… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1174: Apple Updates Compressor to v4.5

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Apple updates Compressor to support Bug Sur and Apple silicon.

The spiffy new Compressor 4.5 logo.

Topic $TipTopic

Last Thursday, Apple updated Compressor to version 4.5. The update was principally to support Big Sur and the upcoming switch to Apple silicon.

However, the app also got a new icon (see screen shot), along with a rounder version number – 4.5 – plus a variety of bug fixes, including:

  • Export HLG high-dynamic-range projects with Dolby Vision 8.4 metadata for optimized playback on Apple devices.
  • Fixes an issue where audio sync could drift when changing the frame rate of a clip.
  • Fixes an issue where creating a BluRay disc from a DV-PAL source would fail.
  • Includes built-in support for Avid DNxHR® and Avid DNxHD® decoding and playback.

NOTE: Here is a link to the complete Compressor Release Notes from Apple.


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Tip #1132: Not All Thunderbolt Cables are High Speed

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Thunderbolt 3 cables are not the same – and many slow your data down.

(Image courtesy of Intel.)

Topic $TipTopic

One of the most interesting things I learned recently is that not all Thunderbolt cables deliver the same performance. Even Apple’s cables have significant limitations.

I discovered this in an interview with Larry O’Connor, CEO of OWC, a company that specializes in Thunderbolt peripherals.

Here is an excerpt from our interview:

Currently, USB-C cables don’t support Thunderbolt and most don’t even support full USB 10 Gb/s data speeds. For example, the cable that Apple includes with its laptops only carries USB data at USB-2 480 Mb/s speed, not even USB-3 5 Gb/s!

Also, today, Thunderbolt 3 passive cables only provide 40 Gb/s at lengths up to 0.8 M and 20 Gb/s at lengths longer than 1 meter. (I should note that all passive Thunderbolt cables do support full USB-3.2 10 Gb/s speeds)

Sigh… It gets worse. Thunderbolt 3 cables 1 meter or longer are active, which means they have electronics in them to provide the full 40 Gb/s speed. But, while delivering Thunderbolt 40 Gb/s they only deliver USB-2 480 Mb/s speed (that’s a max of 60 MB/s of total data throughput vs. about 600 MB/s with USB-3 5 Gb/s or about 1,200 MB/s with USB-3.2 10 Gb/s)

So, if you are not getting the speed you expect from a Thunderbolt device, or a device connected using a Thunderbolt cable, the first place to look is the cable itself.

Read the full interview here – it is well worth your time.


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Tip #1155: Rescue Your Legacy Media

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Access legacy media without using a legacy computer.

The Kyno logo.

Topic $TipTopic

One of the challenges in keeping up with the onrushing changes driven by technology is that older media, often, can no longer be played. This is a major problem when you are trying to repurpose old assets.

NOTE: Here’s an article that discusses codecs that are no longer supported in macOS Catalina or Big Sur.

Recently, I was talking with Robert Krüger, CEO of LessPain Software, the developers of Kyno. Kyno is media asset management and transcoding software. Personally, I like Kyno and have used it a lot.

Larry: I’m getting new questions about converting older 32-bit media AFTER someone has upgraded to Catalina – or, perhaps, Big Sur. As you know, Apple has discontinued support for all 32-bit codecs. I’m looking for ways for us to access older media files (i.e. archives) into the future.

Robert: That shouldn’t be the case as we’re not relying on the OS for decoding 32-bit material at all.

So, if you are having problems accessing older media, Kyno might be the solution.

Website: https://lesspain.software/kyno/
Pricing: $159 (US) or $349 for more NLE integration
A 30-day free trial is available.

NOTE: The free trial is the perfect opportunity to test your media and make sure you can convert it.


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Tip #1158: File Size is NOT Image Quality

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

How long is a piece of string? Don’t focus on file size, focus on image quality.

Topic $TipTopic

During a recent webinar, Lane asked:

I’m creating a program of Christmas carols that may run about 30 minutes. I’m concerned about the file size because, when compressed, this program will likely give me a huge file. What should I do to keep file size down?

All too often, editors obsess about the size of their compressed file. This is the wrong thing to worry about.

File size is determined by two factors: bit rate and the duration of the movie. Longer programs will, by definition, have larger file sizes. There’s just more movie than in something shorter.

Instead, we need to focus on image quality. This is a combination of six factors:

  • The codec you are using
  • The frame size of the compressed file
  • The frame rate of the compressed file
  • The amount of movement between frames
  • Whether the movie is for streaming, download or posting to social media
  • The bit rate at which you compressed it

In general, for a 1080p movie, assume a ROUGH compressed file size of 20 MB/running minute. For a UHD file, assuming 60 MB/running minute. Both of these use the H.264 codec, which I recommend instead of HEVC.

These are rough guides, but any longer program is going the create some really large files.


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Tip #1122: RPMs Really Do Make a Difference

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Faster hard drive RPM speeds equals faster data transfer rates.

7200 RPM drives are, on average, 30% faster than 5400 RPM drives.

Topic $TipTopic

I’ve spent the last two weeks optimizing my network and two of my locally-attached RAIDs. In this process, I found myself with two identical fully-optimized 4-drive RAIDs; except one was filled with 7200 RPM drives and the other with 5400 RPM drives.

So, I decided to test them to see how much RPM speed affects data transfer speeds.

What I learned is that 7200 RPM drives increase data transfer speeds by 30% on average. (See screen shot.)

For the complete details on my tests and the results, read this article.


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Tip #1126: How Much Does Journaling Slow a RAID?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Journaling improves data recovery, but slows both reads and writes.

Journaling slows writes by 18% and reads by 12%.

Topic $TipTopic

I’ve spent the last two weeks optimizing my network and two of my locally-attached RAIDs. In this process, I found myself with two identical fully-optimized 4-drive RAIDs; except one had journaling turned on and the other had it turned off.

DEFINITION: “Journaling is a Mac OS X feature that is extremely helpful in protecting the system against the problems that arises due to power failures, hardware failures and directory corruptions. When the journaling is enabled on Mac, it keeps record entries of the changes to the files present on the disk. These entries are maintained in a special type of data structure called “Journal”…. In an event of an abrupt shutdown of the system due to power outage or another failure, these journal entries make it possible to restore the system to the last known consistent state of working.” (MacintoshDataRecovery.com)

So, I decided to test one of them to see how much journaling affects data transfer speeds. Since journaling is easy to enable, I tested the speed of the same RAID with journaling on, then again with it off.

What I learned is that journaling, though better for data recovery in the event of a power failure, slows reads by 12% and slows writes by 18%, on average.

For the complete details on my tests and the results, read this article.


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Tip #1131: Thunderbolt 4 = Thunderbolt 3 (Mostly)

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

For Mac users, Thunderbolt 4 provides no new capability compared to Thunderbolt 3.

(Image courtesy of Intel.)

Topic $TipTopic

Thunderbolt 4, which is available for some PCs but not Macs (yet), is causing a lot of confusion in terms of performance and capability. To learn more, I interviewed Larry O’Connor, CEO of OWC, a company that specializes in Thunderbolt peripherals.

Here are four relevant quotes:

“Thunderbolt 4 is the latest “version” of Thunderbolt created by Intel. While Thunderbolt 3 brought a brand new connector and a doubling of bandwidth over the prior Thunderbolt 2 standard, Thunderbolt 4 is more a new name, rather than a new technology.”


“While Apple implemented Thunderbolt 3 in the fullest way, that is not the case with PC/Windows. There are multiple, different, allowed implementations that are possible for PCs as Intel pushed for broader Thunderbolt adoption. The result is an inconsistent experience between different PCs listed as having Thunderbolt or being Thunderbolt-ready.”


“What Thunderbolt 4 does is tell PC users that, no exceptions, you have the full Thunderbolt implementation. For Apple users, all Thunderbolt 3 equipped Macs since 2016 already have the full implementation across the board. So for Mac users, there’s no change.”


“Unlike Thunderbolt 3 cables, Thunderbolt 4 cables will universally provide the fully-rated interface speed that host and device support. This solves many tech support issues regarding cable length, speed and power delivery.”

Read the full interview here – it is worth your time.


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Tip #1128: Apple Wins Engineering Emmy

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Apple won an Engineering Emmy for the ProRes family of codecs.

Television Academy logo.

Topic $TipTopic

Apple won a Engineering Emmy for exceptional engineering development which will be announced at the Oct. 29 Emmy Awards ceremony.

According to the announcement from the Academy:

Engineering Emmys are presented to an individual, company or organization for developments in engineering that are either so extensive an improvement on existing methods or so innovative in nature that they materially affect the production, recording, transmission or reception of television. This year the Academy is recognizing nine companies and five individuals with the prestigious award.

Apple was specifically honored for its ProRes family of codecs. As the Academy wrote:

Introduced in 2007, Apple ProRes has become a ubiquitous video codec in the film and television industry. It offers excellent preservation of source video quality and, thanks to innovative algorithm design, fast encoding and ultra-fast decoding. These two properties—combined with Apple’s industry licensing and certification support—make ProRes among the most widely used codecs for end-to-end content-creation workflows: from high-quality acquisition to high-performance editing, color correction, broadcast ingest and playout, and FX creation to master content distribution and archiving.

Joining Apple for Engineering Awards this year are:

  • Codex – for high-speed data migration of RAW content
  • Dan Dugan – for gain sharing automatic microphone mixing
  • Epic Games – for the Unreal Engine
  • Re:Vision Effects – for optical flow-based video tools
  • Sound Radix – for Auto-Align Post for audio phase/time corrections
  • Bill Spitzak, Jonathan Egstad, Peter Crossley and Jerry Huxtable – for Nuke.

Here’s an Apple summary of the ProRes codec family.


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Tip #1129: What is the Alpha Channel?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Invented in the 1970’s, alpha channels are an indispensable workhorse for visual effects.

Topic $TipTopic

Invented in the 1970’s by Alvy Ray Smith, Techopedia defines the alpha channel as a color component that represents the degree of transparency (or opacity) of a color (i.e., the red, green and blue channels). It is used to determine how a pixel is rendered when blended with another.

The alpha channel controls the transparency or opacity of a color. Its value can be represented as a real value, a percentage, or an integer: full transparency is 0.0, 0% or 0, whereas full opacity is 1.0, 100% or 255, respectively.

When a color (source) is blended with another color (background), e.g., when an image is overlaid onto another image, the alpha value of the source color is used to determine the resulting color. If the alpha value is opaque, the source color overwrites the destination color; if transparent, the source color is invisible, allowing the background color to show through. If the value is in between, the resulting color has a varying degree of transparency/opacity, which creates a translucent effect.

The alpha channel is used primarily in alpha blending and alpha compositing.

ALPHA COMPOSITING

Wikipedia defines “alpha compositing” as:

In computer graphics, alpha compositing is the process of combining one image with a background to create the appearance of partial or full transparency. It is often useful to render picture elements (pixels) in separate passes or layers and then combine the resulting 2D images into a single, final image called the composite. Compositing is used extensively in film when combining computer-rendered image elements with live footage. Alpha blending is also used in 2D computer graphics to put rasterized foreground elements over a background.

In order to combine the picture elements of the images correctly, it is necessary to keep an associated matte for each element in addition to its color. This matte layer contains the coverage information—the shape of the geometry being drawn—making it possible to distinguish between parts of the image where something was drawn and parts that are empty.

Although the most basic operation of combining two images is to put one over the other, there are many operations, or blend modes, that are used.


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Tip #1130: Not All Proxy Files are the Same

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Proxies are smaller files than camera masters, but not all proxies are equal.

Topic $TipTopic

While working on my webinar this week on Multicam Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro I started looking into proxy files. By definition, a proxy file is a smaller file than the camera native file is is derived from. But not all proxy files are created equal.

  • Final Cut Pro X, for example, defaults to ProRes Proxy for all proxy files.
  • Premiere Pro provides the choice of H.264, ProRes or Cineform. (DNx is reserved for 360° VR video.)

H.264 provides the smallest files. Based on my tests, H.264 files are about 1/10 the size of ProRes Proxy, while ProRes Proxy is about 1/10 the size of ProRes 422. But, due to the GOP-compression that H.264 uses, these files are less efficient to edit; especially on slower systems.

  • If you are looking for smooth playback and faster rendering, ProRes Proxy is a better choice.
  • If you are looking for the smallest files, for example, to transfer over the web for another editor to work on, H.264 is a better choice. Just remember that H.264 will require a newer computer with a fast CPU to edit effectively.

The webinar has more details on all of these.


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