe_Premiere_Pro_Auto-Save
│   ├── Adobe_Premiere_Pro_Preview_Files
│   ├── Previous_Project_Assets
├── 06_AE
│   ├── AE_Renders
├── 07_Grade
│   ├── Grade_Prep
│   ├── Graded_Footage
│   ├── LUTs
│   │   ├── URSA_46_luts
│   │   │   ├── Davinci_Resolve
│   │   │   ├── FCPX
│   │   │   └── LUTS_4.0
└── 08_Master
    ├── HD_Masters
    └── HD_Submasters

This ensures a logical placement of all data across many projects, with the benefit of facilitating easy archive of a subset of the data on your storage. Furthermore, it reduces the incidence of incompatible naming in the folder structure so you can more readily glide between systems as required.

Finally, it is relevant to consider the length of the file paths described above – long names may appear more readable. But when there are 10 sub-folders with long names in the path, it can become quite cumbersome to navigate and hence manage. Try reducing names down, such as My_Kitchen_Rules_Season1_Episode1 becomes MKR_S01_E01, and so on.

There are many online resources discussing and providing further suggestions on the above but in short, the best rules to follow to ensure maximum cross-compatibility for users and operating systems are:

There are many online resources discussing and providing further suggestions on the above but in short, the best rules to follow to ensure maximum cross-compatibility for users and operating systems are:

1) Use A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _, -characters only, definitely avoid putting spaces or special characters at the start or end of any name.

2) Always enforce a consistent folder structure and naming convention for your projects to ensure you and those after you are able to easily locate and retrieve media in the future.

3) Where possible, be concise in naming.

If you need any assistance or have questions around mixed environment optimizations, don't hesitate to contact the Digistor team for a discussion.

Stay safe everyone, see you next time!

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 16.2.3

• Support for Dolby Vision 4.1 CM algorithm to generate v2.9 trims from v4.

• Option to export a Dolby Vision v2.9 XML from a v4 project.

• Support for RED SDK 7.3.2.

• Faster Metal decoding for Canon EOS-1D X Mark III and EOS R5 clips.

• Addressed incorrect playback for some ARRIRAW clips.

• Addressed an issue with ACES IDTs for some ARRI MXF clips.

• Addressed a focus and text entry issue for editable media pool fields.

• Addressed an issue rippling audio extend edits in trim mode.

• Addressed display issues with track and edit index in Fairlight page.

• Addressed a layered editing issue when cloning audio clips.

• Addressed incorrect behavior moving tracks over linked audio tracks.

• Addressed incorrect masking in Text+ when using image shading.

• Addressed incorrect behavior deleting gradient points in inspector.

• Addressed multiple issues with blank Fusion previews.

• Addressed an issue persisting viewer LUTs with comps in Fusion page.

• Addressed an issue with offline reference wipe sizing in the viewer.

• Multiple performance and stability improvements.

 
Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16.2.3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.2.3 for macOS / Windows / Linux


Get more details about DaVinci Resolve 16.2.3 update

Get more details about DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.2.3 update

What's new in Blackmagic Fusion Studio 16.2.3

• Addressed incorrect masking in Text+ when using image shading.

• Addressed incorrect behavior deleting gradient points in inspector.

• Addressed issues with LUTs and bit formats causing blank previews.

• Addressed issues with applying specific comp view preferences correctly.

• Addressed some inconsistent saver file extensions behavior.

• Multiple performance and stability improvements. 

Download Blackmagic Fusion Studio 16.2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details about Blackmagic Fusion Studio 16.2 update

What's new in Blackmagic Camera Setup 6.9.4

New features for original URSA Mini Pro G1 model.

• Updated this release to fix highlights issue.

• Add language localization support.

• Add slider and 1/3rd stop increments when adjusting ISO.

• Add common off-speed frame rate options above slider.

• Add ability to embed custom LUTs in Blackmagic RAW clips.

• Add sidetone level adjustment.

• Add improved ballistics and scaling of audio meters.

• Add choice of -18 or -20dB reference levels for audio meters.

• Add ability to remap the HFR button.

• Add ability to disable function and HFR buttons.

• Add ability to remap VTR and Ret buttons on B4 lenses.

• Add quick media switching from the heads up display.

• Add support for HDR metadata in SDI output.

• Add 'LUT' icon to status text overlays.

• Add 'PRE' icon to status text overlays for preset timecode.

• Add 2:1, 1:1 and 4:5 monitoring frame guides.

• Add customizable frame guides.

• Add ability to lock timecode to SDI Input.

• Retain jam synced timecode after power cycle.

• Improved jam sync timecode accuracy after playback.

• Improved stability when using external or program reference.

• Improved compatibility for embedded audio on SDI outputs.

• Improved accuracy of status text on SDI outputs.

• Improved ND filter status text.

• Improved auto exposure speed and performance.

• Improved media formatting user interface.

No new features in 6.9.4 for other camera models.

What’s new in Blackmagic RAW 1.7

• Added support for Panasonic EVA1 Blackmagic RAW clips captured by Blackmagic Video Assist.

• Added support for Canon EOS C300 Mark II Blackmagic RAW clips captured by Blackmagic Video Assist.

• Blackmagic RAW Adobe Premiere Pro plugin general performance and stability improvements.

 
Download Blackmagic Camera Setup 6.9.4 for macOS / Windows

Get more details about Blackmagic Camera Setup 6.9.4 

Get Your Hands On Remote Working Environments via the Digistor "Sandbox"

While the timeline for a return to the office is unclear, many organisations will be working from home a lot longer than originally planned. But how do remote workers connect to their workplace resources securely from wherever they are and achieve high levels of productivity? What type of media and entertainment workflows are supported?

We've set up a remote access "sandbox" in our Digistor Sydney HQ where you can get free access to try these solutions for yourself. Try out the technologies and solutions remotely from your home or workplace.

Simply complete the form and we'll get back to you and set up your demo.

Explore these technologies in real working environments to get answers to your operational questions.

• How easy is it to get started for creative teams?
• Will it work from anywhere? I have some very remote users who are interested.
• Does it work for my specific media and entertainment (M&E) applications?
• What does it feel like to work on an M&E-class remote access workstation? Is it better than TeamViewer? Is sound properly in sync?
• How does a proxy streaming workflow work and what are the requirements for remote creative users?

See how Digistor can help you with:

• Enabling M&E class reliable remote access for your creative teams
• Hardware and software based remote access solutions
• Secure authentication and remote access brokering — enabling multiple users and workstations through secure gateways (no VPNs required!)
• Accessing Assets remotely with easy search and optional automation workflows
• Proxy Streaming based Workflows
• Rendering on-demand or when you need some short-term burst render capacity using AWS
• Cloud-based solutions
  • Complete studios in the cloud, including storage solutions + virtual servers and virtual workstations with GPU support
  • Teradici CAS+ Remote Host Software
  • Backup to cloud storage solutions
  • Archive to low cost, infrequent access cloud storage
  • Asset management solutions for in the cloud productions and/or on-premise assets
  • Transcoding workflows and solutions

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Remote Access Environments Available to Trial

Check out the remote access environments we have available and complete the form to let us know what you'd like to trial.

Remote Access — Teradici CAS+/HP RGS/NX and Leostream Connection Brokering

Leostream Broker with Teradici PCoIP Connection Manager provides remote access to users with PCoIP Clients (SW) to workstations (SW Teradici) with Teradici CAS/CAS+ Software Agents.  For more information read Brokering Technology in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Overview:

• Remote access to your facility's workstations and servers
• Simple client-side setup (no firewall setups or VPNs)
• Fast and responsive, colour accurate and adaptive image quality
• Support up to 4 monitors
• USB device support — keyboard, mouse and tablet
• Supports all applications including GPU M&E workflows
• All software-based solution, suitable for physical and virtual machines

What's in the demo?

• Secure brokering with Leostream
• HP Z820 Workstation (see specifications below)
• Teradici Cloud Access Software plus, enabling GPU — Remote Access
• Pre-installed Demo software (see list of installed applications)

HP Z820 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 128GB RAM
• NVIDIA Quadro K6000 12GB RAM

Demo software installed

• Adobe Creative Suite — Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.
• AVID Media Composer
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve
• Autodesk 3ds Max
• Blender
• Cinema 4D

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Remote Access — Teradici ZeroClient and Leostream Connection Brokering

Leostream Broker with Leostream Gateway provides remote access from users with PCoIP Clients (HW) to workstations with Teradici Remote.

Overview:

• Remote access to your facility's workstations and servers
• Simple client-side setup (no firewall setups or VPNs)
• Fast and responsive, colour accurate and adaptive image quality
• Support up to 4 monitors, available in dual or quad monitor options
• USB device support — keyboard, mouse and tablet
• Supports all applications including GPU M&E workflows
• Hardware-based solution, suitable for physical machines. PC and Mac options available

What's in the demo?

• Secure brokering with Leostream— no VPNs or breaking firewalls
• Dell 7910 Workstation (see specifications below)
• Amulet Hotkey - Teradici DXZ4 remote workstation card, PCIe
• Pre-installed Demo software (see list of installed applications)

DELL 7910 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 64GB RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB RAM
• Amulet Hotkey DXH4-M (quad-port)

Demo software installed

• Windows 10 Professional
• Adobe Creative Suite— Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.
• Avid Media Composer
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve
• Autodesk 3ds Max
• Blender
• Requires Teradici ZeroClient Hardware (demo unit by request), BYO monitor(s), keyboard, mouse and tablet

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Accessing Assets Remotely — Media Management with EditShare Flow

Flow is a media management application that supports and manages all types of media whether located on-premise, in the cloud or as a hybrid implementation.

Flow overview:

• Enable remote workflows — collaborate and edit in real-time over any network
• Works will all NLEs — Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve, FCPX
• Easy to deploy on-premise or in the cloud — Easily manage and search media assets
• Proxy view of most media assets — enabling easy search and proxy streaming workflows and more with optional Automation Server and worker nodes
• Automate regular and repetitive tasks such as file cataloguing, versioning and event triggering.
• Transcode files during ingest, or on-the-fly, to suit individual requirements, so that the highest resolution and proxy files are available to all
• Securely control access to files using permissions for local and remote workgroups and clients
• Publish in multiple formats to suit local and remote broadcast requirements, internet and mobile platforms backup and archive to local, remote and cloud storage

What's in the demo?

• Remote Access to an editing workstation with pre-installed EditShare Flow
• Secure brokering with Leostream and PCoIP Security Manager — no VPNs or firewalls
• HP Z820 Workstation (see specifications below)
• Access to Flow Asset management — Browse assets of various indexed storage solutions
• EditShare Flow Story, Flow Browse, Flow Logger and Airflow
• Pre-installed Demo software (see list of installed applications)

Select between software- or hardware-based remote access solutions

Software-based access with CAS+

HP Z820 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 128GB RAM
• NVIDIA Quadro K6000 12GB RAM

Hardware based Amulet Teradici ZeroClient

DELL 7910 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 64GB RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB RAM
• Amulet Hotkey DXH4-M (quad-port)

Flow indexed Storage Systems

• Avid Nexis E4
• Infortrend GSE Pro 3016T
• Small Tree Titanium (5 bay)

Demo software installed

• EditShare Flow Suite— Flow Story, Flow Browse, Flow Logger
• Access to EditShare Airflow (web portal/app)
• Flow Premiere Pro Panel
• Adobe Creative Suite— Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.
• AVID Media Composer
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve
• Autodesk 3ds Max
• Blender

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Workflows using proxy streaming with EditShare Airflow

AirFlow brings all the media sharing capabilities of the Flow to secure multi-team, multi-location productions. The simple and intuitive web-based interface lets collaborators located anywhere in the world search, log, organise and play media content — as well as upload and download content directly to and from EditShare central storage systems.

What's in the demo?

• Remotely access assets with the Airflow (browser)
• Use your own editing or creative apps
• Download proxy or full-resolution assets to your location
• Use streaming proxies in your editing application

Flow Indexed Storage Systems

• Avid Nexis E4
• Infortrend GSE Pro 3016T
• Small Tree Titanium (5 bay)

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Rendering on demand — Auto-scaling with Deadline

AWS Thinkbox Deadline is a hybrid administration and compute management software for render farms, supporting more than 80 different content creation applications out of the box. Deadline provides flexibility and a wide range of compute management options, giving you the freedom to easily access any combination of on-premises or cloud-based resources for your rendering, render management and processing needs. For more information read Render Farms - Where to Begin.

Deadline overview:

• Manage and monitor compute resources
• Auto-scale and extend your on-premises render farm capacity to the cloud
• Deadline integrates with AWS using AWS Portal
• Optimise costs with usage-based licensing and operating costs

Access between software- or hardware-based remote access solutions

Software based access with CAS+

HP Z820 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 128GB RAM
• NVIDIA Quadro K6000 12GB RAM

Hardware Amulet

DELL 7910 Specifications

• Windows 10 Professional
• Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz - 8 Cores
• 64GB RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB RAM

Storage Systems

• Infortrend GSE Pro 3016T

Demo software installed

• AWS Thinkbox - Deadline Monitor
• Autodesk 3ds Max
• Blender
• SketchUp
• Adobe Creative Suite— Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.
• AVID Media Composer
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve

Deadline Server virtualised

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Other Bespoke Remote / Cloud Environments

This is not an exhaustive list of the environments Digistor can configure to suit specific customer application needs.

Other areas not covered in detail here include:

• Complete studios in the cloud
• Live video production and editing in the cloud. For more information read Streaming in Times of Crisis.
• Cloud rendering with on-demand dynamic scaling
• Transcoding workflows
• Backup and archive

Fill out the form to let us know why your specific requirements are.

What is a basic VDI Connection Broker?

Many companies have been making VDI brokering products from more than 10 years, such as Leostream, Citrix and Ericom. Based upon the need for handling multiple access sessions with limited network resources and simplifying IT management infrastructure.

The trend of people working remotely is inevitable, VDI provides a great solution for this. But how to manage multiple VDI sessions at the same time? This diagram shows a typical VDI scenario with PCoIP protocol, where many employees are remotely accessing their computers inside Company A.

This works, only if:

• All users utilise the same VDI protocol, Company A thereby must possess adequate public IPs to cater for their users
• This is a routed environment, NAT or PAT protocol are needed to prevent ports from each computer being accessed, Company A ensure all computers are well protected against cybersecurity attacks
• The company have suitable IT resources to handle configuration changes, incidents and troubleshooting…

To resolve these issues, we need an intermediary. Who answers all requests, understands the requirements and handles the allocation/delivery of VDI services. This is my understanding of a basic VDI brokering:

A basic VDI connection broker is a centralised service consolidation entity which acts as a transparent or non-transparent intermediary for proxied VDI payload, provides user authentication, authorisation and services allocation based on a defined SLA.

With a connection broker in place, a VDI connection is much simplified:

• STEP 1: All employees are accessing the same connection broker, only one WAN IP is required to service multiple users
• STEP 2: The broker authenticates users (local authentication database or with an authentication provider) and allocates computers to each user, based upon user identification and pre-configured allocation policies
• STEP 3: Connection broker starts proxying VDI traffic

What additional value is provided by using connection brokers?

1. Directory services integration and single sign-on experience

A company's existing directory service (AD, LDAP, NIS) can be integrated with a connection broker and the user can be authenticated using their domain credentials with optional MFA (smart card or PIV card).

Single sign-on can also be enabled on domain computers. With this feature, a user can login automatically with the same domain credentials on allocated computers.

2. Explicit policy controls

Connection brokers allow the creation of user groups and computers groups. The group assignment can inherit from a directory service, or be defined locally on the broker.

The company administrator can define policies to control computer allocation, computer release, and so on. Below are a few examples:

• Alice has professional software installed on her own computer only, when Alice logs on, only allocate this computer to her
• Bob and Charlie are freelance designers, when either of them logs on, allocate any available designer computer to him
• David is the administrator and needs to maintain all editor suites, when David logs on, provide all available editor suites in a list, enabling him to choose one to complete his work
• Echo uses two different computers to complete her job, when Echo disconnects from a computer, don't sign her off so any unfinished background process can still run
• For public computers, sign a user off immediately when the current user disconnects, so this computer can return to the available pool for other ad-hoc users to jump on

3. Work seamlessly with on-prem and in-cloud workstations

In the M&E industry, cloud technology is leveraged to handle resource-intensive jobs and surges in workloads, brokering technology is also integrated into the major cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure and GCP to deliver VDI experience. Users can use either software client or zero clients (a small-factor and light-weighted hardware designed for VDI environment, doesn't run the operating system) to access both on-prem and in-cloud workstations through connection brokers.

4. Multiple brokered protocols

Some brokering technology supports multiple VDI protocols simultaneously, such as RDP, VNC, PCoIP, RGS, and RemoteFX. A company can choose the most suitable protocol for each user group or computer group to best deliver the VDI quality and save costs on bandwidth or licenses.

5. Customisable notifications and API integrations

Most modern connection brokers support SMTP and SNMP protocols for notification and services monitoring with customisable alert rules; API integration is also available in some solutions, which makes automation possible.

What about VPN?

VPN provides centralised access points for remote workers and uses strong encryption to protect traffic being tunnelled. This resolves some pain points of the typical VDI scenario. But also introduces a few other issues due to the nature of a VPN service.

VPN technology provides many advantages for a remote working environment. A company does not need to own a large number of public IP addresses to server multiple light weighted VDI sessions (RDP, VNC), and computers are not exposed on the public Internet. However, this is still not an ideal technology for the VDI environment in M&E industry.

• First of all, VPN is a category of services and many different protocols are delivering different service characteristics. For example: IKEv2, OpenVPN, SSL VPN is very client-dependent and is not well-supported on zero clients; PPTP, L2TP/IPSec are less secure or less efficient.
• Purchasing a VPN solution for throughput-intensive services is expensive, but in a VDI environment, a lot of traffic is being transferred all the time
• VPN introduces queueing delay due to complex tunnel encapsulation and encryption algorithms
• VPN provides transparent tunnel for data transfer; server-side cannot respond based on client-side network quality changes

Considerations

Based on the above analysis and comparison with VPN technology, it is very clear that the connection broker is a winner in almost every single aspect. This is also why brokering technology is always a key part of a VDI solution. Every technology is great in some way, and not so great in other ways. I'd like to conclude the advantages of VDI brokering by stating: it is designed to do this job, thus it accomplishes well.

Enhanced Virtualisation and Remote Access Solutions for Australia and New Zealand

Leostream, renowned for managing complex remote workflows from single-pane-of-glass admin consoles, has announced a reseller agreement with Digistor for the ANZ region. This will allow Digistor to provide customers with enhanced virtualisation and remote access solutions across Australia and New Zealand.

Leostream pioneered technologies such as a patented physical- to-virtual machine converter and a virtual machine controller, which evolved into the enterprise Leostream Connection Broker. Today, it is a central component of thousands of enterprise IT environments around the globe.

Launched in 2018, Leostream 9 embodies over 15 years of Leostream research and development in supporting customers with hosted desktop environments including VDI, hybrid cloud, and high-performance workstations. With native support for vSphere, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, HPE Moonshot System, and the world's most robust connection management and remote access feature set, Leostream customers can manage their entire IT environment all from within the web-based Leostream 9 platform.

"We are fortunate to work with one of the region's most trusted and respected solutions providers for the biggest names in broadcasting and post-production" said Robert Ewanouski, VP Business Development Leostream. "The Digistor and Leostream solution offers a scalable platform to manage environments and provide access to users, no matter where they are doing their work."

"The Digistor and Leostream solution offers a scalable platform to manage environments and provide access to users, no matter where they are doing their work"
Robert Ewanouski, VP Business Development Leostream

Digistor is a respected provider of technology solutions to a plethora of industries, providing product, solutions design, installation and technical support to notable companies including the ABC, Disney, Foxtel, Warner Brothers and Endemol Shine across Australia and New Zealand. Remote working is an area of great growth and potential and is applicable to any industry and any organisation that needs to support remote workers and infrastructure.

The new partnership with Digistor will expand Leostream presence to the APAC region, not only for media and entertainment customers, but customers from industries such as design and engineering, finance, oil and gas, healthcare and others.

"In today's current market we are seeing a big demand for remote workflows, as setups become larger and more complex, we need the likes of Leostream to manage these connections," said Andrew Mooney, Managing Director Digistor. "We are very pleased to partner with Leostream and are already seeing the opportunities this facilitates for our clients."

About Leostream

Leostream Corporation was founded in 2002 by two entrepreneurs, with the ability to recognise important gaps in the evolving server virtualisation and remote access market. They pioneered technologies such as a patented physical-to-virtual machine converter and a virtual machine controller, which evolved into the enterprise Leostream Connection Broker. Today, it is a central component of thousands of enterprise IT environments around the globe. Leostream 9 embodies over 15 years of research and development in supporting customers with hosted desktop environments including VDI, hybrid cloud, and high-performance workstations.

For further Information

For further information on the Leostream platform and solutions for managing complex remote workflows, please contact Digistor.

We recently published Render Farms – Where to Begin on the Digistor blog. This was a great overview of render farms in general. Today’s blog is aimed to be an introduction to what is possible for After Effects specifically.

Rendering locally in After Effects uses a single render instance and is done in the foreground, meaning you need to wait for the render to complete before continuing to work.

Network rendering allows you to background render. That is, to offload your render while you continue to stay productive. The rendering can be offloaded to a dedicated render farm, or simply to another idle workstation (or group of workstations).

FAST AND INEXPENSIVE

Dedicated render nodes might not be in everyone’s budget. That is why being able to utilise workstations you already have is so attractive.

The other benefit is that rendering on another system (workstation or render node) uses aerender, the After Effects command-line rendering engine. This allows the possibility of running multiple/concurrent After Effects render instances on the same system. In practice, you can expect rendering to be 2-3 times faster than a local foreground render on the same hardware.

Technically, one could manually do this, or script this. However, there are several tools available dedicated to this job. For example, there is Render Boss specifically for After Effects, or AWS Thinkbox Deadline which is a complete render farm manager that supports most applications. This would be the recommendation if you also use 3D applications.

CONSIDERATIONS

• Aerender does not use an After Effects license. However, the plethora of plugins available each have their own licensing idiosyncrasies. If a plug-in does require a license, each aerender instance you run concurrently will need a license. Fortunately, most vendors such as Red Giant will provide render-only licenses at no extra charge. (5 render-only licenses per full license).
• Some plugins are GPU-only and will not render on a render node that does not have GPU. Rendering to another workstation with a GPU is no problem. Nb. Some plug-in offer both CPU and GPU support.
• Multiple or concurrent render instances will use more system resources. How much memory and CPU (and GPU) is required depends on the type of AE comps being rendered.
• The AE project path and paths to sources need to be network paths. This is required as all systems doing the rendering need access over the network. Ideally, this path would be a NAS or SAN. However, sharing your local drive will also work. Optionally you can perform a Collect Files in AE to a network location, but that is an extra step. Nb. If you load an AE project via a network path, AE will automatically relink all sources it can find using the network path.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you’re interested in further investigation, or having trouble with your current setup, don’t hesitate contacting Digistor.

Introduction

During this challenging time, a number of our vendors and ourselves are offering customers the ability to access software and services for free or at reduced rates. This blog is a compilation of these for easy access.

As more and more people begin working from home, this blog also serves as a repository of useful tools and tips for effectively working remote from the workplace.

If you know of anything that should be included here, please add to the comments below.

Coronavirus Freebies, Discounts & Vendor Resources

Adobe

Adobe has implementing a number of programmes intended to provide continued access to our products as the COVID-19 situation develops, including

• students now have free, personal in-home access to Creative Cloud
• web-based PDF services on Adobe.com free through 31 May 2020
• extending the renewal grace period to 60 days for Creative Cloud and Document Cloud team and enterprise customers in the Value Incentive Plan (VIP)

For all Adobe programme details, visit the Adobe Program Changes page.

Archiware

Recognising the importance of data management and security during the pandemic, Archiware is supporting customers with a free license of the P5 Desktop LTO Edition.

• Registration for a license will be available until July 31st, 2020
• The P5 Desktop LTO Edition includes P5 Archive and P5 Backup, for use with a single LTO tape drive
• Bundle is perfect for media professionals and SMBs in the Media & Entertainment industry, who require a professional archive and/or backup solution

For further details, visit the Archiware License Request page.

Autodesk

Autodesk has implemented programs to support customers. Resources include

• Free access to Autodesk software, content and curriculum
• Information about using Autodesk products from home
• Home use licence requests
• Free Autodesk Cloud Collaboration Services

Full, up-to-date details are available via the Autodesk COVID-19 Autodesk Resource Centre. You can also read How Autodesk Is Helping Communities, Customers, and Employees Impacted by COVID-19.

Avid

Avid has implemented programs to support customers. Resources include

• Temporary licenses of Media Composer | Ultimate, Pro Tools, Pro Tools | Ultimate and Sibelius | Ultimate
• 90-day licenses for students that cannot attend classes
• A Media Composer Remote Options Guide (PDF)
• A Pro Tools Cloud Collaboration Guide (PDF)

Full, up-to-date details are available via the Avid coronavirus update page.

AWS

AWS is giving free of charge working from home and business continuity planning solutions until 30 June 2020:

• Workspaces — Setup scalable remote/virtual Desktop-as-a-Service within hours, globally. Employees can access work computer with just a browser and internet connection
• Chime — Communications service that lets you meet, chat, and place business calls inside and outside your organisation
• WorkDocs — Content collaboration and creation platform

AWS has also increased assistance for Connect — Cloud contact centre solution that can be deployed within 15 minutes.

BorisFX

To help those that have had to disrupt a normal working environment and move editing, compositing, and motion graphics work to homes, Boris FX is offering:

• Free 60-day "at home" licenses for Sapphire, Continuum, Mocha Pro, and Silhouette for all qualifying Boris FX customers to replace their floating licenses locked in the office. Read the BorisFX FAQ for more details
• The Boris FX Application Manager — a free download that helps easily deactivate and reactivate node-locked licenses, ideal for moving an installed license to a new workstation. Read more BorisFX Application Manager information

Keep up-to-date with the "Boris FX Offers Remote Access To Help Customers: COVID-19 Update" page.

Chaos Group V-Ray, Chaos Cloud Credits

Chaos has created Chaos software remote usage documentation to make sure that everyone working from home can access their software. This covers V-Ray, Phoenix FD & Pdplayer Licenses. In addition

• The Chaos Cloud rendering service remains fully operational and represents a viable option for customers working remotely. Chaos is reducing the price to ensure the service is as accessible as possible. Order Chaos Cloud Credits online at reduced pricing.
• The new Licensing server is available, allowing for the quick, self-service transfer of licenses from dongles to the Online Licensing Server (OLS). If licenses are not migrated to the OLS, they will remain active on the dongles.
• To support educational customers during campus closures, Chaos has enabled distance learning with free student/educator licenses for all university customers

Cinedeck cineXtools

cineXtools can help ensure you're as productive remotely as you would be during typical operations. From now until April 3rd, you can get a one month license of cineXtools free of charge to help ensure you're proactive in the face of the remote demands we're all working to accommodate. Get a one month license of cineXtools free of charge.

ContentAgent

ContentAgent, which can help streamline remote editing workflows, is offering free ContentAgent licenses for a period of 30 days to help streamline remote productivity. There are free licenses applicable for existing and new customers (including guidence as needed). Contact r6techinfo@root6.com for more details on the free licenses. Download ContentAgent overview information.

Content+Technology Free Work Wanted Ads

Content+Technology magazine is running free Work Wanted ads in its eNews bulletins. They are welcoming production and technology staff to make submissions. Include what type of work you're looking for, contact details, LinkedIn profile, etc. and email papers@broadcastpapers.com.

Dejero

Dejero is undertaking several activities to ensure video and connectivity needs are continuing to be met. These include

• Free mobile apps
• Expert and Remote Provider Access
• Help with portable kits with Dejero equipment for remote connectivity and off-premises video and data transmission

Read their statement at the Dejero "Responding to COVID-19" page.

EditShare

View EditShare's message from the CEO which contains video information plus details of their offerings, which include

• making EditShare's media management solution, Flow, available for FREE through July 1, 2020 to anyone working to simplify storytelling and keep our communities connected.
• setting up a series of interactive webinars, blogs, and demonstrations on remote production and remote collaboration solutions

EIZO

Here are a few suggestions on how best to keep your monitor sanitized for a safer working environment. This post outlines the chemicals that may be used for disinfecting and cleaning of EIZO monitors and accessories but is generally useful for all monitors.

How to clean and sanitize your monitor

Greyscalegorilla

Now might be the right time to focus on learning new 3D skills for your career. Greyscalegorilla has decided to temporarily extend their student discount for Greyscalegorilla Plus to everyone. Use the code "LEARN3D" during checkout for USD150 off the first year of Greyscalegorilla Plus. Read the letter from Greyscalegorilla founder, Nick Campbell.

How to clean and sanitize your monitor

IBM Aspera on Cloud: Free 90-Day Offer

In these times of travel restrictions and work from home policies, many employees may not be properly enabled to work remotely. To help them maintain business continuity, IBM is eliminating the cost of using the Aspera cloud service for high-speed file sharing and team collaboration. New organizations can subscribe to IBM Aspera on Cloud for ninety days at no charge.

SNS

SNS Nomad is a new utility that helps our EVO users work from anywhere. It is available immediately, free to all EVO users.

Unity

To help support folks during these times, Unity is providing all users with three months' complimentary access to Unity Learn Premium. Just log in to start learning. You can also Learn how to design your own video game for free with a seven-week course with live instruction.

Our objective here at Digistor is simple – we want to continue with a 'business as usual' approach as far as is possible, whilst at the same time ensuring the health and well being of, not just our team, but also our community as a whole.  If there is anything we can do to be of assistance to you please contact us.

This blog is a living document that we will updated as required.

The Current Situation

• We have no reported or confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst our team

Our Safety and Well-being Actions

• We have a member of staff dedicated to monitoring the evolving situation and amending our action plan accordingly
• We have implemented many initiatives, including actions identified by State and Federal Governments and health organisations

Business Continuity

• For the most part, our team will be working remotely for the time being, with the exception of a minimal number of team members who will be working on a rotating roster to ensure continuity of business, including the receiving and shipping of products
• You will continue to have remote access to our team via the standard email and phone methods, however, in the best interests of our team's well-being and that of our customers, we will be endeavouring to restrict all non-essential physical contact with the help of teleconferencing technology
• Our amazing team of engineers will be continuing to provide technical services at our customer's sites at this time, however, as you would understand, our team's health and safety need to be our number one priorities.  With this in mind, we have developed a simple checklist, to be provided to our customers in advance of any visit, to ensure a very high degree of protection for all parties.
• Our online stores are fully operational, accepting orders and shipping. We look forward to continuing to service our customers' needs through online purchases. We ask for your understanding should there be any product delays during the evolving situation.

Safety Precautions

• As mentioned previously we have restricted the number of staff in the office on a daily basis to the bare minimum, with the remainder of our team working remotely for the time being
• We continue to reinforce our office protocols regarding hygiene and have introduced additional cleaning measures to maintain the healthiest work environment possible
• We continue to reinforce messages related to the symptoms of the virus and directed our team to stay home if they experience any symptoms and self-quarantine after suspected or possible exposure

Helping You Through

As this unprecedented situation evolves rapidly, we are committed to doing our very best to support you. Here are some of the things we are are undertaking that may help you and your business at this time.

• We have produced a blog on free and discounted product and services plus information on tools for remote working and remote production. This will be updated as organisations offer freebies and helpful information.
• We have produced a "Streaming Solutions" blog to outline streaming options for live event streaming and broadcast.
• We can provide free advice on remote production configurations. Contact us to let us know what advice you need.
• We're providing a free 15 Minute Technical Support Token if you need help getting your remote production environment up and running. Contact us to request a discount code to purchase your token online.

Keeping Up-to-Date

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for latest news and updates.

All of our contact details can be found on Digistor's Contact Us page.

In times of global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity's health is not only at stake but also our economies, business and livelihood.

While our medical brothers and sisters work hard to resolve this crisis, we need to keep the world working and keep businesses moving. Content creation at this time is very critical in disseminating information and news. Business communication, collaboration and remote workflow is important for business continuity.

Now that attending live events, meet-ups and face-to-face meetings are increasingly difficult, if not impossible, alternatives need to be found to continue to bring entertainment, information and community to people. Online meeting and webinar tools such as Zoom (Digistor's remote meeting tool of choice) or GoToMeeting are a great way for small groups to keep in contact, but what happens when you need higher production values, multi-camera and audio inputs, live switching or to reach a larger audience with a customised viewing experience? This is where live streaming solutions come into play.

Digistor can help develop an effective live production and streaming strategy for applications including 

• Sports broadcasting from match action to "behind the scenes" material
• University lectures 
• CEO, AGMs and corporate communications 
• Political and community communications 
• Live entertainment events and concerts 
• Broadcaster "breaking news" 
• Church/Funeral services and other Houses of Worship communication needs

Interestingly, some of our suppliers are already reporting delays in delivery of the equipment discussed in this blog due to increasing demand, so now would be the time get your orders into Digistor.

In order to help assess the solutions that may assist you, this blog provides a brief outline of some streaming options for organisations. Rather than a definitive guide, this is intended as a "teaser" or starting point for your discussion with Digistor. There are always many ways to "skin a cat" and this applies to streaming solutions because each production and distribution requirement is so different.

Requirements for a Streaming Solution

For all streaming requirements, you need:

1. To manage Sources and Content (the input to your program that you wish to stream)
2. Production capabilities (mixing sources, adding media, defining the "look") to create the final program
3. To encode of the program ready for streaming distribution
4. To distribute to the desired audience in the desired format

The simplest setup could be a mobile phone's camera and mic streaming directly to Facebook Live/YouTube Live. This is a valid solution, but limited to a single hand-held source, of limited quality. And in addition, public domains such as Facebook and YouTube contain other content that may be a distraction. Your streamed content could also be private to a particular group, require a login, branding or other customised delivery. We will consider these scenarios later.

1. Managing Content and Sources

Live Switchers

If you have multiple video, audio and other sources, you will need to switch between them or mix them into the final program output. Depending on the complexity of switching, you may use an external hardware switcher or simply connect your sources to the computer and allow the streaming software to provide the switching.

As an example, the ASE Edit Royale live events held at Digistor had inputs that included:

• five computer systems
• a roving camera with video and audio
• a roving interviewer's mic audio
• overlay titles and graphics

Check out Greg Taylor's blog on the initial Edit Royale production and streaming setup. Below is a diagram of the setup for the most recent Edit Royale setup.

The Blackmagic ATEM live production series provides lots of options for live switching from the low-cost ATEM Mini with 4 HDMI inputs and HD output through to 8K versions with many more inputs and options. We used the ATEM Television Studio for the most recent Edit Royale utilising its extremal computer control for graphics and audio mixing, making it a very flexible setup where you can have multiple people controlling the live source, graphics and audio mixes.

If you need to mix multiple audio sources, we also provide a range of professional audio mixers.

Blackmagic Web Presenter

The Blackmagic Web Presenter is a simple device that converts your camera or other video source with HDMI or SDI into a webcam so your PC can detect and enable recording. It will down convert any SD, HD and Ultra HD sources and make them look like a 720p USB webcam and can also live switch programs using its built-in 2 input production switcher when the optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel is installed.

Signal Converters

Chances are your input source connectors will not all match the switching/encoding devices your want to plug then into. Luckily there is a range of converters from Blackmagic and AJA that will let you convert HDMI to SDI, SDI to HDMI, embed/de-embed audio, etc.

Lights, Cameras, Teleprompters – Action!

To ensure that your production is of high quality, you need to consider:

Check out the range of Lights from Ikan and others, Blackmagic Cameras and Autocue Teleprompters.

We've been involved recently with supplying BirdDog IP-based (NDI) remote PTZ cameras and controllers, especially for university lectures or similar, where the camera tracking and zoom can be controlled via software or control panels. This is ideal where you want to obviate the need for a cameraperson, but still control all aspects of camera operation.

Don't forget mics too. You need your audience to be able to clearly hear your production.

2. Capture, Encoding, Streaming Boxes

Streaming software like Wirecast can encode and stream program content to destinations including Facebook and YouTube and CDNs, but in many cases, you may want to use an external box for encoding and streaming, obviating the need to use production software at all or because you have specific streaming requirements not addressed by the software.

Once you have mixed your sources via a switcher such as the ATEM or streaming system and you have your final program out, or if you have only a single video/audio source you want to stream, then you will want to encode the stream into the required streaming format(s) and send out to reach your audience. There are a number of dedicated hardware devices to provide these functions at various levels of quality and flexibility.

Matrox Monarch and AJA HELO are great examples of encoding and streaming appliances which will accept a video/audio signal and encode and send to various streaming destinations. Features to look out for include:

• the ability to stream in multiple formats to multiple destinations
• flexibly handling start-stop and failure in the signal
• program-out options
• external computer control
• recording formats and media
• schedules

They will also enable you to record your program stream for later editing and posting for on-demand viewing.

For higher performance and demanding broadcast applications, AWS Elemental Live encoders combined with AWS Elemental's Cloud processing and distribution options. We have configured these devices and services for live sports broadcasting applications to huge audiences viewing simultaneously via HD, 4K and HDR set-top boxes, computers, phones and tablets.

3. Live Program Production

This is the fun bit! Mixing all of your sources into a finished program that can be streamed is most frequently achieved using streaming products such as Telestream Wirecast and Streamstar.

These products will give you the ability to mix multiple channels, multiple layers, effects, chroma-keying, graphics, audio mixing, titles and much more – essentially creating a TV production studio in a box. They support streaming to multiple social channels and other destinations and much, much more.

Wirecast comes as a software-only version you can run on your Mac or PC or as a high-performance turn-key hardware and software computer system called Wirecast Gear. The beauty of the Wirecast Gear is that it gives you an easy to use, fully configured live video streaming production system. Because Telestream has already done all the work, there is no need to build your own system.

Streamstar provides exclusively hardware and software based turn-key solutions which have had lots of success in the live sports area, but their products are equally suited to other live events. The software is known for its ease-of-use and high-performance.

4. Reaching Your Audience: Distributing Beyond Facebook and Twitter

There are a number of reasons to utilise an external CDN including:

• creating a custom viewer with branding
• embedding on your own website so the audience visits your site to view
• enabling security with password authentication, etc.
• keeping advanced statistics
• reaching large audiences
• utilising AI features such as automatic captioning, object identification and more
• cloud-based recording with post-stream optional download
• on-demand deployment
• failure management options

Digistor has utilised IBM's Video Streaming (previously uStream) and AWS Elemental MediaLive platform. We can advise on the best to suit your needs.

Postscript

On a final note, we'd recommend working through and documenting your streaming requirements – from sources to production to your audience – and then speaking to Digistor to discuss how these can be addressed. It may be that you can start simple and ramp up to more sophisticated over time, or it may be that you have very stringent requirements that have to be met before plunging in. In either case, let us help you keep the lines of communication open!

So, you already know a render farm harnesses greater processing capacity to enable your artists to create multiple creative iterations, get jobs out faster and achieve photo-realistic output where desired.

You get it and have already tried…

So why doesn't mine work, how do I make it better?

Many applications such as SketchUp are primarily linear applications for modelling and utilise single-threaded processing for majority of tasks. Most applications, at least on the workstations, rely heavily on OpenGL, which provides robust 3D APIs and raster pipelines, but were designed decades ago without multi-core considerations. You may have invested in multiple (12-24+) core processors when you could have invested in lower core count with higher speed like 3.5Ghz+ for the artists and investing in a 3rd party.

1. Place the render solution where it will be correctly utilised

You might want to look at 3rd party render plug-ins such as V-Ray for Revit or SketchUp or look at exporting to a 3D program that offers genuine multi-threaded renders such as 3ds Max or Cinema 4D. Obviously there are workflow considerations here.

Similarly ensure the actual component of the program will benefit from additional processing power. For example, only the encoding and transcoding in Adobe After Effects and Avid Media Composer take advantage of multiple cores, otherwise these applications will simply utilise a single-core and not necessarily efficiently. Possibly dedicate a specific machine to particular jobs.

2. Start locally to free up some time for the artists

• Add RAM to any workstation. This will be the most economical improvement you can make and possibly alleviate render failures instantaneously.
• Update software release if vendor has made any improvements to the renderer.
• Upgrade the GPU to take advantage of CUDA / CL.
• Add a 3rd party plug-in renderer for your application.
• Purchase new machines, specifically with the creatives in mind! Performance is nearly linear. An artist currently using a 2.2Ghz machine will increase output/save time by approximately 60% by swapping out to a 3.5Ghz machine and feel far less frustrated.

3. Check network topography for bottleneck issues

• The render library needs to be located on fast storage with a high IOPS server. Renders pull small amounts of data often, it does not require 10Gb networking, but any issues with switches, client connectivity, etc. will cause a render to fail.
• Ensure versioning is replicated across client machines and render nodes. Lock it down and schedule synchronised upgrades across the whole business, as appropriate, with software updates.
• Investigate Queue Management such as Thinkbox Deadline, which can report failed renders centrally and automate resubmission when conditions are rectified.

Workflow efficiencies. Do artists need training to ensure they have output in mind when creating imagery?

But of course, once we start, we always want more…

We can go to cloud-render solutions, which are wonderful for elasticity and immediacy and without doubt is the preferred solution for many, however the issue is budget. The general rule of thumb is cloud solutions cost circa 300% more than tin-on-the-ground over three years, so let's address this first.

Rendering is all about simplicity, economy and efficiency… it does NOT need to look like this…based on price/performance/power ratio – how do I decide?

You know you need to maximise cores (or GPUs) in available space and now I hear folks say "of course we buy blades" … I think mainly because Tier 1 vendors suggest this for dense clusters.

However, this is sometimes not the most economical option, we find many clients have available rack space that may not justify expense of blade clusters. We suggest looking at alternative options for these reasons:

• Initial investment is comparatively high as you need to purchase the complete enclosure, (often not fully populated due to budget) restricting you to that backplane for future blades, hence no accommodation for future technology.
• Often requires Windows Server, additional administration overhead where standard OS is all that is required for render nodes.
• Costly components limited to vendor agreements, not necessarily aimed at Media & Entertainment industry.
• Often doesn't accommodate GPU based rendering.

Some of you might recall the RenderBOXX of old from Boxx Technologies

Since 2006 we have been installing 1U Twin devices (two motherboards in 1RU) from Super Micro, so now we can utilise standard server components for durability and reliability and achieve volume-based pricing. More commonly now we start with a 4-node appliance in 2RU (see Fig 2).

Now we have more flexibility in terms of initial cost, performance requirements and rack space.

CPU vs. GPU

CPU rendering has been the default for decades now and continues to be predominant in many rendering solutions. In recent years GPU rendering has become particularly relevant for improving render performance. We know GPUs are a requirement in any 3D/Modelling/CAD application to accelerate the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and provide high performance preview, but with today's matured GPU renderers such as V-Ray, Octane, Redshift and many others, we find the features and quality are on par with CPU renders along with a massive increase in render performance, 2-10X gains.

GPUs still have a memory limitation that needs to be considered in your rendering pipeline. Complex scenes with a lot of high-resolution textures need to be broken down and optimised for GPU rendering pipelines which can often negate the performance gains in rendering if extra time is required optimising the scene.

Why do renders fail? There are many reasons a render can fail

• Poor/unreliable Networking – paths to assets, scenes and render outputs
  It may or may not come as any surprise but rendering on a small or large render farm requires a reliable network. It is absolute must that all render nodes in a render farm must have reliable network access to all components of a render farm including storage systems that have assets and repositories, access to render manager database and manager software. If nodes are unable to access all components of the render farm a render may fail particularly if no resiliency has been built into the render farm.
• Poor/unreliable Storage IO – read and write performance to scenes and assets
  Equally if access to the shared assets and repositories becomes unavailable because the storage solutions is offline or running at capacity limits you will find renders failing in the render farm.
• Complex/Poorly created Scenes/Models – Scene optimisation
  Scene/Model optimisation was mentioned in terms of optimising for GPU memory limitations. Scene/Model optimisation is also a common source of render issues and failures, but is often overlooked in ArchViz and 3D rendering. Scene optimisation is a topic of its own and often requires expert knowledge and experience. Beginner and intermediate operators may look at training course that cover Scene/Modelling optimisation.

As a final note here, remember to allow for additional software license requirements if required. Some Cloud instances require per core licensing and this will need to be factored in to your budgeting. We suggest you contact Digistor to investigate with regard to a particular vendor if this is unclear.

1989 was a big year in the post production world as it heralded the launch of the AVID 1 Media Composer and Adobe Photoshop. A few months later as the clock ticked over into 1990 with a staff of just three people (it's over 30 people strong today) one of the foundations of Australia's post production and broadcast industries was formed – Digistor.

Digistor's founder and still the company's MD is Andrew Mooney. Mooney is clearly the best man to take us on a 30 year journey of some of Digistor's main highlights, of which there are many.

Back To The Beginning

By starting at the beginning, he explained, "Digistor was formed on the cusp of revolutionary change from linear to non-linear editing with dramatic growth in storage and the use of computers for video and film. We identified the industry's requirements and became the only company dedicated to the support of the emerging non-linear editing market. Much of the early activity was around hard disk drive rental and technical support for early adopters of non-linear editing (NLE) systems and in those early days Lightworks and Media Composer were the dominant systems."

Five years of hard work later and in 1995 Digistor became heavily involved in Avid system rentals both for feature film work and post production. Also that year Media 100 was introduced as the first on-line non-linear editor allowing video production to be completed to delivery quality solely on a Mac – or a Macintosh personal computer as it was then known. Correspondingly,1995 also saw Digistor manage increases in demand for storage and new storage systems being introduced.

"The structure of the industry changed allowing us to supply many more independent production companies with their own systems. We continued to expand and in 1998 we opened our first Sydney office, a modest space in Hume Street, Crows Nest as in those days Crows Next was the hub of post production in Sydney".

Industry Changes

1999 saw Final Cut Pro (FCP) released at NAB and the initial uptake and use of the new software was slow as Mooney explained, "FCP was seen as more of a consumer editing tool. Once Pinnacle released their uncompressed Cinewave card, FCP systems became more popular as they were then able to edit uncompressed video at a significantly lower price point than Avid systems."

1999 also saw Digistor design, develop and introduce the Windows PC-based Olympic Transition Device (OTD) system following an enquiry from the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (SOBO) which related to a requirement for a disk based playback system for the 2000 Olympics.

Mooney added, "This disk based transition device was a totally new concept for live sports and the 2000 Sydney Olympics was the first time such a device was used - in fact there were 30 OTDs used at the Sydney games. It then became commonplace after the 2000 Games and Digistor's OTD became the defacto standard for this application which was also later used at the 2002 Winter Games at Salt Lake City, the 2004 Games in Athens and 2008 Games in Beijing."

In 2001 Grass Valley Group (GVG) ceased manufacture of the disk expansion units for their Profile disk recorders, the defacto playout servers used by broadcasters globally. There was, however, still strong demand for disk expansion options despite GVG no longer offering their own expansion units, so Digistor stepped in.

Mooney added, "We designed and built a Raid expansion system called Prostor and started to sell it globally. Our first customer was a broadcaster in Brazil. GVG became aware of this, liked what they saw and offered to exclusively sell Prostor globally to their clients. These things never happen quickly and after over 12 moths of intensive testing by GVG, fine tuning legal contracts, EMI/EFI testing and certification locally and lots more hoops that had to be jumped through, we received our first order from GVG and Prostor was a great success from that point on."

Shared storage was also introduced in 2001 and FibreJet volume locking SANs were being deployed enabling small creative teams to work collaboratively off FC connected shared storage using FibreJet. It was also the year Digistor first trod the boards, of sorts, helping with the post on the award-winning Moulin Rouge movie.

"2002 saw more sporting achievements by Digistor as their OTDs were in use at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and at the FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. There was also more highly acclaimed movie work as Digistor took care of the post on the amazing Matrix movie".

The 2004 Athens Olympics saw Digistor's OTDs taken to a new level and to the point where the company provided on-site engineers for the duration of Games to look after the systems. That same year OTD was renamed Replay Transition Device (RTD) to more accurately describe its application for replay transition in general, not just for Olympic Games.

Company Expansion

In 2005 Digistor continued to grow and expand, this time purchasing Adimex who in turn became an exclusive distributor of leading media production hardware and software tools and selling these to dealers. Digistor then became the exclusive solutions reseller, providing complete turn-key solutions and high-level technical services.

The next few years saw more accolades and expansion. In 2007 Digistor was awarded Apple Reseller of the Year despite being up against much larger players in the advertising, corporate and government markets. After helping Baz Luhrmann's Australia movie complete its ground-breaking post in 2008 the company then launched their digital signage operation with Dynamic Visual Systems in 2009.

2010 saw yet another acquisition as Digistor purchased Brisbane-based Autodesk distributor Digital By Design (DBD).

Mooney explained, "The purchase of DBD enabled us to expand operations in the supply and support of solutions around Autodesk's Media and Entertainment and Creative Finishing product lines. It also led us into our biggest-ever SMPTE show in 2013 where Digistor had five separate stands on the show floor including our own Digistor stand and then one each for AJA, NewTek, Adimex, and Aspera."

Rebranding Marking Continued Growth

25 years of success and growth led Digistor to a major company re-brand in 2015, something Mooney says allowed the company to address the market moving away from product-based sales to consultative, services-based solutions. It was a critical point in Digistor's history.

Mooney explained, "We released new branding, new market positioning and a new website incorporating a modern e-commerce platform. We better communicated our strengths to potential and existing customers while offering a fast and effective transactional purchasing experience to those that needed it. The commercial environment we had operated in for 25 years had changed dramatically and we evolved to address these changes in 2015."

"There's more, so much more but in short, over the last few years Digistor has continued to grow, educate and critically innovate. From 2016 to today amongst other accolades and awards the company has received an Autodesk Platinum Club Award, been appointed an Avid Elite Solutions Partner and an Avid Learning Partner Professional."

Today Digistor provides solutions for the creation, management, storage and distribution of all types of digital assets for organisations from single studios to collaborative, networked enterprises operating across a room or across the globe.

It's fair to say Digistor has been one of the cornerstones and foundations of many industries over the last 30 years including broadcast, post production, VFX, storage and digital media.

In answering why this is Andrew Mooney concluded, "We've always had a very simple philosophy at Digistor which is to empower our customers, enable their dreams and help bring those dreams to life via smart technology and services. It starts with us designing a solution, then building and installing it. We also enable our clients with all necessary training. Finally, we fully support the solution and our clients throughout the whole process."

After three decades of continued success, it's hard to argue against a philosophy that stands as true today as it did thirty years ago.

Technology leader in networked shared storage and smart workflow solutions EditShare has announced this new initiative for Digistor customers, fittingly named "Bring Out Your Dead".

Get 20% Discount

The "Bring Out Your Dead" initiative, only operating for a limited time provides an opportunity for customers to trade-in their old shared storage solutions and in return, receive a 20% discount off current RRP for selected EditShare EFS models (conditions apply).

Digistor customers that possess an older storage system

• that's on its "last legs" and becoming unreliable
• that cannot provide modern flexibility and management
• that lacks storage capacity
• that is not delivering the required performance

are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer.

"EditShare's award-winning EFS solutions are the perfect fit for any application, requiring the fastest shared video storage or the best video asset management" Paul Hayes, Regional Sales Manager

The EFS shared storage range enables leading creative facilities to collaborate and deliver content on time and within budget. From capturing media in the remotest locations to managing petabytes of data for the largest media organizations, there is an EFS storage system for every scenario. Now with the launch of the EditShare File System (EFS) based storage solutions, EditShare delivers ultra-fast performance with rock-solid reliability.

Get Advanced Asset Management Included with Flow

Need a production asset management to access video content outside of the office environment/ anywhere in the world? Each EditShare system ships with Flow — the perfect production asset manager that facilitates valuable video, audio and image organisation.

Flow provides a powerful production media asset management (PAM) platform for creative control of all files during the production process including 4K and remote editorial workflows.

About EditShare

EditShare enables media professionals to collaborate on projects thanks to their ever-expanding range of innovative products and features, all designed to improve production and unleash creativity. Integration and collaboration are central to all products in their comprehensive range of media management solutions - from ingest to archive.

Today I would like to highlight a useful command line tool included with Quantum Stornext systems called vidio.

Vidio is a benchmarking tool that administrators can use to test the performance of various video editing workloads on their system.

This tool is excellent for getting an initial benchmark on your system (normally from the perspective of your MDC, which usually has the fastest connection back to your storage, but it can also be run on a normal client). Initial benchmarks are a solid reference for troubleshooting any apparent slowness down the track.

Vidio can be used to test the speed of various frame sizes and frame rates against the Block Size (aka Stripe Size) and Stripe Breadth set on the storage. Depending on your workflow, you may find certain tunings of RAID Level, Block Size and Stripe Breadth will perform better for different environmental requirements.

For example, for large sequential file access (usually HD and upwards workflows), storage throughput becomes more important and larger Stripe Size has a definite advantage. For smaller and/or random file access, RAID write-back and IO Latency are more critical – this is achieved with smaller Stripe Sizes. RAID level is also a considering factor, but this is another topic.

Obviously, such tuning is normally performed before the system actually goes online, as changes to these values means wiping and recreating the entire filesystem!

A brief usage of vidio is detailed below.

Usage:

vidio [options] dir_path [dir_path1 dir_path2 . . .]   

Options:

             -B              use system buffered I/O
             -c              continuously update display
             -d[dd]          debug
             -f frame_size   framesize in bytes or frame type:
                sdtv             standard definition video
                hdtv             high definition video
                fa2k             full aperture 2K frames
                fa4k             full aperture 4K frames
             -F frame_rate   frame_rate in frames/second
             -l frame_list   read frame file names from list file
             -n nframes      number of frames
             -N nframes      number of frames per file - default = 1
             -p name         prefix of file names - default 'vidio'
             -q queue_depth  async i/o queued queue_depth deep
             -r              read: consumer mode
             -T <millisecs>  stop test if IO time is > millisecs
             -v[vv]          verbose
             -V              print version and exit
             -w              write: producer mode – default

For example -

vidio -f fa4k -q 2 -n 1500 /path/to/storage/test_folder/

A Practical example – System with 24 spinning disks, 1 MDC, 1 fibre client:

Note: We like to perform tests that are larger than the RAM in the client that is testing to ensure data is not cached & potentially providing higher results than reading/writing to actual disk.

Digistor always perform benchmarks on systems while they are in our workshop – a known stable environment with no extra patching or unknown cabling between systems. This can be invaluable when we get to the actual installation and start to notice inconsistencies against our initial expectations.

While we have many tools at our disposal, I have found this one quite useful on many linux systems and feel it worth a mention.

Anyway, I've got to get back to the workshop and benchmark some more storage – see you all next time!

The Ugly Truth

Fact #1 – Ransomware encrypts files much faster than you think

Encryption is usually a topic in data security. File encryption is used to make the file cryptographically secure. This type of encryption must happen to the entire file and can be slow. The encryption ransomware does is for another purpose – it is designed to block users' access to their data, and it happens lightning fast.

Almost all file kinds save metadata in their headers, and most of the files cannot be decoded correctly if the header is damaged. For ransomware, encryption only needs to happen to the header part of each file, which is enough to damage this file's structure to prevent user access.

In media and entertainment companies, the average file size is much larger than in other industries. Ransomware can easily cause a more significant damage level by encrypting the headers of the same number of files.

Fact #2 – Paying the ransom ≠ Rescuing the data

A common type of ransomware encryption is:

• All data (file headers) are encrypted with the AES symmetric encryption algorithm
• The AES encryption key is then encrypted with the RSA asymmetric encryption algorithm
• The attacker is the only person who holds the RSA private key which can decrypt the encrypted AES key, and they ask for money in exchange

Remember: an attacker's goal is only to get the money, not to help the victims to rescue their data.

Fact #3 – Ransomware is very hard to prevent

A single type of worm is easier to detect and prevent, but ransomware is a category of attacks that follows a similar attack pattern. The structure of ransomware is:

Trojan Horse + Worm + Encrypting Function

• Trojan horse to invade victim's computers, to carry out worm and encryption functions, waiting to be triggered
• Worm to self-copy and spread across to more computers after being activated
• Encrypting function to encrypt the victim's data

In this combination, trojan horses and worms are purely transportation tools, and they can be anything as long as it works. An encrypting function usually uses Windows encryption API or something that is completely valid. This makes the prevention of ransomware attack very difficult.

The famous WannaCry ransomware used the EternalBlue exploit, and every anti-virus software can eventually prevent this type of exploit after the attack was carried out, which is a very passive approach. Anti-virus utilities only prevent known types of attack. New ransomware can use any unknown tool to transport a piece of valid code onto potentially any computer.

The Tips

Tip #1 – Back up your data, regularly

This is the ultimate solution to ransomware attacks. Backing up and snapshotting data more frequently can minimise the impact of a ransomware attack.

We have a customer who was lucky enough to lose only a minimum amount of an ongoing render job after being attacked by ransomware. This is because of the auto-snapshot policies configured in their storage cluster.

Having suitable policies for snapshotting, back up, and archive protects your data from incidents such as accidental deletion, data corruption, hardware failures, and even catastrophic disasters.

Tip #2 – Don't think anti-virus software is useless

Anti-virus software might not be able to prevent unknown types of attacks, especially 0-day exploits. But massive attacks are being carried out every day that can be detected by anti-virus software. Anti-virus software companies are always the first responders to new attack types. If someone can act the soonest to protect your systems against a new exploit, that's the anti-virus companies that you are paying.

Tip#3 – Network is the digital vessel

Company A has 100 computers under the same network with no firewall in place. Company B has an equal number of 100 machines segmented and segregated based on department functions and has a proper firewall at the corporate edge with comprehensive traffic rules. When both companies are under the same attack:

Conclusion

I am getting back to the attack pattern of a typical malware attack: Trojan Horse (intrusion) + Worm (spreading) + Encrypting Function (attacking). Better network architecture and anti-virus software can best protect you during each phase of the attack. Even all prevention fails, a regular data backup plan can decrease your loss to a minimum degree.

Digistor provides consultancy, design and solution packages for storage systems, corporate networks and managed workstations. Come and talk to us if this article has raised any issues or concerns for you.

--- The Avid Team

The problem description (from AVID)

• A license error message may appear during the launch of Media Composer on a Mac computer

• Users who then reboot their system may get caught in a reboot loop cycle

What to do if you experience the problem (from AVID)

• Some customer have reported that reinstalling their current version of macOS has fixed the issue

• Please take care to not reformat the drives during OS install

• Install only the macOS that you had been using before the issue arose - there is no need to upgrade your macOS to a newer version

Please check the below video for more information

Latest update: Avid and Mac Pro


If you need urgent support, please contact us.

Digistor has been appointed as an Australian Avid Learning Partner – Professional and now provides the full range of certified Avid video, audio, media storage and asset management courses for the Australian industry. Courses on and including Avid ProTools, Media Composer, MediaCentral, and NEXIS storage run by Digistor will be available to clients needing to use Avid's creative tools and those that need to provide technical support for Avid tools and infrastructure.

Avid Country Manager, ANZ, Richard Wray said, "End users and support personnel will no longer have to travel overseas to get training and attain Avid Certification as this will now all be available through Digistor. To ensure only the very best courses are provided, Digistor has engaged Australia's leading Avid experts to provide the training. This makes Digistor an Avid Elite Partner that offers a "one-stop-shop" for all things Avid including consultation, systems, services, support and training."

The Avid Learning Partner (ALP) program is designed to attract the most skilled training organisations in the industry, be they independent training companies, corporations, universities, or other educational institutions that provide training on Avid products.

Wray continued, "By combining the market presence and instructional excellence of Digistor with the content, curriculum and certification developed by Avid product experts and course developers, we ensure Avid customers achieve the highest level of success possible. Also, as an Avid Learning Partner, Digistor has access to the official Avid curriculum and certification exams, dedicated program staff, and co-marketing resources to support implementation of Avid training products."

"Digistor was carefully chosen by Avid as they provide the appropriate training environment and expertise."

Digistor's appointment was made only after the company met multiple stringent criteria including having the highest level of in-house Avid product expertise, an exceptionally strong focus on quality and customer satisfaction, comprehensive sales resources, suitable dedicated training facilities and equipment and experienced instructors who have completed the Avid Certified Instructor (ACI) process for each course they will deliver.

Wray added, "The ALP program enables Digistor, having met all the criteria above not only to deliver training and certification in the traditional classroom environment but now with the ALP Online Extension it also allows the use of online, mobile and blended learning models. The Avid Learning Partner (ALP) program is designed to provide the assurance that you can get the quality of training on Avid products and solutions to the standard and location that meets your needs."

Digistor was carefully chosen by Avid as they provide the appropriate training environment and expertise.

Richard Wray concluded, "Now by taking and completing an Avid course through Digistor you can be sure that it's run by professionals who have attained Avid Certification, have proven expertise as an Avid user, administrator, instructor, developer or support representative. It also provides you with the peace of mind that you have access to only the very best skills and competencies to fully harness and manage your investment in Avid products and solutions."

For details on current course offerings see Digistor's training schedule or contact us if a specific course you need is not currently listed.

The following has changed with Media Composer v2018.12.7:

Simplified Installer

A change has been made to the Installer to remove an install menu window. When you download Media Composer v2018.12.7, simply double-click Install Media Composer.exe to install Media Composer.

Open I/O NDI Plug-In

In previous releases, the Open NDI Plug-In was automatically installed when you installed Media Composer. With this release, you have the option to install or not during the install process. For details on this plug-in, see “Support for NewTek NDI Video over IP” in the Help.

Fixed in Media Composer v2018.12.7

The following have been fixed:

• Bug Number: MCCET-3004. In the previous release, you could not use the patch installer if you were using a non-English locale.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3041. If you pressed ESC a few seconds after performing a trim, the Timeline did not update correctly.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2986. In some instances, adjusting audio level from the Audio Mixer, while playing a sequence, did not affect the volume.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3031. In some instances, when I/O hardware was enabled, you could not import/transcode to AVCIntra50.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2899. All related media object were not highlighted when selecting media relatives if you grouped clips and selected Select Sync Clips Using “Film TC/Sound TC”.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3026. When consolidating a subclip with “Delete original media files when done” enabled, an unrelated Transcode notification message was displayed.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3003. You could not rename group clip tracks.
• Fixed in Media Composer v2018.12.73
• Bug Number: MCCET-3016. Audio meters did not display in the Audio Tool, Audio Mixer or Timeline window during a Digital Cut.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3073. AAF exports did not include the media if the clip was muted.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3086. You could not copy and paste markers using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3059. You could not save newly created and renamed shared bins in project sub folders.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2905. Using the arrow up and arrow down keys to move clips from one track to another did not work when a nested effect was open.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2954. When working with a single monitor, if you saved a title using the Title Tool application, then closed and reopened the bin, you could not select anything in the bin.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2992. The Stop and Pause buttons did not work if you used them from the Active Palette option of the Command Palette or if you mapped them.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3063. You might have received an “Exception” error when trying to link and playback Telestream files in MXF OP-1A ProRes HD format.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2995. In some instances, scrubbing and playing back with JKL resulted in slow-motion playback and/or playback not stopping when you pressed the K key.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2779. When GPU effects are enabled in Render Settings, you might see jitter on video mixdowns.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2873. In some instances, if I/O hardware was enabled, Media Composer would vaporize if the Source/Record monitor video was hidden.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3096. Adding an animated scale to a title text created with Avid Titler + resulted in jittery text.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3098. You might have received a “failed to import” message when trying to import exported AAF media.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3094. If Audio scrubbing is enabled, you might receive an “Assertion Failed” error when trimming compressed stereo MP2 audio clips.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2951. You might have received an “Assertion failed: widget” error after clicking the Audio Monitor Control button and adjusting audio.
• Fixed in Media Composer v2018.12.74
• Bug Number: MCCET-3087. In some instances, the editing application would crash when rendering audio effects on a long audio clip.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3134. In some instances, after opening and closing the Audio Punch-in Tool, some text is missing from the window.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3018. Importing .scc files toggled the input/output signal on the Avid Artist DNxIO.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2990. Logging out of Production Management was slow.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2981. In some instances, clicking the Stop button on the Audio Punch-In tool only worked intermittently.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3084. In some instances, saving a new Export setting did not work if the setting was created during an Export process.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2987. Markers in tracks that only had filler and no edits ignored sync lock when the track was selected during trim.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3145. The editing application might have crashed or resulted in an “Out of memory” error when trying to load an archived sequence.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3022. In some instances, even after deleting a sequence related MXF OP-Atom media file, the sequence would relink to the linked video clip.

Contact our support  team to assist with updating your AVID Media Composer

Get more details of AVID Media Composer 2018.12.7 update

Media Composer v2019.7 has been tested with Nvidia driver v431.02. Although Avid tested and recommends this version, you are not limited to this driver. You can access your graphics card website for information on the driver matching your card. Please note that Avid can not guarantee Media Composer will operate as expected when using an untested driver version. You may need to install the tested driver version when attempting to resolve technical issues.

Fixed in Media Composer v2019.7

The following have been fixed:

• Bug Number: MCCET-2905. Using the arrow up and arrow down keys to move clips from one track to another did not work when a nested effect was open.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3016. Audio meters did not display in the Audio Tool, Audio Mixer or Timeline window during a Digital Cut.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2986. In some instances, adjusting audio level from the Audio Mixer, while playing a sequence, did not affect the volume.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3006. (Windows) Media Composer would crash when importing embedded AAF into a 25fps HD project.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3112. (Script View) In some instances, Media Composer would crash when scrolling in a large bin and while playing in the Source/Record monitor.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3003. You could not rename group clip tracks.
• Bug Number: MCCET-2899. All related media object were not highlighted when selecting media relatives if you grouped clips and selected Select Sync Clips Using “Film TC/Sound TC”.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3031. In some instances, when I/O hardware was enabled, you could not import/transcode to AVCIntra50.
• Fixed in Media Composer v2019.76
• Bug Number: MCCET-3036. When working with an HD 1080p 25 project, transcode options changed if I/O hardware was enabled/disabled.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3032. You might have received an “Exception: No Source” error when performing a video mixdown and choosing over/under as a Stereoscopic option.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3086. You could not copy and paste markers using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3059. You could not save newly created and renamed shared bins in project sub folders.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3041. If you pressed ESC a few seconds after performing a trim, the Timeline did not update correctly.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3026. When consolidating a subclip with “Delete original media files when done” enabled, an unrelated Transcode notification message was displayed.
• Bug Number: MCCET-3073. AAF exports did not include the media if the clip was muted.
• Bug Number: ETE-1512. A dark gray fill (instead of black) is provided now in the viewer for Pillar and Letter box areas that are not masked.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11146.  Removed Show Position and Show Effect Contents from the Timeline settings.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-8227. When switching between MXF and OMF media types in the Media Creation window, the window would not refresh until it was reopened.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-8527. The Tool Palette moved position after resizing.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10060. Precomputes were lost when reentering the Avid Titler+Title tool.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10346. An asterisk might have appeared in the Bin name even if no changes had been made to the bin.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10412. You might have experienced problems loading sequences with Avid Titler+ titles between Windows and Mac systems.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10512. Avid Titler+ characters did not maintain relative position between each other during animation playback.
• Fixed in Media Composer v2019.77
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10624. Scrolling in Text view in a bin was column by column rather than by pixel.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10632. Even when a change was made, the Bin View name did not display in italics to indicate a change to the view had been made.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10801. Changing the sequence name in Frame View did not update the name in the Composer monitor or in the Timeline.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10818. Floating a bin might have resulted in the bin resizing too small.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10880. When creating a Volume Bin, “Export Folder” and “Set location” text does not display correctly if you are working in a Russian locale.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10918. Mapping “Set Bin Display” to a letter on the keyboard did not work.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10934. Typing the first letter of setting displayed the setting at the bottom of the window rather than in the middle of the window.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-10995. When in Frame view, if you dragged a clip to the Source Monitor, the clip would load into the source monitor, but the clip’s thumbnail was moved to an unintended location within the bin.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11131. In some instances, effects with graphic backgrounds did not draw correctly in the track effect dialog.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11145. An Interlaced Roll/Crawl motion effect created with Titler + appeared as a frame motion rather than field motion effect.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11191. Double clicking to float an existing bin always stacked the bin in same position/size and did not retain its last known state.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11231. You might have experienced an occasional crash on exit with AJA 4K hardware attached. You must update to AJA Desktop software v15.2 to see this fix.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11245. The File Cache tab in Media Cache Settings window was cut off and difficult to activate.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11299. The font appeared bold in the Name fields for the Source and Record side of the Composer window.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11317. Titler + titles appeared in the bin without an icon.
• Fixed in Media Composer v2019.78
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11429. The Name column did not appear as the first column in the Media Tool.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11442.  (Bin Frame view) Clicking near edge of a selected item in the bin while in text-edit mode deselected the item.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11453. The Audio Clip Gain window did not remain open when you tried to enter a value from the keyboard or if you tried to move the slider up with the mouse.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11491. Pressing and holding the ALT key while dragging a number of clips onto the Record monitor did not create a sequence with the clips in the order they were sorted in the bin.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11492. If you selected a dropdown menu in the Inspector Tool and then clicked on another window, focus remained on the Inspector Tool.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11530. Double clicking a clip in Bin Frame view to load in the Composer monitor did not leave focus on the Composer monitor.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11534. The Lock/Unlock Bin options were missing from the Bin Container sidebar context and Fast menus.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11546. You might have received a “Crumb not found” error when deleting markers in the Source monitor.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11550. Perf information was missing in the Setting format pane of a film project.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11562. Tab and Shift+Tab did not allow you to move to the next or previous column in Bin Text View.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11568. With the Interface Brightness set to dark, track numbers were too light when you expanded the Audio Mixer Tool.
• Bug Number: MCDEV-11569. You might have received a “PMM_SYNC_FAILURE” error when performing an Audio mixdown of a sequence with sub-clips and sample slip.

Contact our support  team to assist with updating your AVID Media Composer

Get more details of AVID Media Composer 2019.7 update

RAID 5 is a block-based disk striping mechanism, a RAID 5 disk array consists with only block striping and distributed parity:

As we can see from the above diagram, a file sized of 9 disk blocks is written to a N drives RAID 5 array (N=4 in this example). The storage controller first divides the file into stripes of (N-1) blocks each, then it calculates a parity block for each stripe. Afterwards, each stripe of N blocks (N-1 data blocks + 1 parity block) is written evenly into the N drives available in this array. This makes RAID 5 a higher performance, and more cost effective (drive utilisation) secure storage option especially suitable for smaller studios and SOHO environment.

Rebuilding a Degraded RAID 5 Array

RAID 5 array provides data redundancy only if all drives are working normally, this RAID level has a maximum fault tolerance of 1 drive, no matter how big the array is.

Whenever there is a single drive failure event, the entire RAID 5 array is in degraded status, where no data protection is remained. If this happens, we need to rebuild this array with a new replacement drive. The data protection only comes back when the rebuilding is finished.

Let's simplify the rebuilding process: We assume the mathematics algorithm behind RAID 5 parity block is plus:

• Ap = A1+A2+A3
• Bp = B1+B2+B3
• Cp = C1+C2+C3
• Dp = D1+D2+D3

If Disk 1 in the above diagram fails, the given RAID 5 array then becomes:

The corresponding rebuilding process of Disk 1 is essentially calculating each block of the failed drive on a per stripe manner (A, B, C and D):

• A2 = Ap - A1 - A3
• B2 = Bp - B1 - B3
• Cp = C1 + C2 + C3
• D1 = Dp - D2 - D3

The rebuilding seems simple; however, this process is actually dangerous and risky. Many cases indicate that a second drive is very likely to fail during the rebuilding of the first failed drive, which means, all data is history.

Risk 1: AFR

Based on a paper published by Google in FAST (File and Storage Technology) 07 conference, the annualised failure rate (AFR) of aged 5 hard disk is 8.6%.

The time needed for rebuilding a 10TB disk at 100MB/s is:

The probability of a second drive fails in the rebuild time of 18.52 hours, based on AFR figure, is:

Based on binomial distribution,

The probability of a second drive failure in a five-year-old array during the RAID 5 rebuilding is:

Risk 2 - BER

Bit error rate (BER) in storage systems refers to the rate at which a block just cannot be read from the disk, due to not being able to recover data from the PRML (Partial-response maximum-likelihood) and ECC (error correct code) codes on the platter. The entire disk does not necessarily fail, but the read operation to certain block/s cannot be completed. In a RAID environment, this type of failure triggers a reconstruction of the block from the remaining disks. We can assume that B2 block written to Disk 1 cannot be retrieved correctly due to BER. This block’s data can only be reconstructed from blocks B1, B3 and Bp from other drives

• B2 = Bp - B1 - B3

BER leads to unrecoverable read error (URE), which is normally documented by the disk manufacture. When URE happens, there is no other way than restriping to recover the data on the errored block – it relies on RAID.

In general:

• Enterprise SAS disk – URE = 1e-15
• SATA disk – URE = 1e-14

Let’s look at this figure, for a ordinary SATA disk, the probability of UAE during a accumulated reading of 100TB data are:

• 0 URE incident happening:

• 1 URE incident happening:

• 2 URE incidents happening:

If URE happens during the rebuilding of a failed drive:

• Disk 1 failed
• Disk 2’s C2 block URE

There is no way to recalculate both Cp and C2’s data only based on C1 and C3 blocks. The entire C stripe is gone!

Then is the last question: how likely that URE would fail the RAID 5 cluster rebuilding? Based on a calculation carried out in a blog (all results are verified by myself):

SATA disk (URE = 1e-14)

Enterprise SAS disk (URE = 1e-15)

Recommendations

In conclusion, for consumer faced SATA drives, the rebuilding successful rate is very low even for 4 bay SATA 5 array with 1TB disks. It’s nearly impossible to guarantee a successful rebuilding with this type of disk because of its too high URE. Another alarming fact about URE is: it has no correlation to the drive’s age.

References

https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//archive/disk_failures.pdf

https://permabit.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/are-fibre-channel-and-scsi-drives-more-reliable/

https://www.seagate.com/au/en/tech-insights/advanced-format-4k-sector-hard-drives-master-ti/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_error_rate

New features for Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter and Camera Fiber Converter

• Add menu to Studio Fiber Converter.
• Add audio meters to Studio Fiber Converter.
• Add ability to adjust Camera Fiber Converter XLR input levels.
• Add ability to use program audio feed as source from DB25 connector.
• Add ability to adjust levels for headset gain and microphone gain.
• Add PTZ de-embedding from ATEM via SDI Camera Control Protocol.
• Add ability to configure talkback for production & engineering channels.

New features for URSA Mini Pro G2

• Retain jam synced timecode after power cycle.
• Improved jam sync timecode accuracy after playback.
• Improved HDR SDI metadata support.
• Improved pixel recalibration.
• Improved door LED behaviour on low battery.
• Improved clip playback for renamed clips.
• Improved EF lens metadata support.
• Fixed still capture to slow media cards.
• Fixed audio playback at 23.98, 29.97 and 59.94 fps.
• Fixed XLR gains resetting after power cycle.
• General performance and stability improvements.

New features for URSA Viewfinder

• Improved support for URSA Mini Pro G2 built in LUTs.
• Improved overlays when used with URSA Mini Pro G2.
• Improved UI elements for drop frame timecode.
• Improved UI elements for URSA Mini Pro G2 USB-C record.
• Improved iris readout.
• Fixed record dot bug with status display.

New features for URSA Studio Viewfinder

• Improved support for URSA Mini Pro G2 built in LUTs.
• Improved overlays when used with URSA Mini Pro G2.

Download Blackmagic Camera 6.4 for macOS / Windows


Get more details on the Blackmagic Camera 6.4 update.

Hello and welcome back to the monthly Digistor Blog – today we are reviewing some key considerations we work through with our clients to facilitate a stress-free and successful installation for all parties involved.

It’s our job to make sure the process is as smooth as possible, leaving our clients feeling satisfied with our service and eager to use the product they’ve purchased.

With any Installation, Preparation is Key – In order to avoid potential roadblocks and issues, we endeavor to be as prepared as we possibly can – hopefully this blog provides an insight into some of the thinking, planning and preparations that we put into these projects – each one will have its own unique challenges.

Here’s a few things we look out for and try have lined up before the install date:

1. Documentaion
• - Having the sales orders on hand for confirmation of components while on site.
• - Having the delivery receipts so we know when items were received and who signed for them.
• - Having the networking and cabling diagrams so we know exactly how everything fits together.
2. Logistics
• - Ensuring we will have easy access to the server room, rack and client machines – many larger sites have very restricted access to their data rooms and labs and access can take several days to arrange.
• - Parking – is parking required for extended hours? – some areas only have 1 hour parking and we don’t want to be spending 15 minutes every hour to move our car – we ask the client if they have a spot in their parking area, if not then we find alternative transport.
• - Is the equipment still where it was delivered? – sometimes gear will be moved to a store room – before we go on-site, we make sure the client knows its location and ensure we don’t have to move it around a large building or campus.
3. Racking
• - If possible, we do an on-site visit to confirm these aspects.
• - Always check the rack size and ensure the hardware will fit in there with enough space front and back to install safely and easily – I’ve had rooms where we’ve needed to push a half populated rack across the floor so we could install the servers on the rails… and then had to push an even heavier rack back to location.
• - Some old racks are not very deep - you can’t safely balance a 1m deep server in a 300cm deep rack, let alone put the rails in.
• - Is there sufficient power (most preferably on UPS) and cooling in the allocated room for the extra hardware? – We always provide the client with the BTU and Power Consumption requirements well in advance.
• - Does the rack have enough spare RU to accommodate the new kit?
• - If the kit is heavy, always try to place it as low as possible in the rack.
• - We always bring our own tools to an installation.
4. Networking
• - We always pre-confirm all IP’s and hostnames – these can take a long time to provision in larger institutions.
• - If any specific ports are required for communications between systems, we let the client know and ensure they are open – some more secure setups will have all sorts of ports blocked and this could affect some of the intended functionality of the hardware.
• - Check if Jumbo Frames is setup – for media workflows and 10G (Ethernet) links we ideally like to set jumbo frames to facilitate the traffic, but if this can’t be guaranteed, we will likely run with 1500.
• - Are there any VLANs to consider?
5. Internet
• - We try our best to get an internet connection for the technician, though with phone technology these days we can tether to that in most situations – this is to allow access to information as required to help the install proceed efficiently.
• - We endeavor to ensure the new hardware is externally accessible by either VPN or other tools – it’s easier to fix unexpected problems quicker if the vendor can have access to their hardware that in being installed.
• - We check there are enough physical ports of the right type and speed for the hardware being added. Bonding will obviously require more ports, but this can often be overlooked by the customer.
6. Client Machines
• - We try to get a good overview of the client machines that may be connecting to the system – some protocols play better than others in mixed client environments and must be considered.
• - Are the client machines a mixed bag of operating systems and versions? – each release has its own intricacies, older SOE’s will have extra content added over time and often give erratic results if we are trying to get the same speed out of all of them. A new/vanilla SOE gives us the best chance to see consistent results across all machines.
• - Being aware of the applications the client expects to have leveraging the new system(s) is always an advantage – this includes AntiVirus software which can heavily impact the experience of quickly changing data.

OK, now we should have enough information handy to be as ready as we can for install day… let’s proceed to the actual installation.

Server Room:

• - First thing is racking in the hardware, usually starting from the bottom of the rack and working upwards – maybe putting the switch and patching at the top of the rack to allow for future expansion.
• - Carefully label and tidy all your cabling – it makes a good impression when things look neat and the next engineer can easily follow where everything goes. If the client has already racked the kit in for us, we triple check all the connections.
• - If networking has not been applied in the workshop, it is configured and tested now.
• - Now that networking is up, with any luck we can get out of that noisy, cold server room and continue configuration from the comfort of a desk with a swivel chair.
• - Set NTP, email alerts, UPS shutdown, etc as required.
• - Perform some initial testing of speed and functionality and note it down.

Client Machines:

• - Go to the client machines and begin testing connectivity of each, doing a speed test on each to confirm consistency – if anything is out of whack, consider the variables at play (old machine vs new machine, ram, network speed lower than anticipated / bad patch cable, etc)

Hopefully everything has gone smoothly to this point and we can hand over to the client.

Handover is paramount to enabling the client to get straight on their new kit in the most efficient manner. As part of our handover, we perform an acceptance test (ATP) which basically takes the client through the specs and functions of the system and provides a signed agreement that what was promised has been delivered. This includes the initial speeds between clients and servers so we have a known benchmark.

Besides general agreement of services delivered, it’s always good to provide some basic training on the system – first showing them while explaining the logic, and then getting the client to do it themselves, for example:

• - Showing the client how to use the admin tools (often via a friendly web UI) to get an overview of the system and quickly spot if anything is wrong – if we have email alerts setup, we’re probably already aware, but at least they can have an initial look around before calling.
• - Showing the client how to connect a new machine to the system – every system is different, SANs in particular usually require a driver installation and/or some specific networking or license – it’s easy when you know how, not so much when you don’t.
• - If they have any workflows, we like to discuss and walk through some scenarios with them – best to get the client to choose a scenario that is relevant to them, they can start using that immediately and build good habits from the beginning.

A further benefit of the handover is it gives the client an opportunity to ask more relevant questions now that they see their new system in action – answer them and take a note of these questions so they can be included in the build documentation.

The more we enable the client, the greater their ability to understand and support their own system – everyone has their own way of learning, and there will always be more questions in the first week or two. It is important they don’t feel totally helpless as soon as we leave the building – we want the client to be rightfully excited with their new purchase. At the same time, we’ve provided a lot of new information during the handover, and much of it won’t have sunk in – we are ready to support them with priority.

Once back in the office and with everything is still fresh in our heads, we get onto the build documentation – the client is still learning their system, so it’s good to provide these as soon as possible.

I have found that all people differ in their preferred way to digest new information – some like just the basics to get started (usually creative types), while others prefer a complete rundown with wiring diagrams and the like (usually IT/engineer types). If possible, we build the comprehensive documentation, then cherry-pick a quick-start guide most relevant to the requirements of the client, giving them both documents.

While a lot of this may seem obvious, it’s easy to overlook something that seems innocuous at the time. To that end, I hope this article is of assistance to others.

If you are interested in this or other Digistor services please contact the Digistor sales team for more details.

See you again in a few months!

• Support for Maya 2019

• New memory tracking, with memory usage reports so you can optimize your scene

• Cryptomatte support for VRayProxy sub-objects

• Faster time to first pixel for quicker render startup

• ALSurface support on GPU

• Improved light sampling on scenes with thousands of lights

Download V-Ray Next for Maya Update 1

Get more details on the V-Ray Next for Maya Update 1

Features marked with * are in progress.
Features marked with ^ have additional descriptions below

Key new features

• Addition of all-new Cut page
• Support for the DaVinci Resolve Editor Keyboard
• Multiple performance improvements with significantly faster Fusion processing
• Collaboration workflow improvements - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Speed Warp motion estimation powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Timeline level resolution, frame rate, scaling and monitoring settings within the same project
• Upload directly to YouTube and Vimeo
• Quick Export for quickly performing renders from all pages
• Adjustment Clips to apply filters, effects and grades on top of a range of timeline clips
• Frame.io integration supporting media imports, direct uploads, marker and comment syncing - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Significantly improved GPU accelerated real-time scopes
• Initial immersive 3D audio support including Dolby Atmos, Auro-3D, MPEG-H, and SMPTE ST 2098 - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Free foley sound effects library available from the Blackmagic Design support website for use in DaVinci Resolve

Cut

• Dual timelines with the ability to quickly navigate or edit anywhere on the timeline
• Ability to use Source Tape mode to preview multiple media pool clips as a sequence of shots
• Dedicated trim tool in the viewer to allow for frame-accurate trimming
• Fast review mode with adaptive preview speeds to quickly review footage
• Intelligent editing behavior based on playhead proximity to edit points
• Dedicated edit and transition buttons
• Compact viewer controls for context-specific actions including transform, audio, text and effects
• Ability to access and edit all DaVinci Resolve transitions, effects and Fusion title templates
• Multiple media pool sort and display modes - including new filmstrip mode and new list mode with thumbnails
• Easy access to Quick Export options to export and share videos

Performance

• User selection to preserve video essence for faster rendering of clips without content changes^
• Improved playback performance with title templates in the effects library^
• Improved Fusion playback performance
• Improved caching performance for clips with Fusion comps
• Improved 3D engine performance for clips with Fusion effects
• Improved performance when playing back Fusion clips with cached effects
• Improved performance with support for GPU-accelerated scopes
• Improved performance for the Super Scale algorithm powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved playback performance on Linux systems with a single NVIDIA GPU

Collaboration

• Per-system render cache for collaboration projects - DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Ability to create and modify markers in the Color page for collaboration projects - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Ability to modify clip metadata and flags from the Color page for collaboration projects - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Ability to display and change clip color from the Color page for collaboration projects - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Ability to load collaboration projects in read only mode - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ in collaboration projects - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Frame.io integration supporting media imports, direct uploads, marker and comment syncing - DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Ability to override the output and monitoring settings per collaboration system - DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Ability to see the machine and IP address of the user who is currently using a non-collaboration project
• Options to show or hide flags and markers of specific colors
• Ability to delete markers and flags by color

Edit

• Speed Warp motion estimation powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine - DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Timeline level resolution, frame rate, scaling and monitoring settings within the same project^
• Adjustment Clips to apply filters, effects and grades on top of a range of timeline clips^
• Ability to analyze video clips for detecting and classifying people powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine - DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Custom safe areas for titles and actions^
• Ability to assign any media pool clip or timeline as an offline reference clip^
• Video orientation angle in the Clip Attributes dialog
• Ease in and out position keyframes in the curves editor
• Ability to view and edit keyframes for OpenFX plugins in timeline curves
• Stabilize video clips from the Inspector
• Support for pasting color correction properties from the Paste Attributes dialog
• Improved audio behavior when scrubbing in the Edit and Media page viewers
• Temporarily enable/disable snapping for titles on the viewer using the Alt/Opt key
• All available viewer area is automatically used for 2-up and 4-up displays
• Blade operations on a selected clip results in the preceding section being selected
• Ability to toggle viewer overlays on/off and assign shortcuts for specific modes in the Edit and Color page viewers^
• Support for a larger selection of words in the keyword dictionary from workspace menu
• Ability to group and manage smart bins using folders
• User preference to automatically create smart bin categories from media pool clips based on keywords, shot, scene and people metadata
• Ability to duplicate existing smart bins
• Ability to toggle between searching all media pool bins and current bin
• Support for Go to In/Go to Out functions for three point edits even when preview marks are not visible
• Support for switching the video monitoring output when toggling between source and timeline viewer in gang mode
• Automatic updating of the Usage in Media Pool list view
• Project setting to limit reel name matching to a specific number of characters when conforming or color tracing timelines^
• Project setting to ignore a specific number of characters from the beginning of the reel name when conforming or color tracing timelines^
• Newly pasted clips are now automatically selected
• Ability to render broadcast wave files with support for metadata when exporting timelines to Pro Tools
• Improved handling of video codec defaults and audio file names when exporting timelines to Pro Tools
• Ability to switch buses for monitoring from the Edit page
• Options to toggle views for rectified, full waveform and waveform borders in timeline options^
• Improved alpha channel handling for compound clips with more than two layers^

Fusion

• Fusion Studio 16 release concurrent with DaVinci Resolve 16
• Improved playback performance with title templates in the effects library
• Improved Fusion playback performance
• Improved 3D engine performance for clips with Fusion effects
• Support for MultiSampling in the 3D Renderer
• Ability to flexibly scale animation with changing clip lengths
• Improved performance when playing back cached Fusion clips
• Improved responsiveness of Fusion viewer interactions when using a Wacom tablet
• Ability to view and edit Fusion composition names from the clip thumbnail context menu
• Improved memory management on large Fusion compositions with a high layer count
• Improved GPU memory utilization for Fusion compositions with temporal processing
• Improved performance for Change Depth with new Error Diffusion option
• Improved performance and accuracy for Camera Tracker, with support for lens distortion
• Improved performance with Fusion Dissolve with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance with Fusion TimeSpeed and TimeStretch with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance for Planar Tracker
• Improved performance for B-Spline rendering with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance for Vector Motion Blur and motion blur in other tools with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance for Fusion Splitter and Combiner with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance for Fusion BitmapMask with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance for Fusion CornerPin and PerspectivePin with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance with Fusion Mask rendering with GPU acceleration support
• Improved performance with Fusion Color operations with GPU acceleration support

Color

• All new scopes engine
  • GPU accelerated with real-time performance
  • Option to apply a low pass filter for cleaner views
  • CIE scope for viewing gamut distribution
  • Option to set quality of the scopes
  • Additional YRGB and YCbCr modes in Parade
  • Option to see extents in Parade and Waveform
  • Option to colorize Parade and Waveform
  • Additional luminance and chroma modes in Waveform
  • Ability to set ranges and view shadows, midtones and highlights independently in the Vectorscope
  • Ability to view individual or combined extents for shadows, midtones and highlights in the Vectorscope
  • Additional YRGB mode in the Histogram
• Option to see input or output histograms in the background of custom curves
• Option to see input or output histograms in the background of HSL curves
• Support for new auto-color and color match processing powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine^
• Ability to gang the zoom on the Color page viewer and the video output^
• Ability to view individual red, green and blue channels in the viewer^
• Ability to view and adjust keyframes for ResolveFX and OpenFX^
• Ability to adjust the thumbnail size for timeline and lightbox to view a larger range of clips
• Ability to copy and paste attributes between nodes
• Ability to step forward and backward by 1 second
• Ability to mark in-out ranges, mark current clip or clear ranges in the timeline for looped playback and to perform quick exports of specific sections
• New smart filter for clips with edit sizing
• New smart filter for clips with specific ResolveFX or OpenFX applied
• Ability to view and set stereoscopic floating windows in pixels^
• Additional strength controls for advanced video stabilization
• Tracks can be enabled/disabled from the application menu and using shortcuts
• Option to monitor stereoscopic content using line by line with the first line being even
• List view mode for gallery stills and PowerGrades
• Ability to update and navigate the current timeline wipe using the Timelines section in the gallery
• Ability to optionally enable scrubbing when performing live preview in the gallery^
• Support for a new Selected Still Images split screen mode
• Accessing clip attributes from the thumbnail context menu
• Revealing media in Media Pool from the thumbnail context menu
• Revealing applied LUT in LUT browser from the node context menu
• Support for Canon C700 IDTs in ACES workflows
• Support for tooltips with track names in the Color page timeline
• Support for AstroDesign ALog OETF in Resolve Color Management workflows
• Support for 203 nit gamma mapping in Color Management settings when performing SDR to HDR color space conversions
• Ability to pan and tilt an image beyond the project resolution in input, node and output sizing
• Modifying Canon and Panasonic Camera Raw controls from the DaVinci Resolve Mini and Advanced Panels
• Switching tabs automatically when adjusting primary parameters from DaVinci Resolve panels

ResolveFX

• ResolveFX Stylize powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• ResolveFX Object Removal in DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• ResolveFX Analog Damage in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• ResolveFX Pencil Sketch in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• ResolveFX Chromatic Aberration in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• ResolveFX Chromatic Adaptation
• ResolveFX Vignette
• ResolveFX Invert Color
• ResolveFX Drop Shadow
• Support for the ResolveFX Blanking Fill, Lens Blur and Tilt Shift Blur in the Fusion page
• Support for the ResolveFX Patch Replacer in the Edit page
• Support for integrated beauty enhancements in ResolveFX Face Refinement
• Improved ResolveFX Beauty with a new Auto mode, better edge behavior, individual controls and larger parameter ranges
• Improved ResolveFX Scanline
• Improved behavior for handling glow sources in multiple ResolveFX plugins^
• Improved behavior for ResolveFX plugins with support for processing the alpha channel in the Edit timeline
• Improved ResolveFX Blanking Fill with better defaults, support for more granular cropping and easier controls
• Improved ResolveFX Warper with support for keyframing
• Improved ResolveFX Dead Pixel with support for keyframing
• Improved ResolveFX Colorspace Transform with support for SMPTE-C and Gamma 2.5

Fairlight

• Initial support for Dolby Atmos audio in DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Initial support for Auro-3D audio in DaVinci Resolve Studio^
• Initial support for MPEG-H audio in DaVinci Resolve Studio*
• Initial support for SMPTE ST 2098 3D audio from DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for B-Chain monitoring in the Fairlight page in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for labeling and protecting specific speakers from unwanted signal patching from the B-Chain port setup
• Support for a larger variety of track formats including support for 3D audio formats
• FairlightFX Frequency Analyzer
• FairlightFX Limiter
• FairlightFX Phase Meter
• FairlightFX Dialog Processor*
• FairlightFX Foley Sampler
• Elastic Wave adaptive audio timing
• Ability to save and recall multiple track automation mixes
• Ability to copy, paste, edit and erase user selected portions of track automation data from the Fairlight menu
• Improved viewing and control of 3D pans in the Fairlight pan tool
• Support for Fairlight Audio Accelerator via Thunderbolt expander for macOS
• Support for importing AAF timelines with support for decoding embedded audio content
• Viewing and editing automation parameters for buses in the timeline view
• New loudness monitoring standards - including ATSC, 1770 and R128 standards
• Improved clip normalization with an option to set loudness standards
• Ability to view integrated loudness curves for the Main bus in the timeline^
• Ability to reset playback volume by Alt/Opt-clicking the volume slider
• Media path mapping for the Sound Library
• Ability to save and recall full console library presets

Codecs and Delivery

• Quick Export for quickly performing renders from various pages^
• Rendering all timeline audio tracks individually in single clip mode^
• Decoding iOS Voice Memo, including lossless formats
• Improved support for decoding and linking IMF supplemental packages in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for 20th Century Fox IMF preset in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Option for DCP quantization levels when rendering using the Kakadu JPEG2000 codecs
• User alert when the render resolution is larger than the timeline resolution
• Ability to use Super Scale in timeline output scaling in order to perform upscaling on renders and deliveries
• Support for encoding to Panasonic SHV 8K in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for trimming MXF clips with temporal codecs in media management
• Ability to minimize or disable viewer updates during rendering
• AMD hardware accelerated decoding of H.264 and H.265 on Windows in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• AMD hardware accelerated encoding of H.264 and H.265 on Windows in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved support for NVIDIA H.264 and H.265 rendering parameters on the Delivery page on Windows and Linux in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved support for Intel Quick Sync H.264 and H.265 parameters on the Delivery page on Windows in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Option to select the hardware acceleration method for decoding H.264 and H.265 on Windows and Linux - DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved performance when decoding H.264 and H.265 clips on macOS
• Improved performance when encoding H.264 and H.265 clips on macOS
• Option to select hardware or software encoding for H.264 in macOS
• Ability to set the Entropy mode when encoding H.264 on macOS
• Improved display of options for H.265 profiles with implicit bit depth selection in the Deliver page on macOS
• Improved HDR metadata encoding when rendering to H.265
• Improved performance when encoding to AVI formats
• Support for D-Gamut and D-Log for DJI RAW clips
• Support for GPU accelerated decoding of Canon RAW clips using the Canon SDK
• Support for decoding Canon C700 Full Frame clips
• Support decoding Canon RAW clips in half res and quarter res mode
• Support for decoding and encoding Avid DNxUncompressed formats
• Support for decoding ARRI HDE clips
• Ability to control QuantScale and MaxFrameSizeInPercent parameters when encoding to Grass Valley formats
• Improved IMF composition settings options with the ability to rename native assets
• Improved naming support for native DCP and IMF renders
• Removed folder extensions from IMF/DCP renders

General

• Support for the DaVinci Resolve Editor Keyboard
• Exporting videos directly to YouTube^
• Exporting videos directly to Vimeo^
• Per OS login preferences and settings with support for local UI layouts, database management, system and user preferences^
• Ability to check for software updates from the DaVinci Resolve menu
• Playback speed indicators in Resolve viewers
• Ability to enable or disable individual pages in DaVinci Resolve^
• Ability to hide the page navigation bar from the Workspace menu
• Ability to enable or disable focused panel indicators in DaVinci Resolve
• Ability to list and navigate to open Media Pool windows from the Workspace menu
• Support for automatically checking for software updates when connected to the internet
• Support for Russian user interface
• Improved Live Save behavior on the Fusion and Color pages
• Ability to add and edit project notes from the Project Manager and app menu^
• Support for using timeline name and project name as burn in and render tags
• Support for editing descriptions and comments columns for timelines in the Media Page
• Ability to view the GPU Processing mode when set to Auto
• Support for using DaVinci Resolve Studio dongles to enable Fusion Studio
• General stability and performance improvements

Developer

• Ability for OpenFX plugins to access any frame from the current clip
• Scripting support for python 3.7
• Discoverable scripting APIs in python and python 3
• Combo boxes in Davinci CTL plugins
• Ability to encrypt and specify expiry dates for DaVinci CTLs
• Ability to query current timecode and current clip using the scripting API
• Improved scripting support for importing, exporting and restoring projects and archives
• Improved scripting support for listing, loading, renaming and deleting Fusion compositions and Color versions

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 Public Beta 2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio Public Beta 2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 Public Beta 2 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio Public Beta 2 Update

• [SSENG-21404] If multiple Storage Groups are selected for deletion, including the Cloud Storage Group, only the on-premise Storage Groups will be deleted. Deleting the Cloud Storage Group is not supported.
• [SSENG-21499] After a Media Pack drive was physically removed, the Management Console continued to report it as missing.
• [SSENG-21504] Microsoft® AzCopy version 10 (Preview) did not work properly with an Avid NEXIS Workspace as the top-level directory parameter as either the source or destination of the copy operation.
• [SSENG-21540] It was possible to enter a name in the Management Console using an invalid Unicode string that caused the System Director to become unresponsive. Now if an invalid Unicode string is entered, a message is displayed in the Management Console saying “Invalid characters in name.”
• [SSENG-21550] When the event triggers for any Workspace were edited and the changes saved, if the user then selected any other Workspace while still in Edit mode, the Event Trigger values were not updated for the selected Workspace.
• [SSENG-21551] In the Client Manager, the protection type for Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces now displays Cloud instead of unprotected.
• [SSENG-21570] Avid NEXIS | Cloud Storage system stopped responding when user tried to download from a link in the Installers section of the Management Console.
• [SSENG-21574] The Management Console displayed a warning about unsaved changes when trying to modify additional attributes while creating a new Workspace.
• [SSENG-21588] A hidden character (which are invalid) was accidentally pasted into a user name field in the Classic Management Console (Flash) and was accepted but not displayed. After upgrading the system to a version using the new Management Console (HTML-5), those hidden characters caused problems. The new Management Console (HTML-5) now ignores hidden characters.
• [SSENG-21593] The Capacity Tracker (new in version 2019.4) now correctly displays values for Avid NEXIS | Cloud Storage systems.
• [SSENG-21596] In an Avid NEXIS Enterprise Engine with Media Packs containing drives of different sizes, the system incorrectly reported that a spare drive was not large enough to be used as a spare in such a Media Pack. The system was improperly comparing the size of the spare drive to the largest drive in the Media Pack, instead of (correctly) the smallest.
• [SSENG-21630, 21518] After an initial Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces activation failure then subsequentsuccess, the Dashboard in the Management Console continued to show Activation Failed in theCloudspaces service field.
• [SSENG-21646] The Cloud Dashboard in the Management Console displayed incorrect data for Usedspace under Total Cloud Usage.
• [SSENG-21658] The first attempt to activate Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces failed, but the second activationsucceeded.
• [SSENG-21666] If access to the DNS server was temporarily lost, the Avid NEXIS system falselyindicated that the Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces subscription was invalid.
• [SSENG-21911] Avid NEXIS Linux client was not flushing data as expected in response to fsync() calls.This could affect edit-while-capture scenarios such as FastServe Ingest.

Contact Digistor to assist with upgrading your AVID NEXIS | FS 2019.4.1

Get more details of the AVID NEXIS | FS 2019.4.1 Client update

VITEC, a worldwide leader in advanced video encoding and streaming solutions, is now in partnership with Digistor. Digistor will now offer VITEC's full Ecosystem of Streaming Solutions with first-class service and support

VITEC, a worldwide leader in advanced video encoding and streaming solutions, announced its latest distribution partnership with Digistor. Digistor will provide VITEC's full portfolio of streaming solutions across Australia and New Zealand. Known for delivering product, design, installation, and technical support to companies that include ABC, Disney, Foxtel, Warner Brothers, and Endemol Shine, Digistor is the respected provider of technology solutions to the VFX, post-production, broadcasting, and digital media industries in the region.

"In this particular territory, more and more organisations are demanding reliable, high-quality, low-latency, and bandwidth-efficient streaming capabilities that are the hallmark of VITEC's end-to-end video streaming solutions." said Aurélie Albert, Marketing and Communications Manager, VITEC. "

"This partnership not only brings our broadcast-quality solutions to customers in the region but also provides them with Digistor's extensive knowledge and technical expertise that are an invaluable part of achieving the best workflow to deliver a superior video experience!"
Aurélie Albert, Marketing and Communications Manager, VITEC

As a local verified partner, Digistor will expand VITEC's growing presence in the APAC market. Digistor works with a select group of leading vendors to help bring integrated solutions to its customers, carefully selecting and ensuring that the company has the expertise to specify, deliver, and support the products. In addition, the company ensures technical performance, pricing, policies, resources, and commitment to superior performance of every product.

"VITEC is a trusted video streaming solutions provider known for leading the market with high-performance and innovative products that help customers easily and affordably adapt to the ever-changing video landscape. We're delighted to add VITEC to our elite roster of vendor partners and strengthen our commitment of empowering our customers through smarter technology and service solutions"
Mark Richards, Marketing Manager, Digistor

About VITEC

VITEC is a leading worldwide end-to-end video streaming solutions provider for broadcast, military and government, enterprise, sports and entertainment venues, and houses of worship. Combining broadcasting with live streaming capabilities, VITEC's H.265 (HEVC) and H.264 offering is the most extensive in the market with encoding and decoding appliances, IPTV solutions for desktops and mobile devices, and PCI cards with SDK for integration projects. VITEC's intuitive digital video solutions can be tailored to each customer's unique market needs, delivering easy-to-use technology that ensures high-quality, low-latency HD video, capturing live and recorded events for seamless distribution in a multitude of formats anytime, anywhere, to any device.

Since 1988, VITEC has been a pioneer in the design and manufacture of hardware and software for video encoding, decoding, transcoding, recording, conversion, archiving, and streaming over IP. In keeping with the company's tradition of innovation, VITEC is the first company to bring bandwidth-efficient HEVC compression technology into the field with portable streaming appliances. More information on VITEC's full line of products is available at www.vitec.com.

For further Information

For further information on the VITEC streaming solutions with first-class service and support, please contact Digistor.

V-Ray for Katana

• Allow adding statement path by shift-drag a VrayVolumeGrid_In or VrayMesh_In node onto MaterialAssign's CEL parameter
• Implement preview for Directional LightRectangle in the Hydra Viewer
• Update the parameters of the Denoiser render element
• Expose BRDFHair4 in the shader list for Material
• nodes
• Make it possible to export .vrscene files in batch mode
• Add links in the inline documentation for V-Ray nodes which point to our documentation site
• Switch the VRayMtl's roughness model to Oren-Nayar
• Switch Displacement to Pre-tessellated mode by default
• Switch Subdivision surfaces to Pre-tessellated mode by default

Bug Fixes

V-Ray for Katana

• Fixed crash when trying to export vrscene to а non-existent folder
• Fixed Python script errors when running Katana in batch mode
• Make exporter to be more strict and robust

V-Ray

• Direct light selects are always propagated through refractions
• Incorrect lighting elements on matte objects when "Consistent lighting elements" option is enabled
• Fixed incorrect consistent lighting elements with alSurface and VRayFastSSS2

VRayVolumeGrid

• Fixed rendering slowdown when the memtracker is enabled during compilation

Download V-Ray Next for Katana, Hotfix 1

Get more details of V-Ray Next for Katana, Hotfix 1

• Some Windows clients running Avid NEXIS 2018.11 or 2019.2.0 client with Media Composer encountered errors during auto or manual bin-save operations after a network disruption. Examples of the messages displayed on Media Composer include; Failure renaming temp bin, changes cannot be saved to bin, access is denied to path

The issue is resolved by installing the Avid NEXIS client 2019.2.2 (Avid NEXIS Engine and SD/SDA upgrade is not required). These issues have not been reported on macOS or Linux. The reported issues are not dependent on core version. 


Contact Digistor to assist with upgrading your AVID NEXIS | FS 2019.2.2 Client

Get more details of the AVID NEXIS | FS 2019.2.2 Client update

Desktop Video Software v11.0 has been released. This update provides fixes for a number of issues, including:

• Long pause when performing an audio punch-in after system idle for a long period

Customers using the DNxIO, DNxIQ or DNxID are recommended to upgrade to v11.0 at their earliest convenience.

Artist | DNxIV and DNxIP

Desktop Software v15.1 has been released. This update provides updates and fixes for a number of issues, including:

• AJA Control Panel: Simultaneous HD downconvert: For 12G-SDI products only (KONA 5, Io 4K Plus / DNxIV) - simultaneous HD downconvert available on outputs 4 / 5 when output 3 is being used for 4K.
• macOS support: OS10.11 is the earliest version of macOS that will allow installation of 15.1 or later.
• Output freezing when audio scrub is enabled
• No firmware update message after upgrading firmware
• HDMI interlaced captures have incorrect field order
• Follow input is not being saved as preset
• Initial plugin load outputs garbage image
• When AJA Capture Settings dialog is set to Control Panel, changes are unsaved
• Audio Metering for idle capture/punch-in is broken
• CC output dies when switching between clips of differing frame rates/rasters
• Analog output widget contextual menu has incorrect options
• Can get in a state where Closed Captions do not display correctly from input
• Analog audio outs have significant phase shift at high frequency
• Control Room crashes when changing frame rates in bin on High Sierra
• DNxIP: corrupt frame at beginning of capture

Customers using the DNxIV or DNxIP are recommended to upgrade to v15.1 at their earliest convenience.

Updates of Artist IO software can be downloaded from your AVID Master Account.

Get Digistor to assist with updating your Artist IO Software

Nuke, Nuke Studio, and Hiero Viewers now include an OpenGL Stereo mode which allows you to see both views at once on a 3D monitor for review purposes.

Feature Enhancement

The Nuke User Guide and Node Reference Guide are now available to download as PDFs.



Contact Digistor to assist with evaluating your system and upgrading your Nuke to 11.3 version

Get more details of Foundry Nuke 11.3 upgrade

This update contains a number of important updates:

• Support for Mac OS v10.14.3
• Titler Animation Update:  In previous releases, you could animate only one text layer, and no shapes. With this release, you can animate up to a total of 10 layers (any combination of text and/or shapes).
• Pro Tools Compatibility: An AAF embedded export from Media Composer did not import properly into Pro Tools v12.7.1 and earlier. If you experience this problem, enable the “ProTools 10/12 compatibility” option in the Export As AAF dialog. The exported AAF will be compatible with earlier versions of Pro Tools.
• Multiple Groups:  The Multi-Group function has been updated to give users the option to create multiple groups as well as the Multi-Group. This functionality matches how Multi-Groups functioned prior to the release of 2018.12.
• New DNxUncompressed Format:  This release supports DNxUncompressed S2.14 (for YCbCr projects, DNxUncompressed 4:2:2 16 (2.14) bit MXF; for RGB projects, DNxUncompressed RGB 16 (2.14) bit MXF)

This release also includes a number of improvements and bug fixes, including:

• When Audio Scrubbing (Caps Lock) was enabled, the video did not update on the external video monitor.
• You may have received exceptions and/or Breakpad reports when loading clips from the Production Management window to the source monitor.
• In some instances, modifying Timewarp parameters in the Motion Effect Editor crashed the editing application.
• You might have received an “Assertion failed” error when loading certain sequences from the Interplay window into the Source window.
• Avid Titler+:
  • In some instances, selecting active windows did not work properly if you were working with an Input Method Editor (IME).
  • Unrelated buttons inadvertently appeared in the Effect Editor when working with an Avid Titler+ effect. The buttons have been removed.
  • Changing the font or color, or editing your text in your animated title would break the animation.
  • You could not enter Japanese text.
  • Languages written from Right-to-Left were not supported
• SubCap Effect:
  • In some instances, depending upon the font and size, Subcap titles were cut off.
  • Some upper case characters in the Hungarian alphabet were cut off in the Subcap effect.
  • In some instances, Subcap text would flicker in some areas of the sequence.
• When working with MetaGlue media, you might have received an exception error when Media Composer tried to build the database for 16mm media, and 35mm 3 perf media.
• Dynamic Relink settings were not retained in shared projects when saved as a site setting.
• The editing application crashed when selecting multiple audio keyframes using Alt+Shift+drag.
•  (Windows) On some systems, you could not mute or adjust the volume using the Monitor Volume button.
• Effects added to video on V1 were actually added to filler on V2.
• (Interplay) The “Root Folder for this Project” value was not always maintained in the Production Management Folder Settings dialog.
•  (Mac) Language options were not available for PhraseFind and ScriptSync.
• In some instances, the blue Position Indicator would hang or disappear during playback if you zoomed in on the Timeline.
• In some instances, Avid Media Composer read the timecode incorrectly on native files.
• Occasionally, playback would stop when it reached certain stereo clips.

Contact our support  team to assist with updating your AVID Media Composer

Get more details of AVID Media Composer 2018.12.2 update

• Support for the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro G2 camera
• Support for the latest Blackmagic RAW SDK 1.3
• Improved support for audio metadata in AAF exports including clip volume, pan data, track volume and automation
• Improved performance when selecting clips in the Edit timeline
• Improved responsiveness when using Wacom tablets on Windows
• Improved playback behavior on the Edit page
• Improved timecode support for high frame rate EXR clips
• Improved handling of AAC audio on Windows
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.3 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.3 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.3 Studio Update

New features on DeckLink 8K Pro:

• Add support for up to 4 independent I/O channels via the DeckLink SDK.
• Add support for extra frame rates including 47.95 and 48 fps.
• Add support for quad-link Sample Interleave signals in UHD and 4K DCI modes.
• Add support for HDR metadata packing (ST2108-1), HLG and PQ transfer characteristics (ST2082-10).
• Add support for synchronized capture and playback.

Fixes on UltraStudio HD Mini:

• Fix issue where audio meters would not update when using a Teranex Mini Smart Panel.

Fixes on all models:

• General performance and stability improvements.

New features and improvements in Media Express 3.5.8:

• Ensure video captured with drop-frame timecode is detected correctly in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

Download Blackmagic Desktop Video 11.0 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details on the Blackmagic Desktop Video 11.0 Update

UPDATE 1/3/2019: A week after writing this article, Chaos Group has released Chaos Cloud (formerly V-Ray Cloud). Instead of the 100 credits during beta, trial users will get 20 free credits to test with. That is still enough to get a good idea of the simplicity and power.

Simple and easy to use V-Ray Cloud rendering has arrived. With 100 FREE credits to play with, there is no reason not to check it out. There are no virtual machines to configure, and no licenses to acquire.

Sign up to the V-Ray Cloud beta to get 100 free credits. Install the small V-Ray Cloud Client application, and then start rendering in the cloud. With V-Ray Next, simply send the job to the cloud from within 3ds Max, MAYA, SketchUP, or Rhino with just a click of a button. For V-Ray 3, you will need to export a ".vrscene" file first.

The benefits of cloud in general is that there is no hardware or software maintenance required and you pay as you go. In other words, paying only for the resources you use/need. It is perfect for meeting tight deadlines where waiting days for a render is not an option.

In the effort to simplify cloud rendering, the "elasticity" cannot be manually controlled. That is, there are no options to choose the type of number of CPUs.

"One of our primary goals is to keep the workflow as simple/automated as possible with little to no sacrifices made. With that in mind, selection of machine type and number is handled for you by us. At the moment we use a wide range of machines from 36 to 96 cores. As this is a beta, we are experimenting with different configuations. Also, we are currently working on making distributed rendering automatic. With that in place, you may seldom feel the need to specify anything upfront." - V-Ray Cloud FAQ

It my tests, when i sent a 101 frame animation, there were 49 frames rendering simultaneously.

Below are the results of the 101 frame animation cloud render. You can see that it will exceed 100 free credits, so keep your renders small while you evaluate. In my experience, if a single frame takes 1 hour to render, a 45 frame animation should take roughly the same time.

As you'd expect, the more credits you buy, the cheaper they are. Be sure to contact Digistor if you wish to buy more credits.

"Credits are linked to a certain amount of compute time on Inter "Skylake" generation CPUs. The underlying hardware configuration may vary a bit according to availability, but the amount of credit cost for the same image should be consistent. As time goes by, we believe the processing speed will only increase, which should reduce the credit cost to create the same image. Also keep in mind that the credit usage covers all the costs for uploading, downloading, storing your project and its results, and starting your jobs instantly (i.e no extra credits are spent for higher priority jobs).

We highly encourage you to use your free credit allowance to test the current performance of the service relative to your type of work for the best estimate of what a credit is providing you. The best way to estimate is to render a test image and to note how many credits it condumes and then expand that cost by what your final job will take(in terms of final resolution, quality, frames, etc...). We plan to provide more accurate estimating tools for you to use for our final service." - Vladimir Dragoev / Chaos Team

If you want to use any plugins, click here to find out the supported plug-ins.

V-Ray Cloud rendering is seriously worth considering. I recomment giving it a try, if only just for a familiarity and to see how easy it is. It might be a potential lifesaver in the future. The overall experience could not be simpler and less daunting. When uploading iterations, previous jobs are checked so that only changes are uploaded. Overall, it feels well thought our even in this beta stage. It can only get better.

• Improved Edit page viewer playback performance
• Improved performance when rendering H.264 and H.265 clips on MacOS
• Improved stability when using the latest version of Intel OpenCL drivers on Windows
• Improved performance when saving timeline changes in a project
• Improved performance when loading a project with a large number of audio tracks and buses
• Improved handling of 5.1 and 7.1 audio when working with IMF clips
• Improved support for decoding some Canon XF-AVC clip formats in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved font detection on Windows with support for fonts installed in user directories
• Support for the Sony Venice 3.0 firmware update
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.4 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.4 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.4 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.4 Studio Update

Zixi, the industry leader for enabling dependable, live broadcast-quality video over IP, has announced a reseller agreement with Digistor for the ANZ region!

This will allow Digistor customers to quickly adopt the Zixi transport, management and analytical offerings that are being used by the world's biggest players in OTT, broadcast and cloud video delivery.

Digistor, the respected provider of technology solutions to the VFX, post-production, broadcasting and digital media industries, provides product, design, installation and technical support to companies including the ABC, Disney, Foxtel, Warner Brothers and Endemol Shine across Australia and New Zealand.

The Asia Pacific video streaming market offers great growth potential, with a substantial 25% year-on-year increase. The new partnership with Digistor will build on Zixi's expanding presence in the APAC region, where it is already seeing significant customer adoption, and will help to bring its powerful video over IP technology to a broad range of broadcasters, content creators and distributors.

"Digistor's long history and reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted technology solutions provider made this partnership an easy decision," said John Wastcoat, SVP Allianced and Marketing, Zixi. "Their market familiarity and technical expertise will bring Zixi offerings to customers and technology partners across the ANZ region, empowering them to deliver video via any IP network reliably and securely."

"Digistor's long history and reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted technology solutions provider made this partnership and easy decision!"
John Wastcoat, SVP Allianced and Marketing Zixi

"Zixi's ability to deliver live broadcast quality content over IP gives our customers a very simple and cost-effective way to share their content around the world," said Andrew Mooney, Managing Director, Digistor. "We are very pleased to partner with Zixi and are already seeing the potential that this opens up for our clients."

About Zixi

Zixi provides a cloud based and on-premise software platform that enables broadcast-quality video delivery over the IP. The company offers the Zixi Platform for broadcasters, enterprises, over-the-top video providers, and mobile service providers around the world.  The Zixi Platform makes it easy and economical for media companies to source, manage, localize, and distribute live events and 24/7 live linear channels in broadcast QoS, securely and at scale, using managed and unmanaged IP networks. Zixi provides enhanced control in large complex networks with ZEN Master, a cloud-based platform that provides visual tools to configure, orchestrate, and monitor live broadcast channels and events across industry protocols.  Since 2007, the Zixi Enabled Network (ZEN) has grown to grown to over 30 OEM and service providers and serve well over 350 customers representing most of the top media brands around the world with thousands of channels delivered daily.

For further Information

For further information on the Zixi platform and solutions for broadcast over IP, please contact Digistor.

• Added support for pixel remapping in camera.
• Added 2:1 monitoring frame guide.
• Improved media formatting user interface.
• Improved audio monitoring latency performance.
• Improved auto focus performance.
• Improved signal to noise ratio performance of camera internal microphone.
• Improved power efficiency for improved battery life.
• Improved 3.5mm audio input selection interface.
• Improved AV sync performance.
• Fixed an issue where time and date is not updated on camera when connected to the Blackmagic Camera Setup utility.
• Fixed an issue where the 3.5mm audio input level is 6dB lower than expected.
• Fixed an auto focusing issue with Lumix 20mm f/1.7 lens.
• Fixed an issue where some USB-C external SSDs were not detected when connected before camera is powered up.
• Fixed an issue where some batteries might shut off earlier than expected.
• Fixed an issue where low battery indicator is not displayed appropriately.
• Fixed an issue with camera not being detected by host computer when connected to certain USB ports.
• Updated dynamic range and ISO chart in user manual.

Download Blackmagic Camera 6.1 for macOS / Windows

Get more details on Blackmagic Camera 6.1 Update

Transformations are not new, and if you've ever been involved in Information Technology (IT), you may have some experience in one of many likely transformations such as the Digital Transformation, i.e. using Digital Technologies (digital data) to improve processes and value.

Many of us who have dedicated years of our careers structuring, servicing and reactively supporting Digital Technologies may be perplexed to know that IT Transformation (ITT) is about repositioning and dismantling some of our built up 'legacy/rigid' structures.

IT Teams and businesses engaged in the Digital era and looking at ITT strategies are now repositioning traditional IT services that once were 'in-house' and required some capital expenditure (CAPEX) to converged/hybrid services often with some 'external/public' cloud services that employ subscription and or consumption models. Whilst capital expenditure is reduced, costs shift to operating costs (OPEX).

ITT or any another Transformation from a business perspective is typically about reducing costs, shifting costs from CAPEX to OPEX in the name of Transformation is far from compelling for a business when we consider what it takes to embark on the ITT journey.

"81% of respondents agree that if they don't embrace IT Transformation, then their companies won't be competitive."
Enterprise Strategy Group's Information Transformation Maturity Report 2018

For ITT to be compelling and successful we must look to reduce OPEX as well as CAPEX. The increases to OPEX by moving to a subscription/consumption model can often be offset by the reduction in operating costs associated with managing and maintaining 'in-house' services and technologies.

Why now? Why is everyone talking about ITT again/now? The cloud. Digital analytics. User-friendly SaaS. The internet as a whole. These of course are all valid considerations but if we take a look this quote from Enterprise Strategy Group's Information Transformation Maturity Report 2018.

"81% of respondents agree that if they don't embrace IT Transformation, then their companies won't be competitive. That's a ten-percentage point increase from 2017."

It's clear commercial/competitive concerns are still predominant, and if we take a closer look at some summarised 'data' from Dell's commissioned ESG ITT maturity report 2018 we find some interesting and compelling outcomes.

'Transformed organizations are 18X more likely to make faster data-driven decisions', i.e. Faster time to market. That's a staggering increase, inferring scale is enabled by these ITTs.  Every business and organisation since they came to be, has pursued continual growth as a key indicator of success and being a market front-runner. Delivering an 18x increase in time to market is a welcome advantage. The level of scalability realised with modern ITT principles is undoubtedly a driving factor for today's CIO's and CTO's.

It's particularly interesting to see 'Transformed organizations are 6X more likely to be involved in business strategy development.' Demonstrating the value businesses and organisations recognise in Information Technology and the ITT processes. Strategy formulation requires vision and steps towards accelerating the vision and strengthening the most positive outcomes of ITT such as reduced costs, increased efficiencies and increased revenues/profits.

In this three-part Tech blog, we'll take a look at some key principles for IT Transformation 2019; Part I – Modernise, Part II – Automation/Orchestration and Part III – Transform.

People familiar with Dell's vision of ITT may recognise the key principles outlined in this blog, I think they are great principals to discuss as we take look a closer look at ITT today.

Part I - Modernise

There are many paths that could be undertaken in moving towards modernising infrastructure and services, let's explore some of the more common approaches.

Naturally, and especially in today's business world one should expect cloud enabled Infrastructure and Services

Virtualising servers, converging storage, using 'Flash' storage where applicable, employing Scale-out and Converged or Hyper Converged Infrastructure platforms that uses a software-defined approach for networking and storage are some initial steps when we think of how to modernise.

Converged Infrastructure (CI) solutions simplify the deployment of compute, network, and storage resources. CI solutions consolidate IT components and management into a trusted single point of support for all integrated technologies i.e. Turnkey Solutions.

Another advantage of CI is that it eliminates 'silos' of technology, processes and people. Silos are largely why IT management and support have traditionally been complicated and difficult, this a huge leap forward.

CI allows for building and maintaining components of the virtualisation stack, supporting a consumption/scalable model. In the world of business having the ability to rapidly and painlessly scale is huge.

Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) solutions share the same objective, with a different approach. Hyper Converged Infrastructure is typically built with software defined compute, storage and networking. HCI minimises/reduces the need for discrete hardware components, meaning that there are fewer opportunities for hardware issues to arise.

Converged infrastructure simplifies the deployment of 'best in class' hardware for compute, storage and networking. Hyper Converged Infrastructure is often deployed on commodity components to provide a simplified, scale out architecture with commodity servers.

Naturally, and especially in today's business world one should expect cloud enabled Infrastructure and Services.

An initial foray into modernisation would likely be an approach that uses a mix of on-premise infrastructure and cloud services, this approach is often referred to as a Hybrid approach.

An example of a Hybrid approach is Digistor's Live Production Workflow. Digistor has been developing and demonstrating a proof of concept on Digistor's Sandbox (Cloud Services), a Live Production Workflow in the Cloud. A range of on-premise and cloud services that are tightly connected, scalable and extendable form the core, enabling unparalleled flexibility for Live Productions.

The Hybrid approach is often described as the best of both worlds approach, having a mixture of on premise and cloud/external services but we must careful not think of this as the final destination on our ITT journey.

Look out for Part II - Automation/Orchestration in the coming months where we look at what Automation and orchestration are how they play a key role in the IT Transformation process.

• Currently DDP supports Archiware P5 up to 5.4.4
• Older releases of V4 before V4.00.019b were both 32bit and 64bit compatible. Releases after that are only 64bit compatible. All Mac clients should be using AVFS version 2.5.1 or later for compatibility with DDP V4

V4.01.018 Updates

• Fix for rare race condition when node update fails on OSX
• Support for incoming filename normalisation. To set use commands (at
• DDP console/ssh login):
• 'set-normalise-decompose' to normalize to decomposed filenames
• (preferred setting) 
• 'set-normalise-compose' to normalise to composed strings (use when
• application can not handle decomposed filenames)
• 'set-normalise-default' to use default server setting, which currently
• is not to normalise filenames. This is setting used up to V4.01.016.

Contact Digistor to get your DDP updated

Get more details on DDP OS V4.01.018 update

• Resolved specific customer issues
• Compatibility with the latest supported applications
• Improved overall product stability

Download Matrox Monarch HD 2.2.3.0005 Firmware

This release includes the new Avid Link, a new multi-platform tool that allows users to connect, collaborate and get discovered. Avid Link not only allows users to connect and share their creative vision, but it also gives them access to all of their licenses, downloads, and updates.

Users should expect Avid Link to replace their installed Application Manager. For more information, please consult the Avid Link page.

This update contains a number of important bug fixes, as well, including:

• A number of improvements have been made to the new Titler+ tool - for complete information, refer to the ReadMe

• After performing a video mixdown the metadata on the Avid MediaFiles MXF files might be incorrect

• When working on a system with a HiDPI monitor, you might have seen slow response when lassoing clips in the Timeline

• On some Mac systems, the editing application would not launch if some fonts were disabled

• When you consolidated AVC Long GOP G25 subclips , new master clips were created that were too long

• You might have received an “Audio consumer duration differs from video edit” error when playing back a sequence containing a dissolve

• Mask Margins were not showing up on exported graphic files

Contact Digistor to get your AVID Media Composer Updated

Get more details on the AVID Media Composer 2018.12.1 Update

• Added an option to start remote rendering from the project manager context menu
• Addressed an issue where switching to the Fusion page in dual screen mode would sometimes cause artefacts in the user interface
• Addressed an issue with Intel GPUs on Windows where the viewer would show black frames on playback and cause crashes
• Addressed an issue where some MacOS laptops with Intel GPUs would cause a crash on start up
• Addressed an issue where clicking through media pool thumbnails for certain codecs would sometimes show an offline frame
• Addressed an issue where creating multicam clips from clips with time of day timecode would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where position controls in the Inspector would sometimes show incorrect limits
• Addressed an issue where render cache for clips with alpha or cropping would show incorrect results
• Addressed an issue where applying an output sizing preset would sometimes show incorrect power window positions on the viewer
• Addressed an issue where some OpenFX and ResolveFX plugins would not work correctly for clips with custom output scaling
• Addressed an issue where selecting a marker from the marker list in the Color page viewer would sometimes cause a crash on Windows
• Addressed an issue where playing back a timeline with a large number of markers in the Color page would impact playback performance
• Addressed an issue where the context menu for Color page thumbnails would not show the selected clip group
• Addressed an issue where splitting an audio clip with cached audio effects would result in incorrect audio during playback
• Addressed an issue where deleting a bus would not delete plugins associated with that bus
• Improved behavior for FairlightFX Distortion
• Addressed an issue where clips with FairlightFX Echo applied would not playback correctly after an application restart
• Addressed an issue where playback for clips with FairlightFX Reverb would sometimes produce artifacts when replaying the clip
• Addressed an issue where writing multiple automation parameters simultaneously would sometimes cause gaps in the automation in the Fairlight timeline
• Addressed an issue where transitions would sometimes be drawn incorrectly in the Fairlight timeline
• Addressed an issue where loading audio clips with unsupported sample rates would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where video tracks could not be hidden on the Fairlight page
• Addressed an issue where moving audio tracks up or down in the Fairlight timeline would not preserve its hidden state
• Addressed an issue where video track names edited from the Fairlight page would not be persisted correctly across application restarts
• Addressed an issue where custom shortcuts would not be correctly reflected in the Fairlight timeline context menu
• Addressed an issue where loading a project with video and audio scrollers enabled would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where loading specific Fusion compositions would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where rotoscoping using the BSpline tool in the Fusion page would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where editing offsets of Media In nodes in a Fusion clip would sometimes cause previews in the Fusion page to flicker between cached and uncached images
• Addressed an issue where importing some FLAC audio clips would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where importing some PNG files would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where some Panasonic VariCam clips with multiple audio channels would be decoded with audio artefacts
• Addressed an issue where certain QuickTime clips would sometimes show a repeated frame
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.2 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.2 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.2 Studio Update

• Stutter in client monitor on playback
• Looping play in Trim mode may have resulted in an Exception error
• Sequences with multi-track audio would drop frames on lower-end Mac systems
• Customers using the DNxIV or DNxIP are recommended to upgrade to v15.0 at their earliest convenience.

Contact Digistor team to get your AVID Artist | DNxIV and Artist | DNxIP updated

• Addressed an issue where rendering to the MXF OP1A format would cause a crash or generate a corrupt file
• Addressed an issue where opening projects using the context menu would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where the dynamic project switching option would reflect an incorrect state across application restarts
• Addressed an issue where switching databases when working on a collaboration project would sometimes cause an application hang
• Addressed an issue with creating a new multicam or compound clip in a project with drop frame enabled
• Addressed an issue where adding a folder containing subtitle files to the media pool would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where deleting a clip with retime controls enabled would cause a crash in the Edit page
• Addressed an issue where the duplicate clip action would not work when Fusion compositions were selected
• Addressed an issue where audio in rendered QuickTime clips would be incorrectly tagged as dual mono instead of stereo on Windows and Linux
• Addressed an issue with color space and gamma tagging when rendering to XAVC
• Addressed an issue where the highlights in certain Canon raw clips would have a purple tint
• Addressed an issue where switching monitor scaling mode would have no effect on Media and Edit pages
• Addressed an issue with keyboard shortcuts to switch the viewer between source and timeline when in single viewer mode
• Addressed an issue where performing a match frame on the timeline viewer would not switch focus to the source viewer
• Addressed an issue where keyboard shortcuts for Go to In or Out actions would not work when the Edit timeline was in focus
• Addressed an issue where keyboard shortcuts for Import Media would not work when starting a new project
• Addressed an issue where assigning shortcuts to switch to A or C mode sort would not work
• Addressed an issue where deleting a remote version would sometimes switch other clips using the same remote version to local
• Addressed an issue where using enhanced optical flow modes would sometimes cause artifacts during playback
• Addressed an issue where playing back some DPX 10-bit images would show artifacts in the Color page
• Addressed an issue where performing select all after clicking on a clip thumbnail in the Color page would not select all the clips
• Addressed an issue where creating a new Fusion composition in the media pool would cause a crash when Resolve is set to certain languages
• Addressed an issue where transform tools would show an offset when previewing clip proxies in the Fusion page
• Addressed an issue where setting the soft edge of the mask tool to fast gaussian would produce incorrect results
• Addressed an issue where changing the viewer gain or gamma values would not work when drawing a polygon shape in the Fusion page
• Addressed an issue with audio artifacts when previewing sections of audio clips with FairlightFX or audio plugins applied
• Addressed an issue with audio discontinuity when the bypass state is toggled for FairlightFX with latency
• Addressed an issue where inserting an audio clip past another clip with crossfades would sometimes add a crossfade to the new clip
• Addressed an issue where opening the Aux dialog and deleting Aux buses would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where track formats for nested timeline buses would sometimes not be loaded correctly on the Fairlight page
• Addressed an issue where the fade to playhead actions would not work correctly in the Fairlight page on macOS and Linux
• Addressed an issue where dragging the playhead to the start of the Fairlight timeline would not work correctly when audio scrubbing was enabled
• Addressed an issue where markers would not be shown in the Fairlight index in thumbnail mode
• Addressed an issue where the mark clip action would not work correctly in the Fairlight page
• Addressed an issue where rendering long multi-channel WAV files would sometimes produce incomplete clips
• Addressed an issue where installing the Fairlight Studio Utility would restart the system without prompting the user
• Addressed an issue when handling certain controls in Tangent Elements panels
• Addressed an issue where performing reconform from bins would sometimes cause a crash
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.1 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.1 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.1 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2.1 Studio Update

This month I’d like to provide an overview on one of our products that is starting to gain some traction in Australia – Snapstream DVR.

While SnapStream is relatively new in our part of the world, their list of customers includes who’s who of Entertainment, Media and Government industries including:

• Top TV networks in the world (such as CNN, NBC, ABC, HBO, CBS in the US, the BBC in the UK and the ABC here in Australia)
• Some of the funniest TV shows (like The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Weekly)
• Large government departments (such as the White House, the Senate and the FBI in the US, the Privy Council and the Parliament in Canada)
• Some of the most visited media sites (like Buzzfeed, Slate, Yahoo News, Politico, Vox, Vice) and others.

SnapStream has been in our region for a couple of years now, and there have been some recent hardware updates and storage options, including an exciting new Cloud Offering in Australia.

So, who are SnapStream? – What do they do? Who would use it? How does it work?

SnapStream is a Houston based company which make hardware and software that enable users to take any video feed (Broadcast TV or in-house video) and Distribute it over the LAN to any device in the organization, record those feeds to a centralized DVR, Search inside recordings (using Closed Captions), create Clips, and then Share on Social Media.

“Hmmm” I hear you say, “that doesn’t sound very exciting – most of this stuff can be found on the internet already, so why can’t I just google what I want to watch and when I want to?”

Well, I see a few relevant use cases for the various SnapStream offerings, most notably being in the areas of Corporate Compliance, Current Affairs shows, TV monitoring for Government Agencies and end Transmission monitoring for Broadcasters.  Let’s look at each of these in quick detail...

Corporate Compliance – some companies have a requirement to retain an off-air recording of any content that involves or refers to that company, be it for legal or historical purposes.  SnapStream can capture this content and store it locally for as long as it is required.  Others use SnapStream to provide feedback to advertisers, confirming their content was aired at the right time on the right channel and at the expected quality.

For example, Financial Institutions can use a SnapStream DVR to capture any recordings relating to the current Banking Royal Commission or other important information and automatically save it or a proxy version:

Current Affairs shows – have you ever wondered how TV shows like The Weekly with Charlie Pickering find all the random clips they use in their show?  They use SnapStream to record content off air, from which they are able to efficiently search through hundreds or even thousands of hours of media by the caption metadata and quickly locate any content related to a particular subject matter.

For example, to assist with a story on Schoolies Week, The Weekly can use a search to find anything relevant to their particular search criteria:

TV Monitoring for Government Agencies – instantly pull up search results when a crisis arises that impacts your organization or connect to a closed-circuit municipal channel for the monitoring of actions.  You can even post breaking news to followers on social media channels.

For example, if there is a health hazard, agencies can automatically find media pertaining to the hazard and post it on social media:

Transmission Monitoring for Broadcasters – things may look ok in the Playout Suite, but there are issues further down the chain – Snapstream can record this and assist fault finding.  Snapstream can also be used conjunctively with social media to have a more live interaction with your audience, uploading to Twitter, Facebook, etc while a show is airing.

Social Posting for TV Networks, Shows and Entertainment sites
Social media teams at TV networks and entertainment website can post video clips, GIFs and screenshots to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube direct from live tv. Creating and posting a clip takes seconds. You can also schedule posts to go out for later.

SnapStream recently added square and vertical cropping so that social media teams who want to create content for Instagram and Snapchat can create content that is optimized for those platforms directly in SnapStream.

I hope this is starting to get you thinking about some of the many applications for Snapstream.

Let’s have a look at some of the features…

Searching by caption data – as shown in the images above, it is very easy to search by any term, but we can also do advanced searches in several manners.

We can be as simple as adding ‘not’ between two words to search for one, but not the other in a particular clip.  We can also use wildcards and various other functions.  Look carefully below at the search criteria and the results.

Time ranges can be set, types of media or channel restrictions to further refine our results, as well as saving that search so an email alert is sent whenever the criteria is met – how cool is that!

Automation and Alerts – well we just touched on this with alert emails, but there are many more workflows we can setup on a Snapstream.  All of the above examples can be automated so only the required content is retained, etc.  Workflows can be triggered by specific events, including such like Recording Finished or File Uploaded.

We can then add filters and actions to these trigger conditions, such as automatically sharing to social media, transcoding and generating a transcript of the captions.

As you can see, there are a lot of options and we can go into much more detail, but this is just a quick overview with a few images to highlight the intuitive interface Snapstream have developed.

While all this functionality is very interesting and well thought out, I am most interested in Snapstream’s new cloud offering, which reduces the onsite hardware footprint while giving the ability to share with anyone in any geographical location that has an internet connection.

Snapstream Cloud basically uses a locally based encoder to record content and stream it to the cloud.  There are various transcoding options that can be applied, depending on your bandwidth and quality requirements.

Once in the cloud, content can be shared with anyone and individual access to the cloud instance can be tailored to suit your policies or client requirements. 

Snapstream have kindly provided the Digistor team with an encoder and cloud instance that we can arrange access to for anyone who wishes to have a closer look at the integration and functionality.  All of the images above have been pulled from this instance and only show a couple of the many channels that could be recorded and searched.

So, what are our current limitations?

There are only two limitations that I see as notable and they are to do with Foxtel off-air.

1 – Foxtel uses HDCP on its HDMI output and there are some restrictions in our region.  Currently we can only record Foxtel in SD, but Snapstream and Digistor are working on a HDCP compliant encoder that will allow recording of Foxtel in the same resolution as FTA, and we are very close to a solution.

2 – The other limitation is the caption data in the Foxtel signal – Foxtel STB’s strip the caption data from their stream and only provide it as open captions that are burnt into the Set Top Box output.

Overall, I am impressed with the growing potential of Snapstream and their continual dedication to improving their offerings in our region.  I encourage anyone interested to check out Snapstream’s website to see various other use cases and functions that I have not included in this article.

If Snapstream is of interest to you, please contact the Digistor sales team for a live demo, options and pricing on the various offerings available.

Key new features

• Improved Edit timeline performance and responsiveness
• Support for improved visual animations when editing the timeline on the Edit page
• Support for a visual keyboard customization utility to find, add and modify shortcuts
• Support for per-module customizable shortcuts, including module specific actions and context menus
• Support for showing the currently focused module in the user interface
• Support for displaying duplicate frame ranges for clips on the timeline on the Edit page
• Support for cleaning up and flattening video tracks on the Edit timeline
• Support for adding, editing and exporting custom keyword sets from the keyword dictionary in the Workspace menu
• Support for option to export gallery stills using the still label name
• Support for ResolveFX Beauty in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for ResolveFX Blanking Fill for portrait videos
• Support for VCA groups
• Support for FairlightFX Multiband Compressor
• Support for FairlightFX Stereo Fixer
• Support for decoding Panasonic 8K SHV clips in DaVinci Resolve Studio

Edit

• Improved Edit timeline performance and responsiveness
• Support for improved visual animations when editing the timeline on the Edit page
• Support for displaying duplicate frame ranges for clips on the timeline on the Edit page
• Support for viewing inspector properties for the highest visible clip under the playhead in the Edit timeline when there is no active selection
• Support for viewer overlay controls for the highest visible clip under the playhead in the Edit timeline when there is no active selection
• Support for marking a clip within a compound clip or a timeline in the source viewer
• Support for cleaning up and flattening video tracks on the Edit timeline
• Support for resizing audio transitions to sub-frame boundaries
• Support for setting ease-in and ease-out on keyframes from the keyframe context menu in the Edit and Fairlight page inspectors
• Support for setting ease-in and ease-out on keyframes from the keyframe context menu in the Edit timeline
• Support for temporarily toggling snapping while scrubbing the playhead by invoking the snapping shortcut in the Edit timeline
• Support for defining characters per second thresholds to highlight non-conforming subtitle captions in the inspector
• Support for automatically enabling dynamic zoom when on-screen controls are modified on the Edit page
• Support for timeline indicators for clips with updated grades or compositions in collaborative projects
• Support for toggling the visibility of retime controls and retime curves by invoking the context menu or the shortcut in the Edit timeline
• Support for fast timecode entry in clip attributes, marker dialog, new timeline, render settings and other timecode widgets
• Support for quickly accessing recent undo/redo actions from the Edit menu
• Improved results when performing transitions on clips being composited with other layers
• Improved behavior when using the Push video transition on a title clip

Fusion

• Improved scripting API support with ability to import and export Fusion compositions
• Support for GPU acceleration for the Trails tool in the Fusion page

Color

• Support for ResolveFX Beauty in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for ResolveFX Blanking Fill for portrait videos
• Support for ResolveFX ACES Transform
• Support for ResolveFX Gamut Limiter
• Support for bypassing a mixer node input by disabling the node connected to that input
• Support for option to export gallery stills using the still label name
• Support for Camera RAW controls for Canon and Panasonic clips from the DaVinci Resolve Advanced and Mini panels
• Support for clipping output gamut to a different display gamut
• Support for an ST.2084 3000 nits gamma option in Resolve Color Management
• Support for improved color matching using color charts
• Support for OpenFX extension for a plugin to describe itself as not spatially awareSupport for including non-spatially aware OpenFX plugins when generating LUTs on the Color page
  • Check Developer Documentation in the Help menu for more details
• Support for including the ResolveFX Color Transform plugin when generating LUTs on the Color page
• Support for importing Dolby Vision metadata for clips in the Color page Dolby Vision option menu
• Support for previewing tone mapping using embedded, imported or custom metadata for Dolby Vision IMF clips
• Support for for up to 64 controls when creating DCTLs
• Updated OpenFX developer documentation with OpenFX 1.4 samples
• Updated OpenFX developer documentation with temporal frame access samples
• Updated OpenFX developer documentation with transition sample
• Improved support for handling aspect ratios for various ResolveFX plugins
• Improved support for handling UI overlays for projects with output scaling applied
• Improved behavior when closing Power Curve Windows drawn on the Color page

Fairlight

• Support for VCA groups
• Support for FairlightFX Multiband Compressor
• Support for FairlightFX Stereo Fixer
• Support for customizable test tones and noise generation from the Fairlight menu
• Support for selecting and modifying audio transitions
• Support for navigating the Fairlight timeline using timecode entry
• Support for setting audio monitoring output delay in system preferences
• Support for indicating clips with changed inspector properties on the Fairlight timeline
• Support for applying a FairlightFX plugin to multiple selected audio clips
• Support for additional Fairlight Audio Accelerator IO settings on Windows
• Support for Fairlight Audio Interface RS-422 9-Pin serial control on Windows
• Support for Talkback using the Fairlight Audio Accelerator on Windows
• Support for Fairlight MADI expander for the Fairlight Audio Accelerator on Windows
• Support for additional Fairlight edit operations including cut or copy the head or tail of the current clip from the Edit menu
• Improved playback performance when performing audio automation
• Improved handling of custom multi-channel format mappings for Audio FX

Media and Deliver

• Support for decoding Panasonic 8K SHV clips in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for hardware accelerated encoding of H.264 and H.265 using specific NVIDIA GPUs on DaVinci Resolve Studio; Windows and Linux only
• Support for hardware accelerated encoding of H.264 and H.265 using Intel Quick Sync on supported hardware on DaVinci Resolve Studio; Windows only
• Support for decoding Canon RMF clips using the Canon SDK
• Support for encoding Dolby Vision version 4 metadata in IMF renders
• Support for creating a subclip from a Media Pool clip marker
• Support for clip usage indicators in the Media Pool clip thumbnail for the active timeline
• Support for a clip usage listing in the Media Pool clip context menu for the active timeline
• Support for showing usage indicators for clips inside a compound clip on the active timeline
• Support for adding flags to clips when focused on the source viewer
• Support for duplicating media pool clips and current timelines from the Edit menu
• Support for a toggle control for switching between single and dual pane mode in Media Pool on the Edit page
• Support for storing the alpha channel in optimized media for clips with an embedded alpha channel
• Support for an option to render alpha channel either as straight or premultiplied when rendering individual clips
• Support for Sony XAVC Long GOP encoding on DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for Episode and Chapter in content metadata options for IMF exports

Cintel

• Improved sub-pixel stabilization
• Support for storing Cintel settings with each DaVinci Resolve project
• Support for single frame captures
• Addressed an issue with debayering artefacts that would sometimes affect pixel highlights
• Addressed an issue with incorrect audio sync offsets when using Capture Now

General

• Support for a visual keyboard shortcut mapping utility to find, add and modify shortcuts
• Support for per-module customizable shortcuts, including module specific actions and context menus
• Support for showing the currently focused module in the user interface
• Support for adding, editing and exporting custom keyword sets from the keyword dictionary in the Workspace menu
• Support for live save and backups for unsaved projects
• Support for remembering the last used locations in the file browser for various import and export operations
• Support for collaborating on projects in a PostgreSQL database with machines across multiple subnets
• Support for toggling Mute and Dim in all pages from the Fairlight application menu
• Support for configuring the gallery path during project import by Alt/Option-clicking Import Project
• Improved organization of System Preferences with a new section for decode options
• Support for easyDCP on Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.2 studio Update

After an impressive showing at NAB and IBC, Digistor has recently partnered with Norwegian based Barnfind Technologies, a company that is bringing its BarnOne concept to world of Video Distribution.

The BarnOne concept revolves around several 1RU frames that supports all manner of SFP modules (Small Form Factor Pluggable) based on the MSA (multi-source agreement) standard. Eschewing the propriety (and expensive) SFP modules used by some manufacturers.

We were attracted to the BarnOne’s flexibility and host of features including:

• A full 32 x 32 router in every BarnOne 1RU frame.
• Any signal that enters the system can be routed to any output, distributed, converted, monitored and analysed.
• Extremely high granularity in 1RU – 32 completely separate full bandwidth inputs, 32 completely separate full bandwidth outputs.
• The BarnOne series can be used as a fixed box or repurposed on the fly to meet any change in demand.
• Every SFP port is bi-directional.
• Every BNC port is bi-directional.
• All ports are re-clocked.
• Multiple reference switching; the router can be portioned to switch different signal types on different references, both analog and digital reference.
• The BarnOne platform supports numerous signals in one frame such as common video and telco formats including KVM, SDTI (EVS), SMPTE 2022-6, MADI, SDI to IP, Ethernet, 4K 60p workflows, HDMI, DVI, Serial, GPI/O, CVBS, CAM-CCU (including video, audio, tally, intercom, RCP) etc.>

The BarnOne Series – Something for every video infrastructure

Barnfind also produce a range of converters called the ‘BarnMini’

This range of devices provides popular conversions such as:

BarnMini - 01 - Coaxial to SFP Converter

The most popular BarnMini. takes in most video electrical signals and converts them to optical. It comes with a second BNC that could be used for monitoring. All outputs are re-clocked.

BarnMini - 02 - SFP to SFP Converter

You can use any SFP from Barnfind or any other SFP as long as they are MSA compatible. The BarnMini – 02 is Barnfind’s ‘Swiss army knife’ due to the flexibility it brings. Allowing you to go from multimode to single mode, taking an Ethernet signal into the fibre, using
it as an affordable optical repeater etc.

Tying it all together - BarnStudio

All this flexible hardware is for naught if there isn’t an easy way to manage the routing. This is where BarnStudio comes in. It’s a Windows based configuration, monitoring and management tool that is quick to learn and simple to control. It allows for the monitoring of signal flow and diagnostics of SFPs, BNCs, many different optical parameters, fans, re-clockers, equalizers and more. Mac users aren’t left out either, as there is a web-based version too!

Barnfind technologies completely standby their products and they come with a standard 2-year warranty that can be extended to 5 years.  

Contact Digistor Sales today to discuss how we can implement Barnfind Technologies to consolidate your video infrastructure while increasing flexibility.

• Fix audio output issue when using the DeckLink 8K Pro with Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
• Fix intermittent failure to initiate capture and playback on DeckLink SDI Micro.
• Improve audio compatibility between some cameras and DeckLink Mini/Micro Recorders.
• Improve support for Core Media and Core Audio based applications on macOS.
• Ensure drivers build on CentOS 6 using recent kernels.
• General performance and stability improvements for all models.

 

Download Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.11.4 for macOS / Windows / Linux


Get more details on the Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.11.4 Update

• Addressed an issue where starting DaVinci Resolve would cause a crash on some CUDA enabled Windows laptops with integrated graphics
• Addressed an issue where the viewer would flash between video and data levels during playback on some systems running on CUDA
• Addressed an issue where the Delete Through Edit context menu option would incorrectly be shown for all edit points on the Edit page
• Addressed an issue where reconforming clips with remote grades would sometimes cause a crash in collaborative projects
• Addressed an issue where dragging an audio clip into audio track layers would sometimes cause a crash in the Edit page
• Addressed an issue where dragging an audio clip with no mapped channels into the timeline would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where track mute controls would sometimes show an incorrect automation state on the Edit page
• Addressed an issue where copying clips in the Fairlight page would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where incorrect audio formats would be shown for muted audio tracks in the Deliver page
• Addressed an issue where Fusion comps with the paint tool applied would sometimes result in the first frame being black
• Addressed an issue where RGBA images would not be processed premultiplied when using some OpenFX plugins
• Addressed an issue where applying stabilization on video clips with odd resolutions would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where source render cache would not be preserved when applying grades from stills or other clips
• Addressed an issue where adding a ResolveFX node to a clip during playback in the Color page would display a critical exception
• Addressed an issue with the DCDM (P3D65 Limited) IDT in ACES 1.1 projects
• Addressed an issue where trimming some MP4 clips using media management would not succeed
• Addressed an issue when rendering to QuickTime ProRes 4444 where the output would sometimes have chroma overflow artefacts
• Addressed an issue where the ISO selection would sometimes incorrectly be hidden when using RAW clips
• Addressed an issue where playing back some smartphone clips captured in portrait mode would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where rendering Sony clips with Japanese file names using source filename would not work correctly on Windows
• Addressed an issue where the Photon validation options for IMF packages would not be displayed when Java Development Kit version 11 was installed
• Addressed an issue with stability in remote grading sessions when the client machine had live save enabled
• Addressed an issue with running DaVinci Resolve on case-sensitive volumes on Mac
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.2 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.2 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.2 studio Update

• Support for joining through edits in the Edit timeline from the context menu
• Improved playback performance when Selection Follows Playhead is enabled in the Edit page
• Support for scripting API to set output file name for rendering
• Addressed an issue where decoding some AVI files with lossless JPG content would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where pre-clip and post-clip group grades would sometimes not be saved
• Addressed an issue where output sizing would not be applied to the HDR output when in dual SDI mode in Dolby Vision or HDR10+ projects
• Addressed an issue where creating stereoscopic 3D clips from stereo CineForm files would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where a stereoscopic 3D clip created from clips with partially overlapping timecodes would show offline media frames
• Addressed an issue where white balance settings for Blackmagic RAW clips would not be saved correctly
• Addressed an issue where OpenFX keyframes in the timeline node graph in older Resolve projects would not be recalled correctly in the Color page
• Addressed an issue where duplicating a timeline with a shared node and modifying the shared node would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where applying stabilizer could cause a crash on some Nvidia graphics platforms in OpenCL GPU processing mode
• Addressed an issue where color keyframes in stereoscopic 3D clips would sometimes not be loaded correctly
• Addressed an issue where appending a node in ripple mode would place the node in an incorrect position
• Addressed an issue where using OpenFX or ResolveFX plugins in a remote grading session could cause the client viewer to flicker while grading
• Addressed an issue where applying P3 D65 ST2084 ODTs in ACES 1.1 projects would show incorrect results
• Addressed an issue where applying certain IDTs and ODTs in ACES 1.1 projects would show black frames when the GPU processing mode was set to CUDA
• Addressed an issue where upgrading disk databases from Resolve 12.5 would result in loss of Power Grades in some scenarios
• Addressed an issue where image resolutions for certain ARRI QuickTime clips would not be recognized correctly
• Addressed an issue where media imported from an XML would be imported twice if it was listed inside a bin in the XML
• Addressed an issue where subtitles with inconsistent line-endings would not be imported correctly
• Addressed an issue where exporting a subtitle file on some Windows systems would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where selecting subtitles from the Edit inspector would cause a crash in some projects
• Addressed an issue where Alt/Opt+clicking on an Edit timeline track would sometimes reset its auto-select state
• Addressed an issue where ripple-overwriting a clip with transitions would behave incorrectly
• Addressed an issue where dragging to select clips in the Edit timeline would incorrectly scroll through audio tracks
• Addressed an issue where audio playback for linked clips with smoothened speed change would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where toggling Solo Safe on the Fairlight Mixer would sometimes behave inconsistently
• Addressed an issue where the automation indicators on the Fairlight mixer would sometimes be displayed incorrectly when loading a project
• Addressed an issue where linked track groups would display incorrect clip counts on the Fairlight page
• Addressed an issue where rendering timelines from the deliver page would sometimes fail with a timeout error
• Addressed an issue where the first frame of some Fusion comps could sometimes display a black frame
• Addressed an issue where canceling a saver node render would repeatedly display confirmation messages to the user
• Improved chroma subsampling for 4:2:2 renders
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.1 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.1 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.1 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1.1 studio Update

Autodesk Network License Manager is used for multi-user licenses for Autodesk products such as Flame, Maya and Arnold.

When installed on macOS X, the default behaviour of the license manager is that it does not start automatically on boot. This is most likely undesirable.

Searching the Autodesk Knowledge Base reveals 2 methods. Method #1 only works for OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) and earlier. Method #2 adds a .profile that is run whenever terminal open. This works, but not very elegant, especially if you use terminal a lot.

The following launchd method works with Sierra and High Sierra.

1. Download and install the latest version of NLM for OS X from Autodesk Network License Manager for Mac OS X.
2. Download the attached file adsknlm.tar.gz
3. Double-click file to extract.
4. Open terminal and cd to the extracted files.

cd ~/Downloads/adsknlm

1. Run the install script

sudo ./INSTALL

1. Copy your license into /usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.lic
2. Reboot and test

To test, you can use the following command

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmutil lmstat -a

If it has not started, check /usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.log

Notes on INSTALL script

The /usr/local/flexnetserver directory is installed with the following permissions

drwx------   6 root      wheel   192 17 Sep 16:32 flexnetserver

The script opens up permissions on this directory so that users other than root can r/w, which is required to copy the license file into this directory.

The following launchd plist file is copied to /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adsknlm.plist

  
	<plist version="1.0">
	    <dict>
	      <key>Label</key>
	      <string>com.adsknlm</string>
	      <key>ProgramArguments</key>
	      <array>
	          <string>/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd</string>
	          <string>-z</string>
	          <string>-c</string>
	          <string>/usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.lic</string>
	          <string>-l</string>
	          <string>/usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.log</string>
	      </array>
	      <key>UserName</key>
	      <string>flexlm</string>
	      <key>GroupName</key>
	      <string>flexlm</string>
	      <key>RunAtLoad</key>
	      <true/>
	    </dict>
  </plist>
  

Looking at this plist, the following command is run -

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd -z -c /usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.lic -l
/usr/local/flexnetserver/adsk_server.log

The -z is very important for this to work. To work with launchd, lmgrd needs to run in the foreground instead of a background process by default.

The command is run as user flexlm. Without the UserName key, the license server will run as root which is not recommended.

The INSTALL script automatically creates the flexlm user and group (if they don’t already exist).

How To Revert Changes

	
sudo launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDaemon/com.adsknlm.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemon/com.adsknlm.plist
sudo dscl . delete /Users/flexlm
sudo dscl . delete /Groups/flexlm
	 

If you need more help in installing and configuring your Autodesk applications Digistor's Tech Services Team can help. Contact us to find out more.

Key new features

• Support for decoding Blackmagic RAW clips from Blackmagic Design cameras
• Support for audio ducking using sidechain compression in track dynamics in the Fairlight page
• Support for round tripping audio clips to third party audio processing applications from the Fairlight timeline
• Support for an IMF preset to generate Netflix IMF deliverables
• Support for creating and delivering supplemental IMF packages
• Support for Photon validation of IMF packages

Fairlight

• Support for audio ducking using sidechain compression in track dynamics
• Support for round tripping audio clips to third party audio processing applications from the Fairlight timeline
• Support for caching clips with FairlightFX and AudioFX
• Support for bouncing clips with FairlightFX and AudioFX to a new layer
• Support for sub-bus and aux-bus routing in nested timelines
• Support for solo-safe for audio tracks by Cmd/Ctrl+Option/Alt clicking the Solo button in the Fairlight mixer
• Support for pasting attributes to audio tracks
• Support for removing attributes from audio tracks
• Support for Fairlight FX Soft Clipper
• Support for clip level panning in the Edit and Fairlight page inspector

Fusion

• Support for creating and opening new Fusion compositions from the Media Pool
• Support for Fusion composition generators in the Edit page effects library for creating comps without source media
• Support for Loader nodes in the Fusion node graph
• Support for automatically scaling the frame range sliders to the edit range

Edit

• Support for showing source timecode overlays for audio and video tracks in the timeline viewer
• Support for displaying clip marker annotations and overlays for the selected clip marker under the playhead
• Support for holding shift while modifying title, transform and dynamic zoom viewer overlays to restrict motion to the vertical or horizontal direction
• Support for an indicator for clips with color grading and Fusion comp updates available in collaborative projects
• Support for actions to update either a single clip or all clips with color grading or Fusion comp updates in collaborative projects
• Support for duplicating multiple selected timelines in the media pool
• Support for displaying the multicam angle name in the timeline, source viewer and the color page clip information
• Support for keywords in clip and timeline markers
• Support for a marker keywords column on the edit index
• Support for exporting subtitle files in project archives
• Support for inserting media pool clips in order of filename when creating a timeline using clips
• Support for importing subclips when importing media from Final Cut Pro 7 XMLs
• Improved freeze-frame behavior to freeze the clip forward from the playhead instead of the whole clip

Color

• Support for ResolveFX and OpenFX static keyframes from the keyframe context menu
• Support for ACES 1.1
• Support for accessing and selecting from multiple inputs for OpenFX nodes
• Support for modifying temperature and tint values in the Camera Raw widget without needing to manually set white balance to custom
• Improved behavior for the ResolveFX Warper plugin

Media and Deliver

• Support for decoding Blackmagic RAW clips from Blackmagic Design cameras
• Support for an IMF preset to generate Netflix IMF deliverables
• Support for creating and delivering supplemental IMF packages
• Support for Photon validation of IMF packages
• Support for stereoscopic 3D multi-view EXR files
• Support for encoding per frame timecode metadata in Grass Valley HQ and HQX clips
• Improved layer metadata support when importing PSD images in Fusion

General

• Improved playback performance on large timelines in a zoomed out state
• Improved performance and interactivity in the Fusion page
• Improved performance of some title templates available in the Effects Library
• Improved thumbnail loading speed when switching bins in the media pool
• Improved scripting support with the ability to import and export Fusion comps
• Support for automatic generation of MD5 media hash lists from Clone Tool operations
• Addressed an issue where searching by marker name or marker notes would not work in thumbnail view
• Addressed an issue where switching multicam angles would not refresh the thumbnails
• Addressed an issue where some edit operations would lead to video transitions being placed outside frame boundaries
• Addressed an issue where turning off stroke for a subtitle would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where the minimum height for audio tracks in the Edit timeline would not be set correctly
• Addressed an issue where subtitle files with overlapping captions would not be imported correctly
• Addressed an issue where compositing compound clips on top of clips with transitions would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where middle-clicking to pan the Edit timeline would sometimes deselect clips
• Addressed an issue where Text+ clip thumbnails would sometimes be shown as media offline
• Addressed an issue where adding a Text+ tool to a power bin would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where selecting a Fusion comp in a Power Bin would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where opening or saving a Fusion macro in the macro editor would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where channel mapping changes for EXR clips on the Fusion page would not be persisted across application restarts
• Addressed an issue where removing curve in the MediaIn tool in sRGB gamma space would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where importing SVG files would incorrectly ignore a user-specified input resolution
• Addressed an issue where the channel chooser would show incorrect labels when multi-channel EXR files were loaded in the Fusion viewer
• Addressed an issue where adding particles would cause the application to hang
• Addressed an issue where enabling motion blur for mask tools in Fusion page would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where repositioning matte masks of different resolutions in the Fusion viewer would sometimes show incorrect results
• Addressed an issue where some FairlightFX controls with automation would not correctly reflect their automation status
• Addressed an issue where pasting a long clip on the Fairlight timeline would sometimes change the timeline zoom
• Addressed an issue where the Bus format dialog would display the wrong Main bus formats when switching between timelines
• Addressed an issue where adding audio plugins to a linked audio track would behave incorrectly
• Addressed an issue where selecting linked audio tracks for rendering would show the incorrect format
• Addressed an issue where recording audio to linked tracks would record only to the first track in the group
• Addressed an issue where unlinking a linked track group would not retain boom settings
• Addressed an issue where resizing some audio transitions would not work properly
• Addressed an issue where ADR recordings would not be visible when opening older projects
• Addressed an issue where playing back audio files with specific sample rates would result in some artefacts
• Addressed an issue where dragging the scrollbar in the Fairlight timeline in locked playhead mode would cause playback to stop
• Addressed an issue where the mute setting for aux bus sends would not be honored when using the pre-fader option
• Addressed an issue where an audio track would not be automatically disarmed when un-patched
• Addressed an issue where switching to the Fairlight page would sometimes cause an audible pop
• Addressed an issue where adjusting sliders in the CameraRAW palette would not refresh the viewer smoothly
• Addressed an issue where previewing composite modes on a layer mixer node would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where viewing clips with handles with backups and live save enabled would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where the unmix mode and looped playback states would not be persisted across application restarts
• Addressed an issue where toggling Clip, Timeline and Unmix from the DaVinci Resolve Advanced panel would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where the DaVinci Resolve Advanced panel would not work with multiple logins on CentOS 7.3 systems
• Addressed an issue where rippling grades to a group would not work if unmix mode was enabled
• Addressed an issue where performing a flip in Clip Attributes in stereoscopic 3D clips would cause power windows to behave incorrectly
• Addressed an issue where remote grading on clips that have OFX plugins applied would sometimes cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where duplicating a timeline with a shared node would not correctly copy the shared node
• Addressed an issue where Quicktime files rendered with Dolby Vision tone mapping would have incorrect colorspace and gamma tags
• Addressed an issue where Resolve was unable to decode some AAC audio clips
• Addressed an issue where rendered 5.1 and 7.1 Linear PCM audio would not have the correct channel mapping metadata
• Addressed an issue where importing some projects from older versions of DaVinci Resolve would cause a crash
• Addressed an issue where projects inside a folder in Project Manager could not be loaded using scripting API
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1 Update

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.1 studio Update

FRIEDRICHSDORF, Germany – MAXON announces the immediate availability of Cinema 4D Release 20 (R20). The next generation of the professional 3D application contains high-end tools and features for VFX and motion graphics artists, including a node-based material system, new volume-based modeling tools, a very powerful CAD import and a major expansion of the MoGraph toolset – and much more!

“We are proud to finally make Cinema 4D R20 available to all users worldwide. We are looking forward to seeing the first amazing works in the coming weeks and months that artists create using Cinema 4D’s high-end tools and features,” says David McGavran, CEO MAXON Computer GmbH. “Both Cinema 4D as well as the MoGraph toolset have revolutionized the industry since their introductions. With the Release of R20 we are making the next big leap together with our user base.”

Highlights in Cinema 4D R20:

Node-based material system – offers completely new possibilities for creating materials, from simple reference materials to highly complex shaders – using node-based shaders. More than 150 different nodes offer users functions that they can use to quickly and comfortably create complex shading effects for the ultimate creative freedom. The standard material system’s interface can be used to get started with the new node-based workflow – which the respective material is automatically created by the nodes in the background. Node-based materials can be made available as parametric assets with a reduced interface.

MoGraph Fields – offer completely new creative possibilities for the celebrated procedural animation toolset in MoGraph. Fields offer a new workflow that make it possible to control the strength of the effect using any combination of falloffs – from simple geometric shapes to shaders and sounds to objects and mathematical formulas. Fields can be mixed and combined with one another in a layer list. Effects can be re-mapped and grouped in multiple Fields to control Effectors, Deformers, weights and more.

CAD Import – Cinema 4D R20 offers seamless drag and drop import for common CAD file formats such as Solidworks, STEP, Catia, JT and IGES. The importer’s scale-based tessellation offers individual control of the level of detail for impressive visualizations.

Volume-based modeling – The OpenVDB-based Volume Builder and Mesher in Cinema 4D R20 offer an entirely procedural modeling workflow. Any primitive or polygon objects (including the new Fields objects) can be combined to create complex objects using Boolean operations. Volumes created in Cinema 4D can be exported sequentially in the Vdb format and can be used in any application or render engine that supports OpenVDB.

ProRender improvements – Important features such as Subsurface Scattering, motion blur and multi-passes were added to the native, GPU-based ProRender. The ProRender code was also updated. The renderer now supports Apple’s Metal2 technology and the use of out-of-core textures.

Modernization – The modernization of the Cinema 4D core architecture is becoming more and more tangible. In Release 20, this is evidenced by a series of significant API adaptations, the new node system and the modeling and UI framework.

The complete Cinema 4D R20 feature set

European premier at the IBC 2018 in Amsterdam 
Cinema 4D will be shown for the first time in Europe at the MAXON booth in hall 7, A59 at the IBC 2018 from September 14 – 18, 2018 at the RAI convention center in Amsterdam.

Internationally renowned 3D artists such as Nick Lyon from Territory Studio, Matthias Winckelmann from f°am Studio, Matthias Zabiegly from Aixsponza, motion design all-star Robert Hranitzky and many more artist from studios around the world will offer insights into their production workflow and projects such as Avengers: Infinity War and will offer tricks from their everyday production workflows. In addition, partners such as Insydium, Ventuz and Green Hippo will show how their products integrate into Cinema 4D. Detailed information about the program will soon be available at www.c4dlive.com, where all presentations will also be streamed live during IBC.

Cinema 4D R20 pricing, availability and upgrade information 
Cinema 4D Release 20 is available from Digistor. You can check out the entire range on here.

Customers whose MAXON Service Agreement (MSA) is active on September 3, 2018 will automatically receive the upgrade to the new version. Cinema 4D is available for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, and Linux nodes are also available for rendering pipelines. Price and upgrade information is available at www.maxon.net, as well as information about system requirements.

Image material and additional information about Cinema 4D R20 
What’s new in Cinema 4D Release 20
Cineversity - New in Cinema 4D R20 Videos

About MAXON
Headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, MAXON Computer is a developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions. Its award-winning Cinema 4D and BodyPaint 3D software products have been used extensively to help create everything from stunning visual effects in top feature films, TV shows and commercials, cutting-edge game cinematics for AAA games, as well as for medical illustration, architectural and industrial design applications. MAXON has offices in Germany, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Singapore. MAXON products are available directly from their Website and its worldwide distribution network. MAXON is part of the Nemetschek Group.

• Improved support for Dolby VisionTM in DaVinci Resolve
• Addressed an issue where switching databases would sometimes turn off dynamic project switching
• Addressed an issue where performing a save immediately after loading a project would sometimes be slow
• Addressed an issue where some UTF-8 encoded subtitles would not be correctly imported into the timeline
• Addressed an issue where pasting audio clip attributes for plugins would not work correctly
• Addressed an issue where applying RED IPP2 gamut mapping in DaVinci YRGB Color Managed would show banding
• Addressed an issue where Fusion clips with premultiplied alpha would not display correctly during playback
• Addressed an issue where double clicking HDR10+ parameters would reset to an incorrect value
• Addressed an issue where rendering to unmapped network drives would not behave correctly on Windows
• Addressed an issue where switching projects while on the Fusion page would sometimes not load the user interface correctly
• Addressed an issue where tracks would sometimes show as blank when loading a project in stacked view
• Addressed an issue where disk database projects on macOS would get corrupt due to loss of power during save
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.0.1 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.0.1 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.0.1

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15.0.1 studio

By Patrick Trivencevic

I have fond memories as a Computing Science student at UTS studying Graphics and learning about Raytracing. Our end of year assignment was to write a basic Ray Tracer a daunting task at the time I thought, this was by far my most complex and challenging Uni assignment to date. We were to produce a basic 3D Scene to be rasterised by means of Ray Tracing to a 2D output image. The output was to be “high res”, 640x480 in resolution, remember this was back in the nineties and our home workstations were not even Pentium class boxes. 3D GPU’s didn’t exist, at least not for students, besides my Ray Tracer was CPU based as it was designed at the time.

My 3D scene included basic geometry - Cubes, Spheres and Cylinders, bonus marks were awarded if you produced glass-like objects, i.e. going beyond basic Diffuse Gouraud/Phong shading and using refractions and reflections. After spending what seemed to be months, in reality it was weeks, I managed to write a Ray Tracer that produced a 2D output of a 3D Scene with one of the Sphere’s being “glass-like.” The Renders from my Ray Tracer and 486 DX machine took hours and sometimes days to produce an output.

"Have Nvidia attained the holy grail of Computer Graphics? No, not as yet, but it sure has brought us a lot closer to what resembles Ray Tracing in real time."
Patrick Trivencevic

That was a single frame at 640x480 that was produced, if animation was to be considered where anything from 12 fps to 60 fps is required for an animation sequence, you can quickly do the math to find it would take a very long time to produce a full-length feature film with Ray Tracing techniques and CPU power of the time.

The Media and Entertainment Industry, particularly Film and Gaming industries have been working with Raytracing and Rasterization techniques throughout the past decades and have long regarded real-time Ray Tracing as the “Holy Grail” of Computer Graphics.

VFX/3D Artists spend a lot of time iterating their creative work and to date a lot of it required a time and resource expensive process known as rendering. It is true render times have improved significantly since my attempts at writing a Ray Tracer at Uni, with the right continual investments these render times are mere hours, minutes and seconds. What if there was no apparent rendering? What if we could effectively render in real time? It doesn’t take a lot to imagine how the creative iterative process suddenly expands, how productivity effectively increases as does the creative output.

What is Raytracing – Rasterization vs Raytracing

Raytracing is a rendering process/technique for generating images by tracing the path of light (rays) as pixels on an image plane (image) to paraphrase a Wikipedia entry. The resulting image or images is based on how virtual light rays interact on virtual objects, and therefore have very realistic or “life-like” qualities.

The number of rays interacting on a scene is challenging even with all our advancements in CPUs and GPUs. This means Ray Tracers set a level of quality that determines how many rays are cast from each pixel of the scene in various directions. Further calculations are then required where each ray intersects an object in the scene, tracing a number of rays out from each intersection to model reflected light. These calculations are relatively complex and expensive and has typically and until recently been limited to CPUs. GPU rendering, like modern Renderers - RedShift and Arnold have provided improvements in ray tracing render times, but little to mitigate real-time requirements of modelling a 3D Scene.

Rasterization or to be more specific 3D rasterization such as we see from DirectX and OpenGL has been employed to bridge the gap between real-time requirements for creative iteration, for previewing or visualisations. These rasterization graphics API’s provide a means to preview an approximation of a 3D Scene in real time. These rasterised approximations are a “good enough” estimation to aid in the iterative creative process, allowing for relatively quick changes in lighting and visualising basic shading.

Nvidia introduces Turing – RTX

In the past month at two separate events Nvidia announced their new Turing Architecture. The first event for Graphics Professional and Industry, SIGGRAPH 2018, Nvidia showcased its new Professional series RTX GPU’s. We got to learn that the Turing architecture goes beyond Shader and Compute and introduces RT Core and Tensor Core, along with some new terminology or more specifically a unit of measure called Giga Rays/sec.

The New RT Core (Ray Tracing Core) will enable real-time ray tracing of objects and environments with physically accurate shadows, reflections, refractions and global illumination. There isn’t a whole lot of information about how this is accomplished, Bounding Volume Hierarchy intersection calculations are expensive, and the RT Cores are meant to be tuned for these kinds of calculations. Couple the RT Core with Turing Tensor cores which provides another critical process in Raytracing called Denoising. In low sampled or ray casted images you have what is essentially noise, you have speed but also have noise so a process of denoising is required. Thankfully GPUs are very optimised for this kind of process, but not optimised enough for real-time denoising and this is where Tensor Core denoising steps up to the challenge. Turing Tensor Cores are designed to accelerate deep neural network training and inference, which are critical to powering AI-enhanced rendering. AI-based denoising is utilised that produces real-time denoising performance with near final quality output.

Key attributes of the new GPUs:

There are many other new features that Turing RTX Architecture brings that I won’t be discussing as we are focusing on the Ray Tracing and how RTX is bringing us closer to our real-time dreams.

The second and more recent event, Gamescom 2018, saw the introduction of Nvidia’s Gaming or Consumer class RTX GPUs. Along with the new hardware announcements, we saw many exciting examples of Ray Tracing in Games. Gaming Engines like Unreal and Unity built on DirectX demonstrated complex 3D Scenes with real-time ray-traced lighting and shadows. Reflections that were not possible with simple screen space reflections used in Unreal Engine today are now possible. All this at the real-time, 60 fps performance that gaming demands. These Turing based RTX GPUs and APIs could also be employed to provide 3D modelling Applications like Maya, Houdini and C4D real-time and more accurate previews, near rendered like quality for accelerating the iterative creative process.

I urge those interested in Nvidia’s latest announcements to check out the keynotes/announcements from SIGGRAPH and Gamescom, there are few more details and some really cool demos and examples of RTX Ray Tracing.

Who is supporting the RTX platform

Ray Tracing extensions have been developed and adopted from Nvidia’s own OptiX API for Professional GPU’s and Applications through to more mainstream Microsoft DXR and Vulkan Support for gaming/consumer class GPU’s.

Many of Media and Entertainments vendors already support OptiX and have professional applications that will soon support the new Ray Tracing extensions and capabilities of the Turing RTX Family.

More to look forward to

As I was looking for information about the Turning RTX releases I came across Nvidia’s press release for the Quadro RTX Series Unveil which had some interesting information about what’s coming in early 2019, particularly around datacenter Rendering solutions.

“The Quadro RTX Server defines a new standard for on-demand rendering in the data center, enabling easy configuration of on-demand render nodes for batch and interactive rendering.
It combines Quadro RTX GPUs with new Quadro Infinity software (available in the first quarter of 2019) to deliver a powerful and flexible architecture to meet the demands of creative professionals. Quadro Infinity will enable multiple users to access a single GPU through virtual workstations, dramatically increasing the density of the data center. End-users can also easily provision render nodes and workstations based on their specific needs.

With industry-leading content creation and render software pre-installed, the Quadro RTX Server provides a powerful and easy-to-deploy rendering solution that can scale from small installations to the largest datacenters, at one-quarter of the cost of CPU-only render farms.” Source – Nvidia News https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-unveils-quadro-rtx-worlds-first-ray-tracing-gpu

Have Nvidia attained the holy grail of Computer Graphics? No, not as yet, but it sure has brought us a lot closer to what resembles Ray Tracing in real time. The VFX creative process has the most to gain with better modelling previews that look closer to final renders and powerful rendering optimisations that will bring 2-6x performance.

Need to optimise your rendering system? Digistor can help! Contact us to discuss your requirements.

• Calculated Fields - Calculated fields is now officially out of beta! You can now calculate arithmetic and string functions, convert between types, and graph on a calculated field.
• Korean Language Support - Managing a big project with lots of moving pieces – tens to hundreds of artists, shots, and assets – is a huge task on its own, let alone in another language. Following the popular releases of language support for Simplified Chinese and Japanese, we are pleased to announce that the Shotgun web app is now also available in Korean. This first version of language support is available as a private beta. If you're interested in gaining access (and sharing your feedback on how we can make it even better), contact us at shotgun.korea.info@autodesk.com.
• Streamlined Graphing Experience - Creating graphs for your reports is now easier than ever. If you want to share your graphs outside of Shotgun, you can now export them as images, PDF, CSV, or JSON files, or print them. Additionally, the graph widget editor has been updated to give you a smoother experience.
• Single Sign-On - SSO is now available for anyone using Shotgun with Super Awesome support and one of the following identity providers: Ping Identity, OneLogin, ADFS, Azure ADFS and Okta.

Contact Digistor to get your Arnold updated

• Texture baking: A new type of node called uv_camera has been added that will produce an image of a given polymesh's shaded UV space as output, which can be useful for texture baking. (#6091, #7206)
• Improved sampling of spherical lights: A new technique for sampling point lights has been added which can show significant reductions in noise, especially for large lights illuminating surfaces at grazing angles (rim lighting, for example). (#5534)
• Faster adaptive subdivision: Adaptive subdivision is now up to 2x to 3x faster even on a single thread. In addition, the adaptive codepath has been multi-threaded to fully take advantage of machines with many cores. The aggregated speedup in such machines can be 15x or more. (#2311, #7186, #7201, #7229)
• Improved EXR read performance: Threaded read performance and scaling of OpenEXR files has been greatly improved. (#6605)
• noice denoiser improvements: The stability and usability of the high-quality noice denoiser has been improved thanks to various bugfixes and improved error checking. In particular, the original metadata, display windows, bitdepth and compression are preserved in output files. (#7226)
• OptiX denoiser improvements: The GPU memory consumption of the fast OptiX denoiser has been greatly reduced proportionally to the number of denoised AOVs. Fringing artifacts around HDR pixels have been reduced. (#6885, #7100, #7190, #7333, #6880)
• Sheen in standard_surface: The standard_surface shader supports a new, energy-preserving sheen effect designed to render cloth-like microfiber materials such as velvet. The sheen effect is layered on top of the diffuse and subsurface components. (#7234)
• New cell_noise shader: A new cell_noise shader has been added which can create many different useful cell-like patterns. The color of each cell is mapped to a palette parameter, enabling the easy creation of patterns with colors chosen from a specific palette. (#5985, #6051)
• New controls in range shader: The range shader has been augmented with parameters to control contrast, bias and gain. (#7277)
• RGB clamping in clamp shader: The clamp shader can now be configured to either a scalar or color mode. (#7278)
• Matrix shaders: The matrix_multiply_vector and matrix_transform shaders have been reinstated. (#7243)
• Built-in Cryptomatte: Cryptomatte AOV shaders and filters are now being included as a part of the Arnold core package. (#7301)
• New built-in volume AOVs: The Z depth for the first volume contribution can now be output in a flat AOV with volume_Z (depth AOV for volumes was already available in deep files). Also, ID now works for volumes. (#7326, #7327)
• New control in toon shader: Edge detection can now be controlled using a STRING type user data called toon_id. This feature is enabled when user_id is checked. Otherwise, the detected edges will be driven by the object's own name as a toon-specific ID. (#7125)
• Alembic procedural improvements: The Alembic library has been updated to 1.7.5 in this release. User data parameters that clash with shape parameters will now get an underscore prefix instead of a warning. Added an object_transform parameter to allow additional transformations on the generated geometry. Added a make_instance parameter so that the Alembic procedural will automatically create instances of objects present in multiple Alembic procedurals (experimental; disabled by default) (#6916, #6947, #7076, #7109, #7163, #7242, #7261, #7286)
• Improved operator assignments: Assignment expressions in operators have improved functionality with regards to reference and string types. (#7284, #7287)
• Upgrade to OSL 1.9.9: This upgraded version of OSL addresses several reported limitations involving locales, the availability of certain noise types, and compatibility issues with utility functions like transformc being promoted to built-in function definitions. (#6225)
• Updated to RLM 12.4BL2: The RLM license server and library have been upgraded from version 12.2BL2 to 12.4BL2, which fixes sporadic access violations and hangs. (#7350, #7120)

API additions

• Sheen closure: The AiSheenBSDF() function has been which provides the sheen closure used by standard_surface so that the same effect can be easily obtained in custom shaders. This function also returns a weight that can be used to layer the sheen closure onto other closures in an energy conserving fashion. (#7234)
• Multiple Universes: A new concept has been added to Arnold's API which gives it the capability of creating nodes in any number of user-defined workspaces called AtUniverse that can be created and destroyed via the AiUniverse() and AiUniverseDestroy() functions, respectively. Upon creation, nodes are assigned a universe which will take on their exclusive ownership, and this ownership can be inspected via the AiNodeGetUniverse() function. Please note that the "null" universe is the "default" universe, which for the time being is the only one which permits rendering and procedural expansion. (#4129)

Bug fixes

• #7325 procedural loading a .ass containing many nodes that reference other nodes is very slow
• #6472 OSL issues with Locale
• #6916 curves in Alembic proc cut short
• #6947 Skip invalid curves
• #7012 Noice: black pixels around variance spikes
• #7027 Non-ascii characters prevent Open EXR images from being loaded
• #7076 Rename user data parameters that clash with shape nodes in alembic expansion
• #7154 Adaptive Subdivision: crash with linear patches and different position and UV topologies
• #7179 Adaptive Subdiv: irregular patch crash with different position and uv topologies
• #7226 Noice: support inputs with different data windows
• #7286 Alembic object transform
• #7303 Python binding fixes for functions that return AtNode types
• #7312 Raw drivers crash (including Cryptomatte's manifest driver)
• #7341 Crash when computing the render stats for procedural
• #7355 Alembic curve user data expansion

Contact Digistor team to get your Arnold updated

• Updated Facebook Live pairing feature to use the new Facebook API.
• This release also resolves specific customer issues, provides compatibility with the latest supported applications, and improves on overall product stability.

Download firmware update

Get more information about the Matrox Monarch HD

Having just returned from ABE with a healthy dose of jet lag – I've taken some time to analyze all the conversations, demonstrations and meetings I had. Within a relatively short time in Sydney, it's fair to say that our time was really maximized with high-quality engagements thanks to Digistor as our local partner in the region.

Cloud adoption is a global trend with various regions ahead of the curve thanks to existing infrastructure and connectivity. Studies vary but generally agree that public cloud revenue is increasing 24% year on year – healthy by anyone's views. The fact that it covers over $178B of spend gives media and entertainment companies a strong reason to be looking to cloud services and hybrid solutions to begin leveraging the benefits of scalability, agility, and flexibility.

We met customers using Azure, AWS, Google, in region telecoms services and their own data centres – and in many cases a combination of all of these.  This diversity provides an ideal forum for discussing a common way to access any mix of video content without having to centralize original media or begin complex solution design to even consider how to make use of it.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that commercial cloud computing adoption is increasing significantly from 19% to over 30% within a single year.  This acceleration is an excellent basis for a fresh look at the true benefits of cloud and unique differentiators on offer from cloud technologies. The media and entertainment sector is worth in excess of $3B just within Australia and this doesn't even factor in areas like eSports, news, publishing, and others.

Australia itself is a vast country, highlighted by flying down from south east Asia where the first point of land is reached – then you've got another 6 hours before touchdown. Connectivity is improving rapidly with infrastructure investment and average speeds have increased from 7.8Mb/s to 14.1Mb/s in just 2 years.  Regardless of this improvement – increases in workforce mobility presents a challenge to video content creators, producers and rights owners – essentially how to scale effectively and provide tools that are flexible, scalable and able to provide the same high-quality user experience from anywhere, on any device.

On the first day of the ABE show, I presented some of these technology, consumption and infrastructure dynamics to a room full of delegates.  This included demonstrations of some of the core Blackbird technology with excellent questions from the audience to wrap up, including queries about collaboration, storage and the breadth of our input and input codecs. The fact that this was achieved seamlessly on a shared conference internet connection without the need for direct access to the original video content whilst still enabling the same high-quality user experience expected from a desktop application within no more than a web application, was very well received.

Blackbird as a technology is designed to enable a workstation like experience in the cloud, with fluid video navigation and without any visible latency. It is the perfect solution to challenges in an area of technology where file sizes outweigh much of the infrastructure able to effectively host them.

Once combined with the advanced web-based applications of Blackbird, Ascent and Forte, for advanced clipping, enriching and publishing workflows – the solution really becomes something that enables a new generation of end to end workflows for ingesting, managing and distributing video content from anywhere, to anywhere – and in more workflows than ever, without the need for complex finishing tools or integration with legacy platforms.

Our thanks go out to all the attendees of the show and to Andrew Mooney and rest of the Digistor team for their excellent support and also to the coffee shop next door for their excellent "jumbo" sized lattes.

References

https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/market-research-reports/information-media-telecommunications/motion-picture-sound-recording-activities/motion-picture-video-production.html

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/cloud-computing-adoption-in-australia-is-booming-468833

https://www.akamai.com/us/en/multimedia/documents/state-of-the-internet/q1-2017-state-of-the-internet-connectivity-report.pdf

Get More Information

Want more information about leveraging the cloud for editing, storage, compute and more? Contact Digistor.

DaVinci Resolve 15.0 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3.1 and previous versions. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion
• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• More

Fairlight - Key new features

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Audio Automation Editing
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• More

Fairlight - General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit and Fairlight pages
• Support for pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for 2D and 3D title templates with ability to expand and customize in the Fusion page
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• Support for position curves in curve editor
• Support for viewing and modifying keyframe curves beyond edit extents for clips with transitions centered on the edit
• More

Media

• Support for generation 4 color science when decoding CinemaDNG clips from Blackmagic Design cameras
• Support for Blackmagic Design Film generation 4 to Extended Video LUTs
• Support for Cintel HDR capture
• Support for importing clip markers from a Final Cut Pro 7 XML file
• Support for importing marker colors and duration markers on clips when importing media using FCP7 XML files
• Support for preserving bin hierarchy when importing media and metadata from a Final Cut Pro 7 XML file
• More

Color

• Support for new SuperScale option for high quality resolution upscaling
• Support for multiple timeline playheads with DaVinci Resolve Advanced panel control
• Support for a new LUT browser in the Color page
• Support for live preview of LUTs and gallery stills
• Support for browsing grades from other timelines in the gallery
• Support for browsing grades from other projects in the expanded gallery view
• More

Deliver

• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding CEA-608 closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding CEA-608 closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding CEA-708 closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A clips
• Support for native IMF encoding in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Support for native Kakadu based JPEG2000 decoding and encoding
• More

General

• Support for Portuguese in the DaVinci Resolve user interface
• Support for French in the DaVinci Resolve user interface
• Support for single seat Fusion Studio dongles
• Support for external scripting of DaVinci Resolve Studio from local and network locations
• Support for a console dialog with scripting support available in the Workspace menu
• Support for Fairlight Audio Accelerator drivers in the DaVinci Resolve installer on Windows
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lot more included in this major release:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio

What's new in ATEM 7.5.2

• Improved compatibility for some models of ATEM switchers and the Camera Control Panel

• General performance and stability updates

Download Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 7.5.2 update for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 7.5.2 update

Edit Royale: A game of cut-throat timing

The Australian Screen Editors (ASE) guild is dedicated to the pursuit and recognition of excellence in the arts, sciences, and technology of motion picture film and televisual post-production. It aims to promote and protect the role of the editor as an essential and significant contributor to all screen productions. One such promotional event held by the guild is the Sydney Edit Royale, where five emerging editors are given just two hours to edit and complete a one-minute music video using never-before-seen video footage and music. To make an impression, editors have to demonstrate their creativity and speed using only an Apple® iMac® computer and the editing software of their choice. At stake are two tickets to attend the Annual Australian Screen Editor Awards (The Ellies), and more importantly, an opportunity to make an impression across the industry.

Planning the event

ASE wanted the competition’s video editing content to be displayed onto a large screen for the in-house audience to follow every contestant’s progress in the competition and gain insight about each editor’s unique approach to the challenge. The same content had to be live streamed for those unable to attend and recorded for VOD consumption after the event. To help co-host the upcoming event, the ASE guild approached Digistor, a technology and services solutions provider to oversee the technical implementation of webcasting the entire two-hour long event.

Simple set up, exceptional streaming

As a starting point, a switcher was required to capture the screens and audio from the five iMacs, video from a Sony® PXW-X70 camera filming the contestants, and audio from the host’s mic providing live commentary of the event.  After selecting the switcher, the next step was to find a reliable, high-quality, low-footprint encoder appliance that was able to seamlessly webcast, record, and locally display the day’s events.

Digistor, already familiar with Matrox products®, contacted Matrox Video to help select an encoder that fit their needs. The Matrox Monarch HDX dual-channel streaming and recording appliance had all the features that were required—an easy set up design, input for a switcher, output for a projector, a compact form factor, and the ability to push streams to many compatible content delivery networks (CDN), including Digistor’s IBM Ustream cloud video service. Monarch HDX, capable of streaming and/or recording to two separate destinations simultaneously, and equipped with selectable HDMI and SDI inputs—both with internal frame synchronizers to ensure uninterrupted streaming operations—more than met ASE’s needs.

Using an Ethernet connection, Monarch HDX streamed the SDI output from the switcher (which alternated between the six video inputs—focusing individually on each editor’s screen and the roaming camera). The Monarch HDX appliance was set up to stream at 1280x720p60 to Ustream—a low enough bandwidth that ensured online users watching from home would have a smooth and consistent viewing experience. Monarch HDX simultaneously recorded the same content, that would be uploaded to Youtube for VOD at a later time. Monarch HDX’s output was connected via HDMI to an Optoma® DLP® projector, which pushed video from the switcher onto a large screen to conveniently allow in-house audience members to follow the live stream service as well. For convenience, Monarch HDX can be controlled and configured using the Monarch HDX Command Center using any device on the network that supports a standard web browsing application but is also equipped with control buttons directly on the unit to start/stop encoding.

Cutting-edge results

“Overall, the event was well received—the competitors, emcee, and audience, all had a great evening,” said Greg Taylor, technical services engineer, Digistor. “I guess anyone can stream from a personal device these days, but Monarch HDX giving us the ability to be a portable TV studio that can push a clean, professional looking show to the web is the next level! The Matrox Monarch HDX encoder was key to our live stream solution for the Australian Screen Editors guild’s Edit Royale event. We certainly plan on using this for similarly-designed setups in the future.” 

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion
• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 8 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 8 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 8 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 8 update.

What's new in Desktop Video 10.11.2

• Improve input signal stability with NTSC reference on DeckLink Duo 2.
• Fix audio corruption issue during capture with DeckLink Duo 2 and DeckLink Quad 2.
• Enable option to ignore Video Payload ID when capturing 3D video modes on DeckLink 8K Pro.
• Improve compatibility when capturing audio from Mini Converter UpDownCross on DeckLink Duo 2.
• Fix issue in Adobe Premiere Pro CC where audio waveform displays would occasionally blink.
• Ensure option to output quad link SDI is displayed for all quad link capable devices.
• Address issue affecting playback of 3D dual link SDI video modes.
• Fix playback issue using DeckLink SDI Micro.
• Improve stability using DaVinci Resolve 15 Beta on macOS.
• General performance and stability improvements for all models.

Download Blackmagic Desktop Video for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details on the Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.11.2 update

What's new in Converter Utility 7.3.2

• Closed Caption support for Mini Converter UpDownCross HD
• Improved timecode support for Mini Converter UpDownCross HD
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic Converter Utility for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic Converter Utility 7.3.2 Update

Forbidden Technologies plc will be showcasing Blackbird, the workstation experience in the cloud, at the ABE Show in Australia next week.

A team from Blackbird will be at the event to provide demonstrations and discuss Blackbird's unique benefits for managing video in the cloud. The team will talk delegates through the revolutionary strengths of the Blackbird cloud video platform which significantly enhances the way organisations work with digital video - maximising the value of video assets and increasing monetisation in a rapidly evolving broadcast and digital landscape.

Blackbird is the only cloud-native provider of high precision video production and delivery tools, ensuring a true workstation experience in the cloud. Video professionals and non-professionals alike working with live, non-live and high-volume video content can seamlessly collaborate through hyper-accelerated accessibility, editing and distribution of video content across the world on any device using bandwidth as low as 2Mb per second on any device - Blackbird is so powerful that it enables users to frame-accurately view and edit video content just 6 seconds after live.

The ABE Show is the leading annual trade event for the media and entertainment industry in Australia and New Zealand bringing together hundreds of professionals from around the region. Running from 7 to 9th August in Sydney, this year's conference theme is 'Empowering Content Production and Delivery Technology' with industry experts discussing hot topics such as IP production and delivery, 4K, HDR, HEVC, OTT and cloud broadcasting.

Forbidden Head of Operations, Max McGonigal said: "We're really looking forward to showcasing Blackbird to the Australian and New Zealand media industry. ABE looks very well attended with a great line up of speakers and exhibitors and we're sure that the event will prove to be very productive as Blackbird continues to spread its international wings."

Blackbird has enjoyed a very strong year to date with contracts and partnerships announced with leading technology and media companies including TownNews.com, Veritone, Our House Media, Dragon Touch Systems, Middlechild, Fanview and ESP Gaming.

For more information about the ABE Show go to www.abeshow.com and to meet the Blackbird team there please visit the Digistor booth (#1).

About Forbidden Technologies plc

Forbidden Technologies plc (AIM: FBT, www.forbidden.co.uk) floated in February 2000. Forbidden develops, markets and licenses a powerful cloud video platform using its patented Blackbird technology. The technology underpins multiple applications which are used by rights holders, broadcasters, sports and news video specialists, post-production houses, other mass market digital video channels, and corporations.

The Blackbird technology allows full visibility on multi-location digital content, improves time to market for live content such as video clips and highlights for social media distribution which results in improved monetisation of video content.

Blackbird® is a registered trademark of Forbidden Technologies plc.

Digistor Becomes a Channel Partner and System Integrator for AWS Elemental, Showcases Latest Technologies at ABEShow 2018.

Digistor, announced the company has become an Australian Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elemental Channel Partner and Systems Integrator. AWS Elemental is an AWS company that combines deep video expertise with the power and scale of the cloud. Digistor will showcase its solutions integrations expertise with AWS Elemental Media Services at the upcoming ABEShow in Sydney, August 7-9, 2018.

This new relationship affords Digistor the opportunity to integrate AWS Elemental products and services into high-performance, cost-efficient and easy-to-scale hybrid cloud/on-premises media management solutions.

"We are delighted to be able to bring AWS Elemental solutions to our customers"
Andrew Mooney, Managing Director"

"Our customers are always reviewing their workflows to leverage the latest developments and AWS Elemental helps us to define a comprehensive pathway to the cloud," explained Digistor Managing Director, Andrew Mooney. "We are delighted to be able to bring AWS Elemental solutions to our customers, including global media franchises, pay TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters, government agencies and enterprise customers."

AWS Elemental at ABESHOW 2018

At ABEShow, Digistor will demonstrate AWS Elemental software-based video processing, including on-premises and cloud-based solutions. Solutions from AWS Elemental are designed to give media and entertainment companies, enterprises, and government agencies the ability to deliver video faster and more efficiently, build intelligent video applications, and extend the reach of their video conten.

Workflows That Bring Content to Life

With AWS Elemental Media Services, customers can harness the elasticity of the cloud on demand and with pay-as-you-go services. Solutions from AWS Elemental allow broadcast TV and multiscreen video to be customized, originated and monetized at global scale, giving customers the ability to quickly, easily and economically scale and optimize video operations and the freedom to focus on transforming ideas into compelling content that captivates viewers.

Digistor has been providing media content creation, management and delivery solutions for over 25 years. The company's client list includes Australia's leading post-houses, broadcasters and media companies as well as educational institutions, corporations and government departments. Digistor provides a full-service offering including initial consulting and scope of work, solution roll-out, commissioning and training, and on-going support services and service-level agreements.

For further information on how AWS Elemental can fit into your workflow, please contact Digistor.

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion

• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 6 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 6 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 6 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 6 update.

• Level A support for SmartView HD, SmartView Duo and SmartScope Duo 4K.
• General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic SmartView for macOS / Windows

Get more information on the Blackmagic SmartView 4.0.3 Update

Changes of Interest to Users

• Made it so that the no cache option also is active on writing
• Fix race condition when using on demand caching
• Fix for double directory entries when client does multiple directory reads same time
• On demand caching feature fix
• Important fix for an issue where Avid Pro Tools could repeatedly report a warning that project disk copy was changed since last opened or saved
• Enabling removal of file limit
• Fixed important bug bug in new cache mode
• Mac trashes visible at /Archiware/ddpvolume (and subfolders)
• Trashes can be deleted via Terminal in the Archiware/ddpvolume directory
• Fixed rare occasion directory entries listed multiple times
• Delay in accept network error after failure to prevent full log file
• Dump core on deadlock for debug after restart
• More

Contact Digistor Team to assist with your DDP OS V4.01.009 Upgrade

Get more information on the DDP OS V4.01.009 Update

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion

• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 6 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 6 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 6 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 6 update.

• This release supports Cloud-based Avid NEXIS Cloud Storage running in Microsoft Azure.
• This release supports using a VPN point-to-site client connection to Avid NEXIS Cloud Storage.
• Avid NEXIS v2018.6 introduces support for CentOS version 7.4 on client systems.
• Avid NEXIS Mac clients now ignore the Wi-Fi setting on the client system.
• Fixed an issue where Avid NEXIS systems with a failed or failing media disk did not upgrade properly.
• Fixed an issue where writing to an Avid NEXIS system with a Telestream Vantage server could cause the Vantage server to stop working.
• More

Get Digistor Team to help with the upgrade

Get more information on the AVID NEXUS | FS 2018.6 Update

This article originally appeared on www.archiware.com. Reproduced here with permission.

Text by Dr. Marc M. Batschkus
Infographic by Lana Tannir

In rapid succession, LTO-8 has quickly appeared in addition to the already impressive LTO-7 tape standard. The market’s drive for more capacity presumably triggered the early release. What are the features and benefits of LTO-8? How do the LTO generations compare? What LTO tape should you choose for which application? These are some of the questions that arise. To simplify the comparison of LTOs and gain more insight, we prepared an infographic with all the important features and characteristics of the different generations.

Storing large amounts of data for mid- or long-term durations equals cost and organization. Storage cost has been decreasing, while simultaneously, file sizes – especially in media creation – have been increasing with 4k, 6k and 8k video. As a result, for most users, storage costs remain considerable. Expanding high-performance storage to retain files that are only occasionally accessed is too costly. This calls for an Archive that stores all files and productions on cheaper tape and offers cataloguing and search capacities.

LTO tape has become so cheap that it even surpasses the cost of consumer disk storage. While the latter should not be used in professional setups, it nonetheless finds its way into them and is still often compared to tape. Starting at $10 per TB, LTO-6 tape provides the user with unmatched price reliability, density, and organization.

Re-use, re-purposing and monetization are becoming increasingly important and are only realistically feasible with an Archive. By reducing the need for high-performance disk storage expansion, archiving actually pays off. Productivity increases when completed productions can easily be referenced and re-used. The Archive serves as the file memory for the company. No more manual search through external hard drives, lists or spreadsheets. Archiware P5 Archive delivers that and is universally compatible with tape drives and libraries of all vendors.

What is the best LTO generation for you? What are the differences between the LTO generations? How do you decide which tape is right?


Infographic comparing LTO Tape across different generations.

If you have questions regarding how to plan and build your professional data security solution with Archiware, please do not hesitate to contact Digistor or submit a ticket to the Archiware support team.

What’s new in this release

This release resolves specific customer issues, provides compatibility with the latest supported applications, and improves on overall product stability including, but not limited to:

• Additional API support: A new command has been added to the API that allows you to get the input status of a Monarch device.
• Encryption support: The Monarch Command Center and API commands now support SSL encryption. You can download a signed certificate from the Monarch Utils application to use for authentication and HTTPS communication.

Download Matrox Monarch HDX firmware v1.1.7

Get more information on the Matrox Monarch HDX firmware v1.1.7

• OSL performance improvements

• Better interoperability with Alembic files

• Included updates from Arnold 5.1

• Scripting improvements

• Generally making life easier (switching between projects more manageable, short MaxScript command and more)

Purchase and manage your Autodesk 3ds Max subscription at Digistor’s Shop Online

Get more information on the Autodesk 3Ds Max 2019.1 Upgrade

By Edward Shen

Since the era of digitised media, people are trying to use computing power to process encoded media contents. Looking back on the path of how computers can assist with media processing:

1. 20th Century Fox first used unique IDs to make their production contents identifiable.
2. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) was introduced in 2009 and allows heterogeneous platforms (CPU, GPU, DSP, FPGA, etc.) to execute tasks parallelly to increase a given system’s processing power (Khronos Group, 2018).
3. The latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro enables automatically shot comparison and colour matching (Adobe, 2018).

The above examples point out the main task we rely on computers to do: enhance both quality and efficiency along with the broadcast and post-production workflows.

How far away are artificial intelligence and machine learning?

• Artificial Intelligence – See previous Digistor blog article by Patrick Trivuncevic: Artificial Intelligence in Media.
• Machine Learning - Apple embedded a dedicated ASIC (Neural Engine) in their A11 SoC (System on Chip) to execute convolution calculation. They also introduced Core ML learning framework to handle tasks such as cross-lingual voice recognition (Apple, 2017), biological information identification (Apple, 2017) and synthetic image processing (Apple, 2017).

So, the answer is: these technologies are everywhere, even inside your mobile phone. This blog article further explains the key mechanisms behind a very fundamental machine learning model example.

How can machines have ‘cognition’ and use that to deliver outputs?

Let’s take voice recognition as an example. We give one computer a meeting recording where different people were speaking, and we want the computer to compile a transcript. To finish this task, voice recognition tasks such as spectral analysis, and speaker diarisation are involved, speaker diarisation is the task of determining “whom spoke when” in an audio track with environment noise or a situation with more than one speakers.

Human speech has unique acoustic characteristics such as a syllable, phoneme (vowel, consonant) and formant (Ladefoged 2005). Very early research shows that we may use mathematics modelling to represent human speech. The most famous one is formant model (Paliwal et al. 1982), based on this model, a human channel can be treated as a cavity resonator. When a person is speaking, his/her formant frequency may be presented in a mathematical function. Based on this theory, we can illustrate the meeting recording as:

Figure 1 Microphone captured sound

Miro et al. (2012) introduced a new speaker diarisation architecture (figure 2). It trains many cluster models at the beginning, then re-train those models to merge them, the goal of this approach is to reduce the cluster number to one for each speaker.

Figure 2 Speaker diarisation architecture

Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is an ideal way of training this cluster. Figure 3 and figure 4 show examples of using GMM to classify data sets (Reynolds, 2015). In figure 3, there are 3 data sets which have 150 data, 250 data, 100 data respectively, each data set follows the normal distribution. After the algorithm converges, it can accurately represent the characteristic of each data set. In figure 4, it is the Spirite data set, which distributed in 3-dimensional space and is very complex and has no observable category boundaries, the mixture of GMM algorithm is set to 10, and after it converges, it still can approximately represent the distribution of this data set.

Figure 3 GMM with three sets of normal distribution data sets

Figure 4 GMM with three sets of Spirite data sets

The audio track can also be presented as a 3-dimentional model according to the formant model. Now we are processing the given audio recording (24 bits * 4395 frames) where two people were talking one after the other, and in the end is some noise from a phone speaker playing a YouTube video. GMM and UBM (Universal Background Model, used to overcome GMM’s limitations) are used to try separate different voice sources (Reynolds, 2015).

Figure 5 Diarisation result

From the MATLAB result, we can tell that there are three voice sources, the first one is Alice’s speaking, this user spoke from the beginning to 23.58 second, the second voice segment’s source is Bob who spoke from 23.58 second to 48.24 second, and the last source is environmental noise, from 48.23 second to the end.

Figure 6 Audio waveform with diarisation markers

That’s the whole process of model training and cluster matching, and this algorithm can be applied to any recording, it will use its ‘cognition’ function to work out the question of whom spoke when.

With the processes above, the computer now has its own ‘understanding’ of a process by doing model training and cluster matching. Next step is to choose optimal actions in the partially observable stochastic domains (Kaelbling et al, 1997). With Markov Decision Process (MDP), the agent (computer) showing in figure 7 can make its decision based on the previous state of the world.

Figure 7 Markov decision process model

It is very similar to how human makes decisions. A computer can also react against an object based on its own understanding.

Why can machine learning help with media production?

The biggest topic for NAB 2018 is artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies will analyse your content, learn your operation, allocate proper resources before you begin the next step…

Cloud computing is also a boost for AI and ML. It has more computing power for the model training and cluster matching to further converge the decision tree in order to provide more accurate and more optimal reactions.

Years ago, you need to tell a computer the geometry structure of a chair in order to let it recognise chairs. With machine learning, you only need to give your computer Internet access and it will finish training the cluster by itself with millions of photos of chairs and non-chairs, it’ll form its own ‘cognition’ to ‘understand’ what a chair looks like.

If you’d like to know more about how machine learning could help your business with enhancements in both quality and efficiency, please contact us at Digistor.

References:

What's new in ATEM 7.5

• Support for the new ATEM Camera Control Panel.

• Enhanced audio support in the LCD menus for the ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K.

• Enhanced audio dynamics monitoring in software control for the ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K.

• General performance and stability updates.

Download Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 7.5 for macOS / Windows

Get more information on the Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 7.5 Upgrade

Updates for HyperDeck Studio Mini including:

• H.264 codec for all 720p and 1080p display modes

• Extra media based commands for RS-422 control

• General performance and stability updates

Download Blackmagic HyperDeck 6.0 for macOS / Windows

Get more information on the Blackmagic HyperDeck 6.0 Upgrade

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion

• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 4 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 4 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 4 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 4 update.

• Smoother, faster iris control for B4 and PL servo lenses from camera.
• Smoother, faster iris control for EF 'Hybrid Compact Servo’ lenses.
• Smoother, faster iris control for servo lenses via SDI Camera Control.
• Fixed ‘status text’ bug for Viewfinder & Studio Viewfinder ‘clean feed’.
• Updated URSA Broadcast manual recommended CFast, SD and SSD list.

New features for URSA Mini Pro

• Smoother, faster iris control for B4 and PL servo lenses from camera.
• Smoother, faster iris control for EF 'Hybrid Compact Servo’ lenses.
• Smoother, faster iris control for servo lenses via SDI Camera Control.
• Fixed Quicktime compatability bug with some third party NLE’s.
• Fixed ‘status text’ bug for Viewfinder & Studio Viewfinder ‘clean feed’.
• Updated URSA Mini manual recommended CFast, SD and SSD list.

New features for URSA Studio Viewfinder

• Support for smooth iris readout on Studio Viewfinder ‘status text’.
• Adds support for ‘fiber’ logo in UI when powered from SMPTE fiber.

New features for URSA Viewfinder

• Support for smooth iris readout on Viewfinder ‘status text’.
• Adds support for ‘fiber’ logo in UI when powered from SMPTE fiber.

Download Blackmagic Camera 5.1 for macOS / Windows

Get more information on the Blackmagic Camera 5.1 Upgrade

Applicable products

• Dejero EnGo
• Dejero VSET
• Dejero GoBox
• Dejero Transceiver
• Dejero Broadcast Server
• Dejero WayPoint receiver
• Dejero MultiPoint
• Dejero Cloud Server

What’s new

This software update includes the following features:

• Support for HEVC
• Changes to recording rates for Store & Forward clips
• Automatic detection of frame rate and resolution for HDMI inputs
• Ability to add a default prefix for Store & Forward clip names
• Addition of video resolution formats

Contact Digistor to get your Dejero products updated

Get more information on the Dejero Core 5.0.1 Update

• Lighting feature for Ultimatte 1.2
• Window skew for Ultimatte 1.2
• Support for Rec.2020 color space for Ultimatte 1.2
• Audio and timecode passthrough for Ultimatte 1.2
• Dual cursors visible simultaneously for Ultimatte 1.2
• Increased range of Foreground Input Frame Delay for Ultimatte 1.2
• General performance and stability improvements

Download Blackmagic Ultimatte 1.2 for macOS / Windows


Get more information on the Blackmagic Ultimatte 1.2 Upgrade

Welcome back to the Digistor blog!

Recently I was having some troubles mounting iSCSI storages on some windows server VM’s at a client site, and it was driving me crazy.

For those who are not familiar with iSCSI, it is an IP-based storage networking standard that uses a SAN protocol, effectively giving clients the illusion of being connected to a locally attached disk.  Running over copper has the advantage of lower cost of cabling infrastructure compared to traditional fibre SAN environments.  The reduced overheads compared to TCP over IP communications mean we can get within a percent or two of the full line speed of the connection.

Anyway, back to the story..

Both the storage and iSCSI Initiator on the client believed the volumes were successfully mounted, but it was not appearing in the storage mounts on the client.  All our networking, iSCSI and other settings had been properly checked and documented – even matching a system that was connecting correctly.

The system logs were not giving us much to chew on, so we had a more detailed look around the system.

Closer inspection showed us an error in disk management that the disk was offline because of a policy set by an admin.

Once we noticed this particular error, a bit of research brought up the cause of this.

In essence, virtual disk machine files (VMDK, VXHD) are presented over the virtual hardware as SAN disks – simultaneously, as of windows 2008, Microsoft has changed the default SAN policy to Offline for all SAN disks except the boot disk… first challenge result of both being that we can’t mount our target volumes.

We had initially thought the VM setup was the source of the issue as standalone desktop clients were sweet, but we were wrong. Our client’s ecosystem was running Windows Server on hyper-v VXHD images, and we later replicated the issue on a windows 2012 server.

The fix is actually quite simple now we know these details.

One method is to jump over to the command prompt and run the ‘diskpart’ utility.

Once in the utility, we can now check the san status – using ‘san’ command as per below, we can see it is set to ‘Offline Shared’ – if it says otherwise, then the issue resides elsewhere and is another topic.

Once this policy has been confirmed, the GUI method is to simply ‘exit’ diskpart then go into Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management -> r-click the offline disk and choose Online.

Alternatively, the following method, we continue in the command prompt, select the offline disk and clear its read-only flag.

Firstly, we run ‘list disk’ and confirm which one is offline – in this case it is Disk 2.

To select the disk, type in ‘select disk 2’ – a confirmation will be displayed that ‘Disk 2 is now the selected disk’.

Now type ‘attributes disk’ to re-confirm the read-only status – return value is in this situation ‘Read-only: Yes’ and ‘Current Read-only state: Yes’.

Once confirmed, enter ‘attributes disk clear readonly’ – this should return ‘Disk attributes cleared successfully’.

Run the ‘attributes disk’ command again to confirm the successful change – return value should now be ‘Read only: No’ and ‘Current Read-only state: No’.

Excellent.. now we can online said disk with the command ‘online disk’ – command prompt will return ‘DiskPart successfully onlined the selected disk’.

Now we can exit out of the utility and get on with using our storage!

A good reference is happysysadm.com – amongst other things, I searched “diskpart” - I hope others find this article helpful as well.

If you're looking for more help to configure your storage systems. Digistor's Technical services can set up a storage environment that's fully optimised for the needs of your facility. Contact us to learn more.

Digistor took home not one but two awards at this year’s NAB Show 2018. Further cementing its place as Australia’s premium storage solutions provider.

The first award was from Quantum for the Oceania M&E Partner of the year award.

As Australia's Quantum Alliance Platinum Partner, Digistor works with Quantum to integrate shared storage into the most demanding data workflow challenges across a range of organisations - major Australian television broadcasters, telcos, advertising agencies, visual effects and post-production companies, plus education institutions, government departments. Recently Digistor implemented a large-scale Quantum installation for Foxtel.

Learn More about Quantum StorNext.

At the Editshare NAB 2018 Reseller Event Digistor received the for the Asia Pacific Reseller of the year award.

Digistor has implemented Editshare solutions for a range of organisations including many of universities and educational institutions such as Sydney University.

Learn more about Editshare.

Want to upgrade or set up a storage system? Digistor can advise, supply and set up a storage environment that's fully optimised for the needs of your facility. Contact Digistor to discuss your needs.

New features for the Cintel Scanner

• Introduces Compressed RAW LossLess and‭ ‬3:1‭ ‬for reduced file sizes.‭
  ‬
• Introduces entirely new image stabilizer.‭
  ‬
• Now fully crops for all file types for minimum file size.‭
  ‬
• Improves artifacts in highlights in negative film.‭
  ‬
• Updates to desktop video utility for Cintel devices.‭
  ‬
• Adds support for small film reels.‭
  ‬
• Slow advance added when holding frame advance buttons.‭
  ‬
• Introduces Cintel audio and keykode reader live audio preview.‭
  ‬
• Introduces optical audio equalization for flatter response with optical audio.‭
  ‬
• Aligns keykode to back edge of code instead of front edge.‭
  ‬
• Adds image flipping option when reading audio from negative.‭
  ‬
• General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.9.12 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more information on the Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.9.12 Upgrade

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion

• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 3 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 3 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 3 update.

New Features

Tracking and scheduling

You can now provide meaningful descriptions of how your fields are used in the context of your pipeline, by adding a custom tooltip. You can use this to provide descriptions for your custom entities.

Calculated fields

Calculated fields now offers formula validation, which highlights errors to help you create and edit your formulas.

Production Insights

Graphs can now be sorted by Status Order or Pipeline Step Order, making it easier to see your statuses or steps in context.

Rest API

Shotgun’s new Rest API is now available to anyone who wants to use it. With the REST API you can access Shotgun from any programming language, allowing integration from almost any type of environment. Read our documentation at https://developer.shotgunsoftware.com/rest-api/.

Additional Features

• Any users created via the Shotgun API or a .csv import now receive a welcome email. [SG-4090]

• All emails sent from the Client Review Site now appear as a conversation thread in Outlook, instead of as separate messages. [SG-4093]

Fixed Bugs

• Fix to make sure that if a user doesn’t have the permission to ‘Edit default and project work schedules’ set, they can only edit custom work schedules, rather than global edits which would affect everybody. [SG-5435]

• Fix to enable changing the default Pipeline Step short codes between upper and lower case as required. [SG-4224]

• Fix to ensure notes without a subject in the Open Notes Column do not export via the exporter. [SG-3501]

• Fix for pivot column field on Tickets and CustomThreaded entities that showed a blank screen when trying to edit them. [SG-3385]

• Fix to disable importing and duplicating Pipeline Steps. [SG-2218]

Contact Digistor for enquries of Shotgun 7.9.

Get more information on the Shotgun 7.9 Upgrade

Changes in This Update:

• Enabling removal of file limit
• Fixed important bug bug in new cache mode
• Mac trashes visible at /Archiware/ddpvolume (and subfolders)
• Trashes can be deleted via Terminal in  the Archiware/ddpvolume directory. Make sure the Archiware checkbox is checked in DDP Volume page
• Fixed rare occasion directory entries listed multiple times
• Delay in accept network error after failure to prevent full log file
• Dump core on deadlock for debug after restart
• More

Contact Digistor Support for DDP OS V4.01.002 Upgrade

Get more information on the DDP OS V4.01.002 Upgrade

• Improved response time for SDI Camera Control via 12G SDI.
• Fixed bug where ‘Fiber’ power logo flickers on URSA Mini screen.
• General performance and stability improvements.

New features for Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter

• Improved color & contrast for LCD screen.
• Fixed bug where DB25 talkback failed in some formats.
• Fixed bug where signal is lost on Return 1 for some formats.
• Fixed reference pass through bug when changing reference input signal.
• Improved occasional startup corruption on LCD and SDI output.
• General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic Camera 5.0.2 Update for macOS / Windows

At the sametime, Blackmagic Camera Control 1.0.1 is available for iOS devices in App Store. This update provides:

• Improved support for iOS 11.
• Added icons for App Store.
• Improved support for URSA Broadcast & URSA Mini Pro.
• Fixed bug where App could not stop recording on Cameras on software 4.8 or above.
• Fixed warning message after removing or replacing camera’s power source.
• General performance improvements.

Get more information on the Blackmagic Camera 5.0.2 Update

By Shane Goddard

If you’re looking to move from your existing ISIS storage to Avid NEXIS, or thinking about implementing Avid NEXIS for your next production, the number of options can be a little intimidating.

So, which NEXIS does your company need?
In this article, I’ll attempt to explain the main components of the NEXIS storage system, to help you understand which NEXIS is right for you.

The NEXIS Engine Family

What makes Up a NEXIS System

Essentially, each NEXIS storage system consists of 3 core components:

System Director

The System Director is the brains of the system, it directs all data flow into and out of the storage, controlling where the data is stored. The System Director can either be embedded into a NEXIS Engine (PRO, E2 and E4) or be a stand-alone SDA (System Director Appliance).

A stand-alone SDA only becomes a requirement when:
- Utilising an NEXIS|E5 Engine
- Needing 5+ Media Packs (50 Drives)                      
- Needing 40+ Active Clients
- Mirror Media Protection

Storage

As well as possibly hosting the embedded System Director, each additional Avid NEXIS Engine adds storage capacity and bandwidth to the Avid NEXIS system.

The NEXIS storage system is built around groups of 10 drives called Media Packs.
Media Packs are available in 20TB, 60TB, 100TB capacities.
The PRO is only available in 40TB, but you can connect up to 4 PROs for a total of 160TB
The E5 NL (Nearline) only uses 120TB Media Packs.
With a typical workflow of 80% read and 20% write, each Media Pack can deliver the following performance, depending on the level of protection.

Two Disk Protection:              384 MB/s        80% usable space (Effectively RAID 6)
One Disk Protection:             392 MB/s        89% usable space (Effectively RAID 5)
No Protection:                         400 MB/s        100% usable space

Uniquely, Avid NEXIS allows protection to be set per workspace, allowing for mixing protection levels for workspaces on the same system.

Switch

Connects the various NEXIS components together. Each NEXIS Engine needs a 10GbE connection into the switch, or 40GbE in the case of the E5 and the E2 SSD).
Qualified models include Dell, Cisco & Netgear.

What if you need to expand in the future?

NEXIS|PRO

Simply buy another NEXIS|PRO (Up to a maximum of 4) connect it to a free 10G SFP+ port on your existing NEXIS switch, configure, and the new storage is available and ready to add to your existing workspaces or create new ones.

NEXIS|E2 or E4

Simply buy another NEXIS|E2 or E4 (Up to a maximum of 4 Media Packs of 10 drives before needing a separate SDA) connect it to a free 10G SFP+ port on your existing Nexis switch, configure, and again the extra storage is available right there. Ready to expand your existing workspaces or create new ones. Adding to the NEXIS’ flexibility, you can also mix the E2 and E4 Engines together.

A recent discussion raised the following question:

The capacity and bandwidth of two AVID NEXIS E2s are identical to a single E4 when using the same size Media Pack...

So, given the choice, should we recommend our customers buy one Avid NEXIS | E4 or two Avid NEXIS | E2s?

The correct answer is...it depends!

The differences:
NEXIS | E4 engines require less networking due to only having the one 10GbE connection, while the two NEXIS E2s each have an 10GbE connection and provide flexibility in that they could be redeployed to two different sites in the future if needed.
So the E4 only needing one spare 10Gb port in your switch, might be preferable to keep port count down.

NEXIS|E5

The E5 has many expansion options and can have up to 48 Media Packs of 10 drives.
These can be added via additional E2, E4 or E5 engines, or if you have spare chassis capacity, added to your existing E5.

Dead drive?! It happens!

The Avid NEXIS is “Media Aware” meaning that in the event of a failed drive being replaced, only the actual media on the drives will be rebuild, reducing rebuild times.

Hot Spare drives are included in with E5 engines and optional in E4 Engines.

The NEXIS|PRO and E2 Engines don’t have a provision for a hot spare.
So, to minimise production downtime (and for peace of mind!) we strongly encourage keeping a cold spare drive on the shelf for these units.

And on that note, all NEXIS drives and power supplies are hot-swappable, removing the need for downtime in the event of hardware failure.

I’ve really only covered the basic options here, and other features of the NEXIS include Engine Protection (mirroring), mirroring of workspaces, redundant controllers, redundant networking and redundant System Director Appliances.

If you have any other questions about the personalising a NEXIS system that would be right for your production or agency, contact your Digistor account manager or Digistor sales.

Some items in the "What's new" section are marked with an asterisk. They may not be fully complete in this public beta release and are expected to be complete in future beta updates.

DaVinci Resolve 15 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.3 and previous versions. DaVinci Resolve 15.0b2 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 15.0b1 on Disk database. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

About the Free DaVini Resolve 15

The free DaVinci Resolve 15 includes all of the same high quality processing as DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio and can handle unlimited resolution media files. However it does limit project mastering and output to Ultra HD resolutions or lower. DaVinci Resolve 15 only supports a single processing GPU on Windows and Linux and 2 GPUs on the latest Mac Pro.

If you need features such as support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, de-interlacing, HDR tools, camera tracker, multiple Resolve FX, 3D stereoscopic tools, remote rendering, an external database server and collaboration tools that let multiple users work on the same project at the same time, please upgrade to DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 15

Fusion - Key new features

• Fully integrated into the DaVinci Resolve timeline
• Improved workflows removing the need for round trip renders to Fusion

• Initial support for a full Metal, CUDA or OpenCL GPU processing pipeline
• Improved UI for faster and more fluid workflow
• New node graph (Flow)
• New viewers
• New toolbar
• New inspector
• More

Fusion - Visual effects features

• Vector Paint
• 2D and 3D Compositing
• 3D Camera Tracking in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Planar Tracking and Rotoscoping
• Node Based Workflow
• 3D Workspace
• Keying and Mattes
• More

Fusion - Broadcast design and motion graphics features

• 2D and 3D Titles
• 3D Logos
• Animated Text
• Spline Based Animation
• Replicate Objects
• Expressions and Macros
• VR tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• More

Fairlight - Key new features​

• ADR (Automatic Dialog Replacement)
• Audio Bounce of a range in selected tracks to layers
• Audio Bounce of one or multiple buses to tracks
• Fixed playhead timeline
• Audio scrollers
• Video scroller
• 3D audio pan
• More

General improvements

• Support for audio normalization in the Edit page and Fairlight page
• Support for clip pitch control for clips
• Support for Media Pool preview of audio
• Support for audio fade in and out to playhead in the Fairlight timeline
• Support for mixed audio track formats from source clips
• Support for trim to playhead operations in the Fairlight timeline
• More

Performance

• Support for project versioning snapshots to store project backups at set intervals
• Support for only loading the last used timeline when opening a project
• Support for an option to load all the timelines when opening a project
• Support for bypassing color processing on all pages for improved performance on low power systems
• Support for trimming H.264 and other temporal codec formats in Media Management
• Support for GPU acceleration for the ResolveFX Match Move plugin
• Support for GPU acceleration for the stabilizer with a speed up of more than 5x
• More

Edit

• Support for adding, managing and delivering Subtitles and Closed Captions
• Support for embedding a subtitle track when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding MXF OP1A files
• Support for embedding closed captions when encoding QuickTime files
• Support for 2D and 3D Title templates
• Support to load multiple clips into the source viewer and access the 10 most recent clips
• Support for stacked and tabbed timelines
• More

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio public beta 2 for macOS / Windows / Linux

There are a lots more included in this major update:

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 public beta 2 update.

Get more details on the Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15 studio public beta 2 update.

New Features

• Support for Nuke 11.1
• VRayLightLinker: Support for light linking
• VRayTexRamp: Support for multipoint ramp texture
• VRayMtlHair: Support for hair shader
• VRayHairSampler: Support for hair sampler
• VRayCamera: Support for dome camera

Modified Features

• VRayProxy: Add flip axis option
• VRayProxy: Improve hair support with full viewport preview and per-object/per-id scenegraph
• VRayVRScene: Add support for global material override
• VRayVRScene: Add support for override snippet
• VRayRenderElement: Add possibility to customize Nuke layer name on VRayRenderElement node creation
• VRayTranslator: Automatically reuse the region of interest of the active viewer if enabled
• VRaySunSky: Add Filter color for Aerial Perspective
• VRayRenderer: Add console and file log verbosity control

Bug Fixes

• VRayCryptomatte: Fix rare cases of unidentified selected matte object in Cryptomatte plugin despite being available in the manifest string
• VRayProxy: Reloading a new proxy file does not update the viewport preview
• Animated parameters are not properly exported with single frame export
• Incorrect frame exported on animated parameter when motion blur is enabled
• Unwanted keyframe is created for animated knobs when linked or when modifying knob animation curve
• Missing light select render element with modified VRayCamera when rendering through command line
• Incorrect diffuse shading of textures with alpha channel used directly as geometry material
• Command line rendering of animated sequence with scene using LightSelect crashes after 1st frame

Download V-Ray for Nuke 3.70.01

Get more details on the V-Ray for Nuke 3.70.01 update

P5 supports a variety of cloud providers including Amazon S3, Backblaze, Generic S3 with Azure Storage coming soon.

Learn more about configuring cloud storage in Archiware P5.

• Includes upgrade to DaVinci Resolve‭ ‬14.3
• Includes upgrade to Desktop Video‭ ‬10.9.12

New features for Cintel Scanner‭

• ‬Introduces Compressed RAW LossLess and‭ ‬3:1‭ ‬for reduced file sizes.‭
• Introduces entirely new image stabilizer.‭
• Now fully crops for all file types for minimum file size.‭
• ‬Improves artifacts in highlights in negative film.‭
• Updates to desktop video utility for Cintel devices.‭
• ‬Adds support for small film reels.‭
• ‬Slow advance added when holding frame advance buttons.‭
• ‬Introduces Cintel audio and keykode reader live audio preview.‭
• ‬Introduces optical audio equalization for flatter response with optical audio.‭
• ‬Aligns keykode to back edge of code instead of front edge.‭
• ‬Adds image flipping option when reading audio from negative.‭
• ‬General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic Cintel 2.1 for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic Cintel 2.1 Update

• Samsung 860 Pro supported (512GB, 1TB)
• Samsung 860 Evo supported (1TB only)

New Features: All Models (Apollo, Odyssey 7Q+/7Q/7)

• Samsung 860 Pro supported (512GB, 1TB)
• Samsung 860 Evo supported (1TB only)

Fixes and Improvements - Apollo

• FIXED 2:3 pulldown support
• FIXED audio issue found with QT files and Telestream
• IMPROVED dual 6G SDI support
• IMPROVED source naming added to XML file

Fixes and Improvements - Odyssey RAW Bundle

• FIXED rare Canon RAW -> Apple ProRes frame issue
• FIXED rare Caton RAW -> random touches
• FIXED rare ARRI RAW -> random touches
• IMPROVED Sony 2K FS RAW -> 2K/hD Apple ProRes recordings
• IMPROVED playback scrubbing artefacts of RAW recordings

Fixes and Improvements - All Devices

• FIXED Apple ProRes playback quality with interlaced recordings
• FIXED Playback Scrubbing artefacts in lower right corner
• FIXED issues associated with computer generated images
• IMPROVED voltage display accuracy
• IMPROVED playback quality with all Apple ProRes recordings
• IMPROVED detection of 4K 50/60p signals
• Restore Defaults is now automatically performed on power-up immediately after a firmware update

Downloads:

• Odyssey/Apollo Firmware (FIRMWARE ONLY) v2018.03.1719
• Odyssey 7 Firmware (FIRMWARE ONLY) v2018.03.1719
• Odyssey 7Q Firmware (FIRMWARE ONLY) v2018.03.1719
• Odyssey 7Q+ Firmware (FIRMWARE ONLY) v2018.03.1719
• Apollo Firmware (FIRMWARE ONLY) v2018.03.1719

Get more details on the Convergent Design Odyssey / Apollo Firmware update v2018.03.1719

• Added Level A support for 3G SDI from Front and Main SDI.

• Improved interlaced recording for DNxHD 220X and 145.

• Fixed bug where only 3 custom LUT’s could be loaded.

• Fixed issue preventing driver from loading on Windows 10.

Download Blackmagic Camera 5.0.1 for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic Camera 5.0.1 Update

• HDR playback for HyperDeck 12G
• Fix Genlock bug for HyperDeck 12G
• General performance and stability updates for HyperDeck 12G and HyperDeck Studio Pro

Installing HyperDeck Utility

Before installing the software, we recommend that you run "Uninstall HyperDeck" first.

Download Blackmagic HyperDeck 5.3 for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic HyperDeck 5.3 Update

By Jason Yee, Support Engineer

Last week we were lucky enough to briefly get our hands on a shiny new space grey iMac Pro (2017). With a whopping 18 cores and the new Vega 46 graphics card, how does performance compare to one of our iMacs (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)?

Firstly, here are specs of the 2 test systems.

Test 1 - VRAY Benchmark 1.07 from Chaosgroup

The first test we did were with V-Ray Benchmark from Chaos Group. V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone application to help you test how fast your hardware renders. The benchmark includes two test scenes, one for GPUs and another for CPUs, depending on the processor type you’d like to measure. You can download V-Ray Benchmark for free from Chaos Group.

The iMac Pro performs 3.2x faster than the iMac.  This is for the CPU render test. The V-Ray Benchmark GPU test does include Open CL support (required for AMD devices) for benchmarking consistency. V-Ray RT itself does support both Open CL and CUDA.

To view the V-Ray Benchmark leaderboard, check out https://benchmark.chaosgroup.com/cpu

Test 2 - CINEBENCH R15 by MAXON

Next we tested with MAXON CINEBENCH. CINEBENCH also tests the OpenGL performance, as well as CPU. CPU results using cb units where higher the number, the better the performance.

Figure 3. iMac 27"

Figure 4. iMac Pro

Test 3 - Rendering with Arnold Renderer

To test out the rendering capabilities we set up the Room Interior learning scene from in Maya 2018 and render using Solid Angle's Arnold Renderer.

Figure 5. Room Interior Arnold render

The iMac Pro came out with a significantly lead here rendering the scene approximately 3.6x faster. Note: render time is in minutes:seconds.

Test 4 – Autodesk Flame 2018.3

Autodesk has always recommended higher clock speeds over number of cores due to much of the code not taking advantage of more threads. A faster GPU will always benefit Flame’s performance. We tested using the 2015 3 layer timeline setup built by a flame community member to be used as a benchmark. It comprises of a 250 frame timeline with 3 tracks, based on a ColourFrame Black clip, with BFX/TL effects, and 2 GAP BFX clips that use mostly CCs, transforms, Matchbox shaders, Substance Noise, Action with LensFlare & Rays, Deform, Gmasks and Blurs.

Figure 6. Flame test timeline

Figure 7. Example BFX setup

A normal render will render just the top layer (250 frames). For our benchmark test, we select rendered all 3 layers (total of 750 frames).

Nb. For the testing, internal SSD framestores were used.

Figure 8. Final Render

Results

iMac           Render "Clip" ended: "Speed_Check_2015" in 545.617371 seconds.
iMac Pro    Render "Clip" ended: "Speed_Check_2015" in 391.209961 seconds. 

Here the performance increase is only 30%. With heavier setups, the iMac Pro’s 16GB of VRAM will play a larger part. As mentioned above, the slower CPU clock speed of the iMac Pro might be demonstrating Flame’s lack of multi-core optimisation. Autodesk also recommends the 10 core iMac Pro which has a faster CPU clock speed (3.0 GHz)

If you really require the extra processing power of the iMac Pro and have the budget then its an obvious choice however the cost of the Pro means you will have to really decide if the extra power is worth the expense.

Talk to Digistor to get advice on the best system for your budget and purposes, our technical team can optimise it for your workflow.

• Mac trashes visible at /Archiware/ddpvolume (and subfolders)
• Trashes can be deleted via Terminal in  the Archiware/ddpvolume directory. Make sure the Archiware checkbox is checked in DDP Volume page
• Fixed rare occasion directory entries listed multiple times
• Delay in accept network error after failure to prevent full log file
• Dump core on deadlock for debug after restart
• Linux restart after kernel panic set from immediate to 1 hour after a kernel panic, the DDP does not restart automatically out of precaution to prevent the problem to be overlooked.
• More

Please Note:

• The update installers can only be used to update V4 installations.
• This software does contain the quota feature which is now believed to be stable.

Download DDP V4 OS Update

Get more details on DDP OS V4 4.00.020b

• There are no new features in this release.

Feature Enhancements

• BUG ID 197704 - Nuke, Nuke Studio, and Hiero now support .mxf ARRIRAW container files from the ARRI Alexa Mini and Amira cameras.
• BUG ID 249925 - Monitor Output: SDI out monitors now maintain the correct aspect ratio when the Viewer is in A/B mode.

Bug Fixes & Known Bugs

• See Release Notes for Nuke and Hiero 11.1v2

Get more details on the Foundry Nuke 11.1v2 Update

The License Server version 4.5.0 introduces the ability to migrate your licenses from a physical dongle to your online Chaos Group account. This means that once transferred, your licenses will be available to you from anywhere and at any time without the need for a dongle to be plugged in your machine. The sections below provide information on dongle eligibility and a step-by-step guide of the migration process.

Dongle eligibility

Once you have updated the License Server to version 4.5.0 or later, the option to transfer your dongle licenses online will be available to you, only if certain criteria are met:

• Only one dongle must be plugged in
• WibuKey driver must be version 6.00 or newer
• The dongle must be plugged in the same machine where the license server is running
• Online licensing must be activated
• A valid user must be logged in

Please note:

• Version 2.x can not be migrated, only 2.x products with expiration date can be transferred. There are no limitations for transferring products with version 3.0 and later.
• The migration can not be reverted. Once your dongle licenses are successfully transferred online, they can not be transferred back to your dongle.

Get more details on transferring dongle licenses online

• Ensure video output preference is correctly restored on startup.
• Fix intermittent issue capturing PAL DVCPRO50 in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
• Correct mono audio channel captures in Adobe Premiere Pro CC appearing as joint stereo.
• Fix occasional record monitor corruption in Avid Media Composer when using Intensity Pro.
• Fix occasional Adobe Premiere Pro CC crash when attempting capture.
• Fix build issue on Linux 4.15 kernel.
• General performance and stability improvements for all models.

New features and fixes in Media Express 3.5.5

• Ensure media is imported correctly when using Apple Final Cut Pro X XML files.
• Ensure Media Express remains responsive when capturing UHD modes.
• Improve compatibility with MFX files recorded with Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio Mini.
• Correct color saturation issue introduced in Media Express 3.5.4.
• Fix Media Express hang when closing on macOS High Sierra.
• Improve third party application compatibility with files containing more than two audio tracks.
• Correct occasional issue seen when capturing PsF formats to H.265 files.
• Add VITC timecode capture when using UltraStudio Mini Recorder and capturing SD formats.
• General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.9.11 for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details on the Blackmagic Desktop Video 10.9.11 Update

• Introduces Matrox Monarch LCS Radar monitoring application: This powerful yet easy-to-use web application allows administrators to monitor all connected Monarch LCS appliances, as well as pinpoint and correct issues at a distance.
• Resolves specific customer issues
• Provides compatibility with the latest supported applicationsImproves overall product stability

Download Matrox Monarch LCS v1.1.9 firmware update for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Matrox Monarch LCS firmware update v1.1.9.

• Improved support of Chinese characters for Smart Videohub 40x40 and Smart Videohub 40x40 12G.
• Improved Lock functionality of Master Control.
• More consistent lock behavior of Smart Videohub front panels.
• General performance and stability improvements.

Download Blackmagic Videohub 6.4.1 Update for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic Videohub 6.4.1 Update

By Patrick Trivuncevic

Artificial Intelligence, A.I., is a hot topic in many industries with Media and Entertainment poised to embrace more intelligent data management and automation in the coming years. Media companies have lead the explosive growth of big data technologies because it enabled them to drive digital revolution, exploiting more fully not only data which was already available but also new sources of data such as content from social media sources and user generated content. Media companies are increasingly looking to generate revenue from delivering content and data through diverse platforms and products. Increased and better integration of solutions along the data/content value chain will be fundamental in order to convince decision-makers to invest in new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

What is AI in Media and Entertainment?

AI is a vast field that covers a gamut of loosely related technologies. Colloquially, the term "Artificial Intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions such as "learning" and "problem solving" and has the ability to make decisions based on past experience. Differing from simply executing a fixed set of procedures and algorithms that have been pre-programmed as software, AI systems are able to “learn” about actions and results and adapt their behaviour to optimise outcomes and deal with mutable inputs. Cognitive analytics and Machine learning are closely related to AI.

Taking a look at a recent AI Survey in Media sponsored by Quantum in partnership with TVTechnology, There’s Nothing Artificial About AI for Broadcasters, we find that AI is emerging at a rapid rate with 21% of survey respondents having some experience or adoption today. A further breakdown of 21% who have had AI exposure fall in a few key categories.

How organisations with AI experience are currently using the technology

Source: There’s Nothing Artificial About AI for Broadcasters - Quantum and TV Technology

At the top, as we may expect, is Automated metadata creation. Media companies with any content library or repository, particularly those with large content libraries have always faced challenges with meaningful automated metadata creation. Solutions have existed for a while that are able extract metadata from files or file types, providing information such as date and time, format, codec information, etc. and that allow for additional custom meta data to be embedded or supplemented. Custom metadata, which is often more useful than date and time or format and codec metadata, is only effective if it’s applied by some process in the first place. Unfortunately, many solutions to date are not able to automatically define and describe unknown content. Custom metadata is often a manual process, often requiring a dedicated human resource(s) to enter the custom metadata. It is further reduced in value and meaning when the custom metadata is templated and semi-automated with customisation generalised or normalised to categories to simplify implementation and automate execution.

Common deficiencies connected with limited metadata

Source: There’s Nothing Artificial About AI for Broadcasters - Quantum and TV Technology

Automating custom metadata with AI is unsurprisingly the starting point for tackling deficiencies in meaningful metadata. If we look further into what custom metadata creation is possible we find the AI applications able to do facial recognition, scene detection, sentiment, landmark recognition, object recognition, logo recognition and translation. Vendors such as IBM (Watson), Veritone – Quantum (AiWare) and the various major cloud providers Google/Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon all have solutions and partners employing AI technologies for meaningful custom metadata creation. MAM Vendors are another obvious choice for AI adoption with many beginning with better search/Intelligent search. For better search or intelligent search vendors like Empress, who are a MAM Vendor, have a need to generate or gather metadata and have facial recognition and transcription options to provide the data for the intelligent search.

Metadata creation is only one of many applications for AI in Media. Applications such as automated captioning, quality assurance, and automated clip generation and distribution are just some of use cases for AI.

AI ‘in’ Storage and Data Management

People often think cloud or big companies like Google or Amazon when they think AI and for good reason. Big companies like Google or Amazon have seemingly limitless on-demand computing resources and those companies have been some of the earliest adopters and pioneers of AI technologies. IBM’s Watson and Alphabet (formerly Google)’s Deep Mind all have their place in the AI story but upcoming start-ups and established companies not normally synonymous with AI are finding their place amongst the titans of AI. Quantum a well-established Storage and Data Management Vendor has forged a strategic relationship with Veritone adopting a version of AiWare for its Xcellis workflow Storage architectures. Quantum has a large customer base with 100’s of Terabytes to many Petabytes of data on various storage technologies. A lot of the data is archived or historical, this presents a challenge and opportunity in itself. What if your data management tools or storage including archives could be analysed with AI? How does one go about that?

One of the challenges with AI adoption in Media is oddly enough the cloud requirement from titans in AI. There is no question everything is moving to the cloud but moving large amounts of media to the cloud today remains a challenge. AI engines in the cloud often require the data gathering to be performed in the cloud. This presents a problem with many networks in geographies around the world having poor connectivity and bandwidth. Content from media organisations are measured in TBs and PBs today, uploading this content is often not possible in adequate timeframes. In many cases content is not allowed to exist outside of certain locations such as on premises or certain geographies.

Recognising this challenge for many of its customers Quantum’s strategic approach with Veritone’s AiWare allows for on premise data gathering and cognitive analytics.

AiWare can be deployed on certain Quantum Xcellis Workflow Extenders or alternatively an appropriate appliance can be supplied. Content and metadata can then be processed and analysed through the storage data pipeline. Online, Near-line and Archived data can be analysed bringing new search capabilities and consequently additional value to the customers content. Customers with or without a MAM will also benefit from metadata rich content from the creative user searching for the content to organisations wanting additional means to monetise content.

Monetisation and Marketing, often related or hand in hand is another area of any business that could benefit from the cognitive analytics that can be gleaned from existing content or data.

Insights from customers data could provide high performance and highly accurate results in key metrics for delivering competitive advantages in the fast-paced Media and Marketing sectors.

The graph below shows the various other categories AI is currently beginning used.

Respondents that currently use or have used AI technology (by category)

Source: There’s Nothing Artificial About AI for Broadcasters - Quantum and TV Technology

With more Vendors expected to adopt some form of AI, machine learning or cognitive analytics into their solution offerings and products in the coming months and future, we can only begin to imagine the possibilities and opportunities AI will deliver.

If you’d like to know more about how Artificial Intelligence could help your business automate workflows and/or maximise your content's value, please contact us at Digistor.

• New support for Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter

• New support for Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter

New features for URSA Broadcast

• Added support for DNxHD 220X and 145 codecs.
• Added support for 1080i recording in DNxHD.
• Added Rec 2020 Hybrid Log Gamma ouput via SDI.
• Added Rec 2020 PQ Gamma output via SDI.
• Added support for URSA Mini SSD Recorder.
• Added support for SDI tally over-ride.
• Added support for Canon EF-S IS USM lenses.
• Added metadata support for Extended Video in URSA Viewfinder.
• Extended B4 lens support with “Box” lenses.
• Fixed bug where Gain level is offset by -6dB with ATEM.
• Added SDI Camera Control v1.2 to URSA Broadcast manual.

• Added Fiber Converters to URSA Broadcast manual.

Download Blackmagic Camera 5.0 Update for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the Blackmagic Camera 5.0 Update

• Support for the new ATEM 1 M/E Advanced panel.

• Special firmware update for the ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switcher:

• Increases the number of M/Es to 4!

• Increases the number of keyers per M/E to 4!

• Also includes advanced chromakey for greatly improved keying.

• Additionally this switcher has a name change and will now be known as the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K.

• Adds Portuguese and Turkish language support for the user interface.

• Adds Portuguese and Turkish language support for the ATEM Television Studio HD and ATEM Television Studio Pro HD LCD screens.

• General performance and stability updates.

Download ATEM Switchers 7.3 Update for macOS / Windows

Download ATEM Switchers 7.3 SDK for macOS / Windows

Get more details on the ATEM Switchers 7.3 Update

• Added support for the Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast camera

• Added support for RAW footage from the Sony Venice/CineAltaV camera

• Improved the quality of thumbnails in the Media Pool and Edit page timeline on retina monitors

• Added support for reading Panasonic Varicam metadata when importing footage

• Added support for exporting Sony color space and gamma metadata when encoding to MXF

• Added support for RED SDK v7.0.6

• Addressed an issue where the audio section in the Deliver page would default to timeline track instead of the Main bus

• Addressed an issue where editing a transition could sometimes cause a crash

• Addressed an issue where syncing video to audio with a different sample rate results in incorrect audio sync and pitch audio

• Addressed an issue where changes to the Mixer UI layout would not get saved in a dual screen setup

• Addressed an issue where pressing arrow keys to move volume keyframes would not work after opening the keyframe curve editor

• Addressed an issue with the option to pick which node to select when switching clips

• Addressed an issue where a project would fail to save after deleting a group

• Addressed an issue where a project would fail to save after specific undo/redo operations

• Addressed an issue with UI artifacts in the DaVinci Resolve Studio activation window

• Addressed an issue where projects with LUTs would not get exported correctly on Windows

• Addressed an issue where the current project could not be copied between databases

• Addressed an issue where relinking to TIFF files with a higher bit depth would result in a crash

• General performance and stability improvement

Important Information regarding Database Management

DaVinci Resolve 14.3 requires a database upgrade from DaVinci Resolve 14.2.1 and previous versions. We strongly recommend that you backup your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) before performing an upgrade.

Download DaVinci Resolve 14.3 Update for macOS / Windows / Linux

Download DaVinci Resolve 14.3 Studio Update for macOS / Windows / Linux

Get more details on the DaVinci Resolve 14.3 Studio software update

Get more details on the DaVinci Resolve 14.3 Studio software update

This software update includes over 50 stability and general performance improvements, and is recommended for all DaVinci Resolve 14 Studio users. DaVinci Resolve 14.2.1 Studio features better performance on the edit page while generating thumbnails, correct output of 5.1 and 7.1 WAV files, a more reliable progress indicator when generating optimized proxy media, over a dozen Fairlight audio improvements, better Multicam viewer performance, the ability to change multiple clip properties at the same time, new Power Window tracking indicators for frame mode, improved stability for rendering Cineform and H.264, faster ProRes encoding, faster XAVC-I decoding and much more. This version requires either a DaVinci Resolve dongle or a software activation key.

Get more details on the DaVinci Resolve 14.2.1 Studio software update

Technology has yet again evolved into a different level. We are now hearing/reading of news about super advanced AI where the best eSport athletes are beaten on a 1 on 1 game of Dota2. Electronic cars that can outperform what was once considered super cars. Robotics so advanced and human-like that they weird you out. And a decentralised system of digital currency that outweighs the benefits of centralised systems such as banks.

We ask the question, what drives these changes? Money will always be on the top of the list but making money aside we cannot deny the fact that an innovator’s motivation is to make life easier for everyone.

Since I mentioned technology in this blog, I’d like to talk about a principle in Information Technology Service Management which is called Continual Service Improvement. The CSI continually improves the effectiveness and efficiency of a service or process.

Without going through too much details, the methodology is similar to a Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle. The focus here is the CYCLE part which enables the CONTINUOUS nature.

You probably would ask, why are you talking about this Mr Blogger? This has nothing to do with new technology and awesome new products which we love about the Digistor Blogs – well actually it does. You see, innovators would use this methodology to design their new product and new technology. And in the case of our smallish but beautiful industry known as Post Production and Broadcast, having a Continual Improvement mindset can help drive:

• Workflow Efficiencies and Improvement
• System Upgrades
• Adopting New Technologies

Have a look at the CI diagram below and simulate the 3 points above.

What is the Vision?: To be able to maximise our content delivery and meet customer’s requirement.

Where are we now?: We are only able to deliver 50 hours of content every week

Where do we want to be?: With the current number of customers and their weekly requirement, we’d like to achieve 100 hours per week

How do we get there?: Assesment of the workflow and using best practices and recommendation to improve/adjust the workflow. Additional Workstations and Render Farm may be required. Look into new software and tools. Look into the current system and find out bottle necks and addres them.

Did we get there?: Have we met the 100 hours per week? Have we cut down on the process and by introducing new tools or workflow?

Keep the momentum going: Set New Visions

Not only does Continual Improvement help you with your workflow, process and technology, but the same principles can be applied in one’s personal life goals.

Improvement can only be associated to something positive such as efficiency, effectiveness. You probably won’t hear someone improving a process or workflow only to reduce their productivity and make the tasks harder. Remember the key is the CYCLE so you can have that CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT.

Digistor is a Service Provider specialising in the field of Digital Media, Post Production and Broadcast. Digistor offers Professional Services from Project Delivery Management to ITSM such as SLA and Adhoc support. Digistor believes and practices the principles of Continual Improvement with its Managed Services. For more information about the services that Digistor offers, email us at enquiries@digistor.com.au or call 0294316000

By Greg Taylor, Support Engineer

Last month I was tasked with scoping the requirements and architecting a solution to live stream an event primarily using components we had around our workshop… “Awesome!”, I thought to myself, “what are the other requirements and what are our options?”

Marketing Manager, Mark Richards went on to provide a few more details – essentially we don’t need anything too fancy, just some simple switching with a basic graphic overlay or two..

Our initial requirements:

1. 5x iMacs able to mirror their GUI into a vision mixer
2. 1x cameraman into the vision mixer
3. 1x MC (audio) into the vision mixer
4. program out of the vision mixer and into a streaming device
5. someone to run the mixer and streaming device
6. no tripping hazards, such as cables running across the floor

Nice to have:

1. big screen(s) of the Program output
2. big screen(s) of the Multiview output
3. audio from the iMacs 4 – bugs, logos, graphic overlays, etc

As we started our adventure, we focussed on the best device to switch our input sources.  There are quite a few SDI switchers out there, but we didn’t want to be converting the iMac Mini Display Port to SDI 5 times – besides, we only have one AJA HA5 (HDMI to SDI powered converter) in the workshop.  We already have a bunch of Mini Display Port to HDMI adapters.. surely there is a switcher with HDMI?

In short time we located a Blackmagic ATEM Switcher – this half rack width, 1RU high unit has 4 HDMI inputs plus a further 4 SDI inputs, all frame synchronised, and there’s a pair of balanced/XLR inputs for the MC... perfect!

Closer inspection shows we have some HDMI and SDI Multiview outputs, SDI program out and Ethernet control – I’m sure we’ll find a use for these later..

The ATEM can be controlled over a network connection using the free tools available on the Blackmagic website – this means we can put the ATEM near the client/input machines and control from a distance.

In our setup, we have gone with 1920x1080 for the frame size, though there were some issues getting the iMacs booting as Windows OS to push a 50i signal – maybe we could spend some time working on a fix here, but instead opted to put the whole system into 1920x1080 60.

On the 5th iMac, we had to convert HDMI to SDI using an AJA HA-5 – very quick and easy, and a perfect signal once we set the correct output resolutions on the client.

For the roaming camera, we were supplied a Sony PXW-X70 – this has an SDI output and we confirmed it can also push the same resolution that we have setup for the iMacs.

OK, video input is looking covered, keeping in mind we need to set all the input sources to the same frame size and rate, otherwise things won’t lock in – we don’t have any fancy frame rate converters and we’re trying to keep the components in the chain minimal – lets look at our audio options..

We should be able to push HDMI with embedded audio out of all the iMacs, providing that the users have the correct audio device selected for their output, but it may get tricky getting Avid Media Composer on Windows OS bootcamped on an iMac to utilise some of its internal hardware chain.

Now to get some audio for the MC – this person is here to talk the audience through the event, add challenges for the editors, and generally keep things upbeat and interesting.

We tried simply plugging a microphone straight into the right XLR input on the ATEM, but couldn’t get enough boost to hear anything clearly, and there was no control to make a mono signal.  To get around this, we added a small Behringer mixer in – this gave us enough boost to get a clean and clear signal through the ATEM.

We also required a 2nd mixer on the other side of the room to take the mixed program output and push it through our front of house speakers.

Now the audio inputs sorted out, we need a box that can stream live to the web – Matrox pointed us toward their Monarch HDX – a quick review of this and we were happy with the available options, as well as the ease of setup – it’s another ½ rack wide, 1RU high unit, the same size as the ATEM.

The Monarch HDX is capable of pushing two separate streams from one source – we only need one destination, so this is ample.

Our streaming service is going to be IBM’s uStream, essentially a cloud video service.  We used the links on their website to figure out the best streaming settings for our situation – in this case, 1280x720 was our flavour of choice and should have a low enough bandwidth to ensure a smooth and consistent viewing experience for the end users.

Now we seem to have all our inputs and outputs setup, but there’s no monitoring / eye candy for the punters – ideally we’d like to have a program output on a big screen or two, and it would be nice to see the Multiview output – how do we get this signal around the room without laying cables all over the floor?.. hmmm..

If at all possible, I avoid running high resolution HDMI signals over 10 meters – it gets flakey and can be more prone to dropouts - SDI can be run further, and we already have some SDI cables going through the roof that we can utilise.

The best option for us here was to use an AJA KiPro and AJA KiPro Mini – we are only using them to take an SDI signal, throw across the roof and down close to the relevant monitors.

The KiPro will take the SDI program output from the ATEM and convert it to HDMI for one of the big TV’s on the wall and pass through SDI into the Monarch HDX – the Monarch HDX can then throw its program output over HDMI to the Projector.

The KiPro Mini is then used to take the SDI Multiview output up to the control desk, split SDI to my JVC broadcast monitor and analogue audio to the front of house mixer.

The ATEM’s HDMI Multiview goes direct to our DisplayTen interactive monitor so the audience can see how the program is being switched.

Overall, our connectivity diagram looks complex on the surface.

Eg – our full kit:

But if we take all this out, we can see a simpler, lower cost setup:

Looking above, if we take out all the extra client monitoring, live MC and converters used, we are down to a 1 rack wide, 1RU high mix and stream system (ATEM and Monarch HDX), a couple of HDMI and SDI cables (maybe a display port to hdmi adapter for the mac users), computer to control the ATEM, some power and an internet connection.

As we got to the day of the event, we decided to add 2 more MacBook Pros to my desk so I had separate control interfaces – one for video switching, one to monitor and attenuate the audio, and one to take the stream and push over airplay to another big tv in the recreation room so the audience could sit back and watch from there while eating pizza and sipping on their libation of choice.

In hindsight, there were a few things we could have done differently and will keep in mind for next time..

A) Live vision switching really requires a person dedicated for the task to keep up the momentum of the show, as does audio mixing and any technical troubleshooting that may arise – it can be a challenge trying to juggle these three tasks on your own, especially if they all coincide!

B) Audio is very important – to capture more of the audience and general background, a condenser mic in the room would have added to the overall feel for the streaming viewers.. maybe just using the mic on the camera would have done the trick – only thing to consider here is that we had front of house speakers – we need to keep the room mic out of these speakers so there is no echo or feedback loop.

Overall, the event was well received – the competitors, MC and audience all had a great evening, and our solutions architect Pat Trivuncevic was sending me skype updates (remote QC) on the feed while coding away at home.

I guess anyone can stream from a personal device these days, but having the ability to be a portable TV studio that can push a clean, professional looking show to the web is the next level!

Considering the monetisation that can be applied to so many avenues on the web, I can see where this concept may pique a few interests.

If you wish to see the event or the winner’s cuts, please check out the Digistor website.  If you have any questions or would like a demo, please contact the team at Digistor to arrange a meeting – we are here to help you get the most out of your budget and setup!

Avid Media Composer - Auto Save, the Attic and You

There's nothing worse than working on a sequence and hitting a show stopping error and needing to restore a project to recover a sequence from your last nightly backup (your projects ARE backed up nightly, aren't they?)

There may not actually need to restore that project.
You can use a 'self-help' alternative...the Avid Attic!

The aptly named Attic is where Media Composer stores copies of all your bins, which are backed up at regular intervals.

Note that the Attic only stores copies of bins, not project or media files!

Your Avid Attic directory contains a separate folder for each of your projects and within that, a folder for each of your various bins.

DISASTER!

If a bin or some of its contents are accidentally deleted (nice one, Jerry!) or you just wish to recover an earlier version of a sequence, the first step is to head over to your Avid Attic folder:

MacOS:  Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/AvidMediaComposer/Avid Attic

Windows:  C:/Users/Public/Public Documents/Avid Media Composer/Avid Attic

1. From here browse to the project and then bin you wish to restore and select the most recent copy. In this case it’s ‘Dimensional Diaries Sequences.3’. Alternatively, you can choose the bin based on date if you’re rolling back to particular time.

2. Select and make a copy of the bin to a convenient area such as your Desktop.

3. Return to Media Composer and make sure that if you are restoring an existing bin that it is closed!

4. Now go to File > Open Bin… > Click the Options button and change the Enable option from ‘Bins’ to ‘Any’ and select the bin you wish to restore.

5. The selected bin will now appear in ‘Other Bins’ folder.

6. You can now open the restored bin and drag the content you wish to restore to a new or existing bin.

7. Once you’ve moved the content out of the restored bin you can safely delete it.

Making the Attic your own

You can customise the Attic to suit your workflow in several ways. To access these options, go to: ‘Settings’ and double-click ‘Bins’

The options of most interest to editors are:

- Auto-save Interval (Default 15 mins)
- Maximum files in a project's attic (Default 1000)
- Max versions of a file in the Attic (Default 50 copies)

Be careful not to set these values too high or low as they can impact your workstation’s performance!

Finally, depending on your settings the Avid Attic can accumulate a lot of smaller files over time. So, it’s a good idea to regularly check your Attic and delete any old completed project folders that are no longer needed.

Peter Copas - Technical Services Manager

Peter has over thirty years of broadcast television experience, the last twenty of those years in leadership and service management roles within Foxtel including operational & managerial roles.

"I’m delighted to be leading a full team of highly skilled & trained Engineers who are the “best of the best” in our industry. I look forward to taking Digistor to the next level in support Services for our Customers" said Peter.

With a thorough understanding of the industry and managing technical teams, Peter is focussing on supporting the Technical Support Services team & building on new and existing client relations here at Digistor.

Jason Yee - Technical Services Support Engineer

Digistor also welcomes Jason Yee, ex-Autodesk System Support Team Leader, to our Support Team. Jason is an expert in all things Autodesk especially Flame. Jason studied computer science at the University of Sydney and is also an expert in Red Hat Linux and CentOS.

“I have worked closely with Digistor in the past and they have an awesome reputation. I look forward to working with new customer workflows and environments where I can exercise my existing knowledge and experience while also expanding my exposure to the wide gamut of Digistor solutions. Exciting times ahead!
” said Jason Yee.

Jason’s knowledge of Autodesk CF products exchange data and how they interface with 3rd party soft- and hardware is outstanding.

The appointment of Jason ensures a high level of excellent support for our Flame Customers.

New Features and Enhancements Streamline Motion Graphics, VFX and VR Content Creation Workflows; First Peeks at Next-Gen Development. MAXON to Showcase Powerful new Features at the IBC 2017 in Amsterdam

FRIEDRICHSDORF, Germany – September 1, 2017 – MAXON has announced the start of delivery of Cinema 4D Release 19 (R19). This next generation of MAXON’s professional 3D application delivers both great tools and enhancements artists can put to use immediately, and provides a peek into the foundations for the future. Designed to serve individual artists as well as large studio environments, Release 19 offers a fast, easy, stable and streamlined workflow to meet today’s challenges in the content creation markets; especially general design, motion graphics, VFX, VR/AR and all types of visualization.
Cinema 4D R19 Feature Highlights Include:

• Viewport Improvements – Results so close to final render that client previews can be output using the new native mp4 video support.
• MoGraph Enhancements – Added workflow capabilities in Voronoi Fracturing and an all-new Sound Effector.
• New Spherical Camera – Lets artists render stereoscopic 360° Virtual Reality videos and dome projections.
• New Polygon Reduction – Easily reduce entire hierarchies while preserving vertex maps, selection tags and UV coordinates to ensure textures continue to map properly and preserve polygon detail.
• Level of Detail (LOD) Object– Define and manage settings to maximize viewport and render speed, or prepare optimized assets for game workflows. Exports FBX for use in popular game engines.
• AMD’s Radeon ProRender– Now seamlessly integrated into R19, providing artists with a cross-platform GPU rendering solution.
• Revamped Media Core – Completely rewritten software core to increase speed and memory efficiency for image, video and audio formats; native support for mp4 video without QuickTime.
• Robust Modeling – A new modeling core with improved support for edges and N-gons can be seen in the Align and Reverse Normals commands.
• BodyPaint 3D – Now uses an OpenGL painting engine, giving R19 artists a real-time display of reflections, alpha, bump or normal, and even displacement for improved visual feedback and texture painting when painting color and adding surface details in film, game design and other workflows.

A complete feature list is available at the Release 19 landing page.

European Debut at the IBC 2017 in Amsterdam

MAXON Cinema 4D R19 will make its European debut at the MAXON booth in hall 7, K30 at IBC 2017, which will take place from September 15 – 19, 2017, at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam.

In addition, internationally-renowned 3D artists like Peter Eszenyi, Sophia Kyriacou and Tim Clapham as well as other creatives from international studios will share insights into and techniques used on projects created with Cinema 4D. Partners including Google, Insydium, and Redshift will present important workflow integrations with Cinema 4D. Detailed information as well as the live streaming of all presentations will be available at  http://www.c4dlive.com/.

Cinema 4D R19 Pricing, Availability and Upgrade Path

Cinema 4D Release 19 is available from Digistor. MAXON Service Agreement customers whose MSA is active as of September 1, 2017 will be upgraded automatically. Cinema 4D R19 is available for Mac OS X and Windows; Linux nodes are also available for network rendering. Recommended system requirements are available at http://www.maxon.net/.

About MAXON

Headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, MAXON Computer is a developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions. Its award-winning Cinema 4D and BodyPaint 3D software products have been used extensively to help create everything from stunning visual effects in top feature films, TV shows and commercials, cutting-edge game cinematics for AAA games, as well for medical illustration, architectural and industrial design applications. MAXON has offices in Germany, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Singapore. MAXON products are available directly from the web site and its worldwide distribution channel. MAXON is part of the Nemetschek Group.

By Jason Yee

With the release of Flame Family 2018 (Flame, Flare and Flame Assist) on Linux, Red Hat is no longer supported. Supported operating systems are CentOS 7.2. Migrating to CentOS 7.2 requires a complete system rebuild using the Autodesk custom CentOS 7.2 ISO.

The Autodesk custom CentOS 7.2 ISO uses a kickstart configuration to automate the installation process.

However, this kickstart config expects the system drive to be /dev/sda. In some cases, such as installing from a USB drive, the system drive will be detected as /dev/sdb. User interaction will be required during installation to configure partitioning before the automated install can continue.  

The following shows the disk partitioning kickstart config. Note that the config only applies to sda.

This uses standard partitions.

/boot is 1GB
swap is 32GB
/ (root partition) is the remaining free space.

If your system drive is not sda, instead of the install completing without any user interaction, your install will stop with the following screen.

At this point, you are prompted to click Installation Destination to configure the drive partitioning. Click on INSTALLATION DESTINATION.

Select your system drive and under Partitioning, select I will configure partitioning.

Remove all existing partitions (select partition and click -)

Create the following partitions (click +)

Mount Point    Size                 Device Type
/boot               1GiB                standard partition
swap               32GiB              standard partition
/                      *                      standard partition

• this should the remaining AVAILABLE SPACE showing in the bottom left of the screen.

Click Done and continue the CentOS install!

What happens if I select Automatically configure partition?

A potential pitfall is to select Automatically configure partitioning. If this is selected, you will be given the option to reclaim space. This allows you to remove existing partitions.

Once all the existing partitions are cleared, the option to Begin Installation is available.

The problem is that your main root partition (/) will only be 50GB, and most of the space will instead be on the /home partition, which is not used on Flame systems.

Automatically configure partitioning uses LVM partitioning. We can use LVM tools to correct the partition sizes.

How do I resize LVM partitions on CentOS 7.2?

There are no LVM gui tools installed by default, but a quick trip to the command-line is all you need.
 
As root, open terminal and follow these steps.

1.         Type ‘df -h’ to see current disk partitions.

Eg. The following is from a 500GB system drive. Note only 50GB mounted on /, and there is 410GB mounted on /home.

Verify that you have no files in /home. Type ‘ls /home’ to list the contents of /home. Most likely it is empty, and this command will return you straight back to the prompt. If for some reason you do, you should back them up.

2. Unmount /home by typing ‘umount /home’

Now to remove the /home logical volume by typing ‘lvremove /dev/centos_vxfhost/home’. Type ‘y’ when prompted.

4. We can now extend the / (root) partition to use all the new available space by typing

Finally, we also need grow the xfs filesystem by typing:

6.   Verify that the size of / (root) has increased by typing ‘df -h’.

7.   If all looks good, you can then remove the /home mount from /etc/fstab.
ie. Open /etc/fstab and remove the following line.

For more info on setting up and optimising your Flame system, please touch base with our team or call us direct on 02 9431 6000 if you would like to discuss anything to do with this article or request a demo tailored to your requirements.

Ahead of the SIGGRAPH 2017 conference, MAXON today announced Cinema 4D Release 19 (R19). This next generation of MAXON’s professional 3D application delivers both great tools and enhancements artists can put to use immediately and provides a peek into the foundations for the future.

Powerful developments have been made to viewport performance, a new Sound Effector and additional features for Voronoi Fracturing have been added to the MoGraph toolset, a new Spherical Camera introduced, the integration of AMD’s ProRender technology and more. Designed to serve individual artists as well as large studio environments, Release 19 offers a fast, easy, stable and streamlined workflow to meet today’s challenges in the content creation markets: especially general design, motion graphics, VFX, VR/AR and all types of visualization.

With Cinema 4D Release 19, MAXON also introduces a number of re-engineered foundational technologies, which the company will continue to develop and bring to maturity in future versions. These include core software modernization efforts, a new modeling core, deeply-integrated GPU Rendering for Windows and Mac, and OpenGL capabilities in BodyPaint 3D, MAXON’s professional paint and texturing toolset.

“For more than two decades MAXON has been dedicated to delivering 3D graphics solutions with rock-solid stability, outstanding ease of use, a fast workflow and cross-platform capability,“ says Harald Egel, managing partner at MAXON Computer GmbH. “Cinema 4D Release 19 expands on those core values with outstanding new features and a first look at foundations for the future.”

The new highlights in Cinema 4D Release 19 include:

Viewport Improvements – provide artists with added support for screen-space reflections and OpenGL depth-of-field in addition to the screen-space ambient occlusion and tessellation features (added in R18). Results are so close to final render that client previews can be output using the new native MP4 video support.

MoGraph Enhancements – expand on Cinema 4D’s state of the art toolset for motion graphics with faster results and added workflow capabilities in Voronoi Fracturing – break objects progressively, add displaced noise details for improved realism or glue multiple fracture pieces together more quickly for complex shape creation. An all-new Sound Effector in R19 allows artists to create audio-reactive animations based on multiple frequencies from a single sound file.

New Spherical Camera – allows artists to render stereoscopic 360° virtual reality videos and dome projections. Artists can specify a latitude and longitude range, and render in equirectangular, cubic string, cubic cross or 3x2 cubic format. The new spherical camera also includes stereo rendering with pole smoothing to minimize distortion.

New Polygon Reduction – works as a generator, so it’s easy to reduce entire hierarchies. The reduction is pre-calculated, so adjusting the reduction strength or desired vertex count is extremely fast. The new Polygon Reduction preserves vertex maps, selection tags and UV coordinates, ensuring textures continue to map properly and providing control over areas where polygon detail is preserved.

Level of Detail (LOD) Object – features a new interface element that lets customers define and manage settings to maximize viewport and render speed, create new types of animations or prepare optimized assets for game workflows. Level of Detail data exports via the FBX 3D file exchange format for use in popular game engines.

AMD’s Radeon ProRender – technology is now seamlessly integrated into R19 providing artists a cross-platform GPU rendering solution. Though just the first phase of integration, it provides a useful glimpse into the power ProRender will eventually provide as more features and deeper Cinema 4D integration are added in future releases.

Modernization Efforts – in R19 reflect MAXON’s rich development legacy and offer the first glimpse into the company’s planned ‘under-the-hood’ future efforts to modernize the software, as follows:

• Revamped Media Core – delivers Cinema 4D R19 users with a completely rewritten software core to increase speed and memory efficiency for image, video and audio formats; native support for MP4 video without QuickTime delivers advantages to preview renders, incorporate video as textures or motion track footage for a more robust workflow. Export for production formats, such as OpenEXR and DDS, has also been improved.
• Robust Modeling – a new modeling core with improved support for edges and N-gons can be seen in the Align and Reverse Normals commands. More modeling tools and generators will directly use this new core in future versions.

BodyPaint 3D – now uses an OpenGL painting engine giving R19 artists painting color and adding surface details in film, game design and other workflows, a real-time display of reflections, alpha, bump or normal, and even displacement, for improved visual feedback and texture painting. Redevelopment efforts to improve the UV editing toolset in Cinema 4D continue with the first-fruits of this work available in R19 for faster and more efficient options to convert point and polygon selections, grow and shrink UV point selects, and more.