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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is "TimeScapes" the first 4K film ever sold to the public?

Tom, I just passed along the purchase link to the folks at Sony who are responsible for the VPL-VW1000ES. It would be a great demo for their dealers. Back in March I got to play with the VW1000ES at Sony. I looked at some 4K RED material that I converted to Cineform and the 2560 Timescapes trailer. Can't wait to see the full 4K version of Timescapes. I think you definitely are the first to sell a 4K movie to consumers. Very cool.
 
Tom Lowe said:
Yep. If you guys have any specific ideas for film or tech blogs that might be interested in this 4K story, could you post them here?
Click to expand...

Tom, you are right. I do not see any 4K movie sold to the public at this moment.
You are setting history here.

Could you make iPad3 specific version and post it in Apple Store.
I mean 2048x1152 version.

As you remember we converted your sample TimeScapes clip to 2048 and it look stunning on iPad3 retina display

You get exposure to millions of Apple Store users in an instant.
Apple is selling couple of millions of iPads a day
People that sale $.99 iPad applications made 7 digit profit just in first 3 months of having app introduced.

Think about it, maybe you should post your movie in 720p, HD, 2K, 2.6K, QHD and 4K on apple store in the movie section. This could become in fact standard reference movie for 4K.

Add some color and pixel test patters and colorimetric tune-up section and here it goes, 2K/4K hi-res reference movie.

So far I am using two apps there for Colorimetric calculation, but nothing for 4K reference and setup there.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colorimeter-digital-color/id371113568?mt=8
or
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deltae-lab/id449045579?mt=8



Tom, I didn’t offend you did I?

Just few crazy ideas after few sips of strong morning coffee.
 
Gabriele Turchi said:
TOM:
how did you guys ended the 4K version for the download release ? what encoder and what file size ?

thanks
g
Click to expand...

h.264 on the higher levels. However, many computers are incapable of decoding such a file and I'm 100% certain that no stand-alone media player could do it either, at least none of the current ones I know of. You can certainly play it on a high-end computer with the right GPU hardware and such. One of the reasons why I'm looking forward to next year's Haswell CPU/GPU launch is that it will bring 4K displays and video to the masses and that means Tom and any other filmmaker who chooses to go the 4K route can reach the audience that can take advantage of it.
 
L. Langer said:
h.264 on the higher levels. However, many computers are incapable of decoding such a file and I'm 100% certain that no stand-alone media player could do it either, at least none of the current ones I know of. You can certainly play it on a high-end computer with the right GPU hardware and such. One of the reasons why I'm looking forward to next year's Haswell CPU/GPU launch is that it will bring 4K displays and video to the masses and that means Tom and any other filmmaker who chooses to go the 4K route can reach the audience that can take advantage of it.
Click to expand...

well i asked Tom to actually know ... also i am interested on the encoder ... so "most likely " does not actually answer my question.

g
 
Gabriele Turchi said:
well i asked Tom to actually know ... also i am interested on the encoder ... so "most likely " does not actually answer my question.

g
Click to expand...

I didn't say "most likely". I gave you the factual answer that you asked for because I know it straight from Tom's own mouth as he posted exactly what you wanted to know on this forum yesterday. Any high-end h.264 encoder, of which there are quite a few, does the job.
 
Kristin Stewart said:
So, from a practical point of view, how do I watch this 4K H264 files on USB stick ?

Kristin
Click to expand...

You don't. It's for bleeding edge multi-media systems with high-end hardware that can handle high-bitrate content. The kind of system that you'd either build or have built for you.

Here's the text from the ordering page...

The TimeScapes 4k version is only suitable for displays with a 4K resolution.
The file is a single 32 Gigabyte mp4, with a bit rate of 90 Mbits at 4096 x 2304 pixels.
We will send you a file to copy to your computer, so we cannot offer refunds or returns.
Please ensure your system can play back a file like this. You will likely need a very fast hard drive or a RAID system and a multi core processor.

In short, you're talking about a high-end quad-core setup using SSDs for file storage, lots of memory with a 64-bit OS running from a dedicated SSD, the latest 64-bit media players and codecs (kinda wonky right now since it's experimental), a 4K capable Nvidia or AMD GPU (the latest and greatest) and a 4K display.
 
L. Langer said:
You don't. It's for bleeding edge multi-media systems with high-end hardware that can handle high-bitrate content. The kind of system that you'd either build or have built for you.

Here's the text from the ordering page...

The TimeScapes 4k version is only suitable for displays with a 4K resolution.
The file is a single 32 Gigabyte mp4, with a bit rate of 90 Mbits at 4096 x 2304 pixels.
We will send you a file to copy to your computer, so we cannot offer refunds or returns.
Please ensure your system can play back a file like this. You will likely need a very fast hard drive or a RAID system and a multi core processor.

In short, you're talking about a high-end quad-core setup using SSDs for file storage, lots of memory with a 64-bit OS running from a dedicated SSD, the latest 64-bit media players and codecs (kinda wonky right now since it's experimental), a 4K capable Nvidia or AMD GPU (the latest and greatest) and a 4K display.
Click to expand...

It's not that difficult, 4K is achievable on entry level computers.

The trick is using the right software with the right configuration. I have tried it on a $500 AMD A6-3400M laptop with a 5400rpm drive and 4GB RAM and no discrete GPU. 4K X264 @ 200 Mb/s files work just fine. Remember, 90 Mbit is only 11 MB/s, which is pretty easy for even the slowest of hard drives, so no RAID or SSD required.

Of course, if you try playing with VLC you will only see a slideshow.

Here's what works, and should on average computers running Windows 7:

Frontend: Media Player Classic
Renderer: Overlay Mixer (the default is EVR which will work on reasonably powerful computer, but for laptops and such this needs to be changed. If you have a powerful GPU, MadVR will work too for excellent quality)
Decoder: ffdshow DXVA (If you have a quad core CPU, go for ffdshow software minus DXVA)

Intel IGPs are not going to work. If you use OS X, Quicktime won't work at all and VLC will require a powerful system like the ones you mention. The best bet would be MplayerX but I haven't found it to be very stable and would still require a quad core CPU. On Linux, use any ffdshow frontend and disable VDPAU.

4K display is a different matter, but they should go mainstream by 2013 (starting late 2012). The good news is every new GPU or APU released in 2012 supports 4K outputs.
 
Tom Lowe said:
Yep. If you guys have any specific ideas for film or tech blogs that might be interested in this 4K story, could you post them here?
Click to expand...

Slashdot.org
reddit.com
gizmodo.com
engadget.com
techcrunch.com
boingboing.com
 
Hey guys, here's the correct file information for the 4K H264 version. We are going to update the website soon.

The file is 14Gb, H264 Main 5.1, VBR 2-pass with Target bitrate of 40MB and max bitrate of 80MB. We will offer both direct downloads and files on USB sticks -- your choice.

I also encoded 2560x1440 versions.

My 1080p version is optimized for the iPad 3. It's roughly 4GB, and it's fucking beautiful on the iPad 3! Like, stunning. I cannot wait for the new Samsung tab with 2560x1440!
 
Tom Lowe said:
The file is 14Gb, H264 Main 5.1, VBR 2-pass with Target bitrate of 40MB and max bitrate of 80MB. We will offer both direct downloads and files on USB sticks -- your choice.
Click to expand...
The Bytes and bits are the wrong way around there. I'm pretty sure you meant the file is 14GB and the bitrates are 40Mbps to 80Mbps.
 
Tom Lowe said:
My 1080p version is optimized for the iPad 3. It's roughly 4GB, and it's fucking beautiful on the iPad 3! Like, stunning. I cannot wait for the new Samsung tab with 2560x1440!
Click to expand...

I agree with stunning but 1920x1080 is giving bad moire. (not visible on fast moving objects)

2048 for iPad3 would be much better.
 
Yeah, we are definitely gonna hit up Gizmodo and endgadget.

BTW, our 4K strategy is changing a bit. We are going back to a 30GB 4K file on a USB stick, but will also be offering a higher-end version, for real home-theater buffs -- a 130GB Cineform 4:2:2 version of the film that will ship on a USB 3.0 external drive. Still working out pricing and such.
 
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