Nexio® G8™ Video Guide - Imagine Communications
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1. Imagine COMMUNICATIONS QW Application Note Nexio G8 Video Guide 7 8 2014 Edition A Delivering the Moment imaginecommunicati Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note Publication Information 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential Imagine Communications considers this document and its contents to be proprietary and confidential Except for making a reasonable number of copies for your own internal use you may not reproduce this publication or any part thereof in any form by any method for any purpose or in any language other than English without the written consent of Imagine Communications All others uses are illegal This publication is designed to assist in the use of the product as it exists on the date of publication of this manual and may not reflect the product at the current time or an unknown time in the future This publication does not in any way warrant description accuracy or guarantee the use for the product to which it refers Imagine Communications reserves the right without notice to make such changes in equipment design specifications components or documentation as progress may warrant to improve the performance of the product Trademarks Nexio G8 Nexio G Scribe and Nexio TitleOne are trademarks or trade names of Imagine Communications or its subsidiaries Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporatio2. V when played within G Scribe The video bit rate is hardcoded to 300 Mb s for fill and 80 Mb s for alpha Note As with audio the trims loops metadata and thumbnails set within GCap are only recognized by G Scribe This information is stored within an xm_scribe file for each LTV This utility is available on G7 and G8 systems See the Utilities chapter in the G Scribe User Manual to learn how to use the GCap utility Convert to LTV Tab Within the GCap utility switch to the Convert to LTV tab to build an LTV file from a series of individual image files The Convert to LTV tab contains settings for shaping video standard and bit rate The image files used are typically a series of TGA files The LTV file s fill and alpha bit rate can be set to optimum Mb s values depending on the video standard and compression settings After Effects Plugin The After Effects plugin opens within After Effects and converts After Effects projects to LTV files with control over bit depth bit rate video standard field order and a choice of compressed or uncompressed encoding The LTV file s fill and alpha bit rate can be set to optimum MB s values depending on the video standard and compression settings See the After Effects notes to learn how to install and use the plugin 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 8
3. e 8 bit or 10 bit video bit depth Increasing bit depth can improve the appearance of complex video material 10 bit support is forthcoming Currently only 8 bit video depth is supported Choice of uncompressed or a configurable fill and alpha bit rate The best setting to use depends on the complexity of the fill and alpha information Uncompressed support is forthcoming Currently only compressed video is supported Choice of video standard and interlaced or progressive encoding When creating interlaced LTV files we recommend using upper field first for PAL and HD files and lower field first for NTSC files Setting of non destructive trim and loop points Adding of metadata such as notes and keywords This metadata is accessible within the G Scribe Store module Choosing a Bit Rate An LTV file s fill and alpha bit rate can be set to optimum values depending on the video standard and compression settings The best setting to use depends on the complexity of the fill and alpha information Values that are too high will produce larger LTV files which require more disk space and disk bandwidth during playback and values that are too low will produce compression artifacts Note The After Effects plugin measures bit depth by MB s megabytes per second and the Convert to LTV tab measures bit depth by Mb s megabits per second To convert megabits to megabytes divide the number of megabits by eight Shaped Premultiplied Ve
4. er files which require more disk space and disk bandwidth during playback and values that are too low will produce compression artifacts Complex layouts with many items require more CPU and GPU resources than do simpler layouts If you find that your clips require too much time to set up or if the items in your layouts have difficulty playing you may need to simplify your content increase the time between transitions or lower your clip bit rate General Guidelines The following are general guidelines for creating G8 video clips Field Order We recommend the following field order settings when creating interlaced video clips HD Upper field first SD PAL Upper field first SD NTSC Upper field first Frame Rates Usually the content that is being ingested has already had its frame rate set in which case no change should be necessary The broadcast standards for each region should also be considered When creating content for progressive scan monitors be sure it is de interlaced 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 3 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note Resolution Video Clip Best Practices Scaled clips require more processing power than full size ones If you are creating complex layouts with many items and quick transitions consider rendering your clips at the same size as your video items if possible Codec Guidelines Each codec has its own ideal settings b
5. eyond the general guidelines listed above The following additional guidelines are for systems with Altitude Express or G411 hardware with Clip option 2x Opteron 2220 CPU 4 GB DDR 800 RAM Codec Guidelines Codec Guidelines H 264 The recommended HD bit rate for 1080p clips is 20 000 kbps LTV If you have Altitude Express or G411 hardware and wish to create LTV files please see LTV Cookbook MPEG 2 The recommended HD bit rate for 1080p clips is 15 000 kbps VIA ge foxes VIA animation files created for G8 should be rendered at 59 95 frames per second WMV Systems can handle a relatively high bit rate for both SD and HD WMV clips SD bit rate 5 000 8 000 kbps constant HD bit rate 8 000 kbps constant Below 8 000 kbps HD WMV clips generally show a noticeable degradation of quality 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 4 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note LTV Cookbook LTV Cookbook The LTV file format is a flexible high quality multimedia codec which plays natively on Altitude Express hardware The combination of LTV files and Altitude Express hardware is a key component of the superior playback ability of Nexio G Scribe for Altitude Express Nexio Channel ONE and Nexio RTX Net for Altitude Express systems Technical Details LTV files use Imagine Communications s proprietary CDW codec CDW is a simple intra field or frame wa
6. n All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective companies Contact Information Imagine Communications has office locations around the world For domestic and international location and contact information visit our Contact page http www imaginecommunications com company contact us aspx Support Contact Information For domestic and international support contact information see Support Contacts http www imaginecommunications com services technical support aspx eCustomer Portal http support imaginecommunications com Academy Training http www imaginecommunicationsacademy com 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 2 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note Video Clip Best Practices Video Clip Best Practices This is a list of best practices for different video clip codecs Start with these suggestions when creating video clips for your content Considerations G8 offers few restrictions when you create your content Keep the following considerations in mind during the design and troubleshooting of your content The size of finished clips varies considerably depending on the codec and the available options bit rate compression etc Be sure that you have enough drive space to store your clips Optimum bit rates depend on the video standard available compression settings and the complexity of the video Values that are too high will produce larg
7. rsus Unshaped Straight Fill LTV files are always encoded as shaped For this reason always ensure that the output of your Imagine Communications product is set to shaped mode otherwise you will experience keying issues When you create an LTV file with the GCap utility using the Convert to LTV tab you need to choose whether the source material has a shaped or unshaped key It is essential that you choose the same option shaped or unshaped that the source material was generated with Choosing a different option results in incorrect coloration of semi transparent areas and a halo around transparency gradients 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 6 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note LTV Cookbook Create LTV Files There are three ways to create LTV files each with its own set of features The method you use depends on your source material and the LTV features you require The GCap utility captures audio and video from live Altitude Express input feeds and saves to a variety of formats including LTV Use this method when you need to capture live media and when you require metadata or associated audio The Convert To LTV tab within the GCap Utility converts image sequences into LTV files Use this method when your source material is a sequence of images The plugin for Adobe After Effects converts After Effects projects into LTV files Use this method when your source material i
8. s created within After Effects The following table outlines the features and limitations of each method LTV Creation Comparison Feature GCap Convert to LTV tab After Effects Plugin Source material Live audio amp video Image sequences After Effects projects Set bit depth Yes Set bit rate for filland alpha Yes Mb s Yes MB s Select compressed or Yes uncompressed encoding Set shaped or unshaped fill Yes Yes Set video standard and field Yes Yes Yes order Set trim and loop points Yes Set thumbnail Yes Add metadata Yes Batch capture Yes Capture sidecar audio Yes Not currently supported The current settings of the Altitude Express board are automatically used To change these settings configure the board with the System Manager application GCap The GCap utility allows you to capture full screen high resolution video clips from live input feeds using the video settings of the Altitude Express board You can then trim the length of the captured video clip 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 7 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note LTV Cookbook to create shorter clips or loops add metadata such as keywords and notes and set a thumbnail for the clip GCap also allows you to simultaneously capture audio to a sidecar WAV file This file is automatically associated with the LT
9. velet codec with a block size of 16x2 a lowpass filter to improve compression and configurable fill and alpha bitrates It does not support multiplexing digital rights management technologies or video audio synchronization LTV files contain video fill and alpha information Audio support is provided by WAV file sidecar audio which can be captured with the GCap utility The size of finished LTV files vary greatly depending on the bit rate and amount of compression applied The most significant advantage of LTV files over other formats is the ability of the Altitude Express board to play LTV files natively as opposed to using CPU resources Using LTV Files in Imagine Communications Products You can use LTV files within Nexio G Scribe for Altitude Express Channel ONE and RTX Net for Altitude Express systems LTV Support in Imagine Communications Products Product LTV Support G Scribe for Altitude Express e Added to CG layouts as background clips e Added to G 3D layouts as background clips e Organized within the Media Store module Channel ONE e Added to InfoCasts as video clip items RTX Net for Altitude Express e Played using the HardwareVideoEffect class 2014 Imagine Communications Proprietary and Confidential 7 8 2014 Page 5 Nexio G8 Video Guide Application Note LTV Cookbook Settings Depending on your encoding method the following options are available when you capture or convert an LTV fil
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