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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 :)

Light Iron LiVE PLAY

Just downloaded it today, doing a two camera RED shoot. its foolishly easy to use, and the video streaming is awesome. The trickiest part was finding a good speed/performance point for generating h.264 out of RCX. I searched the forums for 2 minutes then decided to just do some tests.

Coming out of my MacBook Pro (17" 2.2 GhZ i7 256GB SSD) -> connected to source data via expresscard -> esata adapter
I think I settled on:

- 1280x720 res
- 1/4 debayer (just for being able to still ~somewhat~ judge critical focus), although there was some balance between bitrate and debayer, in my observation
- Quicktime => H.264
- FPS 23.98 (matching source)
- Key frame every 24
- limit data rate to 160 KBytes
- Frame Reordering: ON
- Optimize for: Download
- Encoding Mode: Single Pass
- Quality: Best

This with a quick one light I did to punch up the footage a bit- exports reasonably quickly, and I think ill be able to do a days footage off two cameras into dailies overnight... I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Also feel free to chime in about those export settings, especially if thee are better ones. Short of having a Teradek Cube, (which now that Im reading up on them seems really worthwhile) I feel that this seemed a reasonable "homebrew" solution using only liveplay server and RCX

EDIT: I've never had the chance to stream to ipads before, nor have i used live play, and was able to get it set up in about 10 minutes. the rest of the 2 hours was just encoding tests, so I think thats a win for ~real world~ usability? I also showed it to a camera op, the DP and a producer. they all seemed pretty stoked!
 
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VARIATIONS ON LiVE PLAY

VARIATIONS ON LiVE PLAY

Zack-

Thanks for the feedback. Greatly appreciated.

Here are some ideas for you and others for improving the speed of creating clips for LiVE PLAY.

In REDCine-X, debayering to a small intraframe codec (like ProRes LT) is remarkably more efficient than a GOP format like H.264. Even without a ROCKET on a 15" MacBook Pro, the 1/4res decode to 720p LT is about 3x real time.
The same 1/4res decode direct to 720p H.264 is about 50x real time, hence your overnight render.
If you take an intraframe ProRes file and use it to create the H.264, the render time will decrease substantially (as well as eliminate a gamma shift) to 3x real time.

For users that do not have ROCKET acceleration, I recommend a "cascade-processing" technique:
1. Setup your render cue in REDCine-X, Storm, Resolve, etc.
2. Render out 1/4res intraframe Quicktime movies to a single directory (ProRes LT is lightweight and medium fidelity)
3. Create an H.264 encoding droplet in Compressor based on similar settings you shared before (I set my bitrates to around 2500Kbs/2.5 Megabits per second)
4. Then choose FILE>CREATE DROPLET and save out out a Compressor Droplet (.app) and name it "LP_H.264"
5. Double-click the LP_H.264 Droplet and set the target render directory to your Root Asset Directory in LiVE PLAY Server
6. Export files from REDCine-X as ProRes (3x real-time and usable in NLEs)
7. Drag+Drop rendered clips atop the LP_H.264 Droplet and automatically create the H.264s that submit to LiVE PLAY Server and all networked iPads

By doing it this way, you create BOTH a ProRes and an H.264 in the same amount of time because you can create them simultaneously. With a Rocket, you knock down this entire process to approximately real-time, which means you can take 60 minutes of footage and create 60 minutes of ProRes and H.264 in one hour. And as each clip is processed, it is instantly available on LiVE PLAY - meaning you do not have to wait for the entire batch to finish before sharing the clips to unlimited iPad users.

For even more automated improvements, you can build your own Apple Script Watch Folder (helpful tutorial link below) which means you simply submit files in REDCine-X and the rest happens 100% automatically in the background. Clips simply "appear" on iPads with no direct managing by the operator. It's a powerful tool and a fun parlor trick that makes LiVE PLAY very practical even if you don't access to a ROCKET, Teradek Cube or a Matrox Compress HD card. But by scaling up the hardware options around LiVE PLAY, the system becomes more robust with literally zero delay after the director calls "CUT!"

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/01/30/folder-actions-for-os-x-explained-with-real-world-examples/

m
 
Thanks for the tips Michael!

Ill try that today. All the clips rendered out great, but It will definitely be cool to see if I can do better on the timing, sans extra toys. -> although as soon as i can afford it, ill probably look into getting a Cube, and adding a nice router to my cart!

This is going to also make my life infinitely better by getting on-set playback off my plate as well, which is a service I find myself increasingly providing on the smaller indie sets for script sup, wardrobe, makeup, etc...

Bam, set up the liveplay server, tell them to get an ipad, or just give them mine. This is really a great app Michael (not that I have to tell you that), looking forward to see how it develops.

Only a couple things right off the bat:

One is the login screen. Understanding the need for security here, absolutely necessary on high profile sets. But would it be possible to get a "remember my user/login" toggle? I find that ipads have multiple uses on set, for those that have them. Even if only for remembering the username, this would have a better feel to me than having to fully log in every time you switch to the app. Username only would be a good compromise while still maintaining security? haven't actually tested NOT using a password yet, seeing as the director is walking around with my ipad new viewing dailies- is that an option?

Two: when you select an asset from the list, it immediately begins streaming, but the asset list doesn't hide itself, so you actually have to tap on the video area if you want to see the whole frame. This same thing goes for the asset list when you first open the program -> i could also see the asset list opening automatically before you have loaded first clip, skipping another unnecessary finger tap.

Three: swiping through to next / previous takes is really cool, but the director seems to be having a bit of a problem when hes trying to scrub trough a take instead of changing the take he is on. anyway to toggle disable clip swipe for "fat" fingers? (since we already have buttons and a dropdown to change clips, i think some might prefer not having it enabled)

Four: although this is really more of a plus than anything 'missing' from the program: some people like screengrabs for continuity / etc. being able to go full screen then use the shortcut to take a screenshot is really great! no more messing with Snapshots out of RCX and copying them to peoples flashdrives, etc.

Alright. Enough of my rambling for now!
 
Great ideas, Zach-
You can go with a user and leave the password blank that that works. I'll look into the idea of having a "no security" option on LP Server - to which the operator has more control over the security depth.

Asset Browser disappears after 10 seconds. We used to have it shorter, but it was decided amongst beta testers that it should disappear after about 10 seconds. We can split the difference to 5. How about that?

SWIPE function can be addressed a bit. Part of the problem is that SWIPE commands are largely dictated by Apple and we can choose to use it or not to, but making small tweaks to it is not always possible. Will look into that.

Screengrabs will be coming. Obviously you have the PDF export with thumbnails, but you can also use the iPad "frame grab" by pressing the HOME and SLEEP button simultaneously to get the still to go to the iPad photo library for emailing or downloading later.

Keep the suggestions coming. Everyone benefits.
m
 
Michael, does Liveplay allow for Live monitoring from a teradek on an iOS device? Or is it specifically for instant-lies/dailies/hourlies?

Thanks!

EDIT: I see now that live streaming was mentioned earlier in this thread as an upcoming feature.
 
Jonathan-
Correct - live streaming will be an upgrade, but the limitation with live streaming is that as action is happening, it's very difficult to look away from a performance or video village to an iPad and make notes. LiVE PLAY is mainly designed to aid in the areas of VTR playback - but as live streaming is practical in many situations, it will be a feature released in a future update.
m
 
Michael Cioni said:
Jonathan-
Correct - live streaming will be an upgrade, but the limitation with live streaming is that as action is happening, it's very difficult to look away from a performance or video village to an iPad and make notes. LiVE PLAY is mainly designed to aid in the areas of VTR playback - but as live streaming is practical in many situations, it will be a feature released in a future update.
m
Click to expand...

Gotcha! I'm mostly interested in iPad monitoring for a nice, wireless, portable solution for onset monitoring for the director. As long as the latency isn't too much, I would think it'd be preferable in most situations to carry around an iPad rather than a big monitor on a C-Stand...

Thanks for the info!
 
Michael Cioni said:
We've been able to bundle all the features of LiVE PLAY so that owners now have full access to unlimited users, secure playback, full collaboration and exporting for the stand-alone price of $34.99.
Click to expand...

Wait, so there is no daily $19.99 fee anymore per iPad for collaboration? Is that correct? Everything works for a one-time $34.99?
 
Quick post from on set. EVERYONE LOVES IT. I feel like a magician. The VFX guys are giddy, making notes, etc. The DP is shooting some matching stuff and has my ipad infront of video village to reference the reverse angles we shot yesterday. All the department heads want an ipad now, and to buy the app.

Im just starting to delve into reports now, which are less initially obvious / are taking me more time to really explore than getting that core streaming functionality set up, but the PDFs look like they will be useful once populated, and the still sequences on the reports are also great. Havent watched any videos on how to properly use reports yet though, just trying to see if i can figure it out before looking at any manual.

And yeah, 5 second asset browser fade allows time for slate, or allows you to quickly visually select a new clip if you accidentally choose the wrong one. makes perfect sense. 10 does feel a little long!

Adjusting metadata view settings/permission requires one to close the app and log in again, correct? (that, or we are super impatient)

(I feel dumb, and super nerdy, but we are all really blown away, and happy/excited)
 
Hi Michael,

Downloaded the app and used it on set today. I put our company logo into the "Document Info", "Logos" field via drag and drop and it appears okay in there but when I export a PDF report I get 5 pages of our logo that is mostly cut off and the last page has the thumbs and necessary metadata. Also, I don't see a way of getting rid of the Logo either. Could you shed some light into this? Do the logos need to be a specific resolution? Also, is it just a bug that it displays on the first 5 pages of the PDF or am I doing something wrong?

Also, I'd like to change a projects root directory in the LivePlay Server, but it doesn't seem to let me do so? It seems I have to create a new project but if i do that it doesn't keep the custom fields I've created. Is this possible to either transfer the fields information or simply just change the root directory which would allow me to keep my custom fields in tact?

Also, please see the attached screenshot from my iPad. This happened quite frequently today. I would enable all the Show and Edit functionality and hit apply then re-enter the app under the same username and the app wouldn't show the metadata tags. This would usually happen with at least two of the 5 tabs I had even though I could verify in the server they were all enabled.


Overall, I really enjoy the app and like the customization
 

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sander kamp said:
Wait, so there is no daily $19.99 fee anymore per iPad for collaboration? Is that correct? Everything works for a one-time $34.99?
Click to expand...

That's correct, Sander. LiVE PLAY has now been redesigned to have all the full features of unlimited collaboration for the single price of $34.99. This should be very helpful to people that want to work with collaboration or just playback without having to manage expiring licenses.
m
 
Michael Cioni said:
That's correct, Sander. LiVE PLAY has now been redesigned to have all the full features of unlimited collaboration for the single price of $34.99. This should be very helpful to people that want to work with collaboration or just playback without having to manage expiring licenses.
m
Click to expand...

That's wonderful news and a very wise decision! This will open up the door to a lot of productions.
 
LiVE PLAY for Lion

LiVE PLAY for Lion

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LP USERS:

LiVE PLAY only supports Leopard (10.6). If you are running on the new Lion (10.7) you will not be able to login.
A LiVE PLAY Server upgrade for Lion will be available next week on the Li website.

m
 
Just purchased the Live Play from Itunes.

Where can i download the LiVE Play Server?? Went to Light Iron website > downloads - only a "Coming Soon" page ???

I am not using Lion O/S

Lim
 
Jonathan Stevenson said:
Gotcha! I'm mostly interested in iPad monitoring for a nice, wireless, portable solution for onset monitoring for the director. As long as the latency isn't too much, I would think it'd be preferable in most situations to carry around an iPad rather than a big monitor on a C-Stand...

Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
You can already do this with the Teradek cube. :)
 
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