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Kollaborate Server Scripting Beta 1 - integrate with in-house databases through Python

We've just released Kollaborate Server Scripting Beta 1, which allows you to integrate our cloud workflow platform with in-house databases and tools through the Python scripting language.

Usage examples include integrating tasks with an in-house calendar or work-order system, automatically backing up uploaded files, sending custom shared link emails, logging employee performance and sending files to a playout server when they are approved.

The scripting functionality works by calling functions in a custom Python script based on certain events, such as when a file is uploaded or a comment is added to a file. Contextual information is passed on such as the text of the comment, the timecode position, who added it and the file it was added to. The current implementation is passive - events can be responded to but not triggered - and in future versions we plan to integrate it with our REST API when it is made public.

We're releasing this early version to start a dialogue with our customers about exactly what information and events their in-house scripts need access to, so please feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions.

The beta is open to any Kollaborate Server customers with valid maintenance or a trial and can be downloaded from the Kollaborate Server site after logging in.

(If Python is not your language of choice or your in-house scripts use another language, you can run other languages from the command-line within Python. More details are available in the Scripting Guide.)

Posted by Jon Chappell on May 6 2015 to Kollaborate, DR News, Front Page News
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CinePlay 1.2.1 for Mac released

We've just released CinePlay 1.2.1, a minor update to our professional Mac media player.

In addition to many bug fixes, optimizations and UI tweaks, we've listened to your feedback and added the option to burn a matte directly into frame grabs taken within CinePlay.

CinePlay is a professional Mac media player complete with timecode and safe area overlays, markers, annotations and full cloud playback, note-taking and real-time integration with our Kollaborate cloud workflow platform.

To find out more, view the feature list, watch the overview video, read the user manual or download the free 15-day trial.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Apr 22 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Utilities
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Kollaborate Server 1.3.1 released with Kollaborate Encoder 1.0

Last week we released Kollaborate Server 1.3.1, a minor update to our in-house workflow and review platform for video professionals.

This update coincides with Kollaborate Encoder 1.0, which allows you to transcode uploaded video and audio files to playable formats in-house on your own servers. If you have a large volume of files being uploaded at once you can even combine multiple Kollaborate Encoder servers to handle them simultaneously. Kollaborate Encoder is available as a separate purchase but is included free with Kollaborate Server Unlimited licenses. All existing customers, regardless of their current license type, have been given free Kollaborate Encoder licenses.

In addition, it supports all of the features of the cloud version including:

Toggle email alerts

Kollaborate alerts team members to your actions like uploading a file or making a comment. However, in some situations you may not necessarily want this, so you can now temporarily switch off notifications for your actions when you want to silently upload a file or add a user.

Multi-Factor Authentication (Beta)

Improve the security of your account by tying it to a phone. When you login you will be asked for an additional code from the phone, meaning it is very difficult for someone to access your account without having physical access to your phone, even if they know your password.

This feature is currently in beta and we welcome all feedback. Note that this currently only applies to logins directly through our site but logins through our apps will be added soon.

Various Team improvements

It's now easier to change the positions of team members in your project by choosing from the dropdown menu instead of having to enter editing mode.

We've also added the ability to import and export to vCard format to integrate with your contacts in other tools like Gmail and Outlook.

Plus you can now invite multiple users at once to the same department and position by separating their email addresses with commas.

Kollaborate is a cloud workflow platform designed to help you work better with colleagues and clients. Upload files to the cloud, have them reviewed by others and then export their notes back to your editing application. Kollaborate Server gives you all of those features in-house on your own servers and storage. To find out more, view the feature list or sign up for the free no-obligation 15-day cloud trial (no credit card needed). Trials of Kollaborate Server are available on request.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Apr 13 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Kollaborate
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Pro Maintenance Tools 2.1.1 released with improved FCPX repairing

We've just released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.1.1, a free update to our suite for maintaining, optimizing and troubleshooting your editing system.

Improved FCPX event repair

Several customers have sent us events that can no longer be opened in FCPX due to corrupt stabilization data. Project Repair can now remove all stabilization information to fix such events.

We're planning to expand on this in future updates to strip out other commonly-corrupted parts including third-party effects.

Improved FCPXML repair

Sometimes FCPX will generate corrupt XML that cannot be reimported. XML Repair can now fix the common "Element audio does not carry attribute ref" error.

Other changes

 

  • Housekeeper - Support for trashing Avid image caches
  • Preference Manager - Improved compatibility with OS X's preference caching mechanism
  • Updated Crash Analyzer definitions

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for media professionals that is used by freelancers and major studios alike. To find out more, view the feature list, read the user manual, watch the overview video or download the free 15-day trial.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Apr 6 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Pro Maintenance Tools
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Kollaborate storage boost and higher-resolution beta

Yesterday we boosted the storage space for all of our Kollaborate subscribers completely free of charge. The Freelance package now offers 15 GB instead of 12 GB and we've boosted all of the packages up to Network Plus, which jumps from 500 GB to 600 GB. These changes have been activated for all new and existing subscribers with no action required from users.

We also unveiled a beta version of Kollaborate Transfer 1.3. This update encodes files to a higher resolution, resulting in improved visual quality when viewed full screen on a large display. This will eventually become the default resolution on the site but we're releasing the beta to get customer feedback and fine-tune the encoding profile. Please use the Feedback link on the site if you have any questions or comments.

Once we've determined that this works well, we will make it opt-in for our other apps and the cloud encoder, before rolling it out for everyone by default.

Please also note that we will soon be making changes that will cause older versions of our apps to become inoperable. We will give plenty of warning before this occurs but we strongly recommend that all users remain on the very latest versions of our apps for best compatibility with Kollaborate.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Apr 1 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Kollaborate
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Kollaborate 1.3.1 - switch off alerts, 2-step authentication, Team improvements

Kollaborate 1.3.1 is a minor update to our cloud workflow platform for video professionals.

Temporarily switch off notifications

Kollaborate alerts team members to your actions like uploading a file or making a comment. However, in some situations you may not necessarily want this, so you can now temporarily switch off notifications for your actions when you want to silently upload a file or add a user.

Multi-Factor Authentication (Beta)

Improve the security of your account by tying it to a phone. When you login you will be asked for an additional code from the phone, meaning it is very difficult for someone to access your account without having physical access to your phone, even if they know your password.

This feature is currently in beta and we welcome all feedback. Note that this currently only applies to logins directly through our site but logins through our apps will be added soon.

Various Team improvements

It's now easier to change the positions of team members in your project by choosing from the dropdown menu instead of having to enter editing mode.

We've also added the ability to import and export to vCard format to integrate with your contacts in other tools like Gmail and Outlook.

Plus you can now invite multiple users at once to the same department and position by separating their email addresses with commas.

Import comments from FCP 7 XML

Comments can be imported from markers inside an FCP7 XML file which can be created by a variety of applications including Final Cut Pro 7 and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro users should note that in order for the markers to be imported, they need to have a name or comment assigned to them which Premiere does not create by default unless you edit the marker.

Other Changes

  • Many improvements to Advanced Search including the ability to search Favorites only
  • Archived projects can no longer have files uploaded to them
  • Various other tweaks and fixes

Kollaborate is a cloud workflow platform designed to help you work better with colleagues and clients. Upload files to the cloud, have them reviewed by others and then export their notes back to your editing application. To find out more, view the feature list or sign up for the free no-obligation 15-day trial (no credit card needed).

Posted by Jon Chappell on Mar 17 2015 to Kollaborate, Front Page News, DR News
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CinePlay 1.2 for Mac - image sequences, annotations, host Kollaborate Synced Sessions

CinePlay 1.2 is a major update to our Mac-based media player for video professionals.

Image sequence support

You can now play back image sequences stored in TIFF, BMP, PNG and JPEG formats. CinePlay caches intelligently so it works well even with very long sequences.

Annotations

Illustrate your comments by drawing over a video frame. Annotations are supported for both Kollaborate and locally-stored videos. Changing the color of the marker also changes the pen color to match.

Note: This feature is not yet supported by Kollaborate Server. It will be added in the next server update.

Host Kollaborate Synced Sessions

CinePlay has been able to join Synced Sessions for a while but can now host them too. You can create Synced Sessions and invite users directly within the app and can use the Kollaborate Browser to switch between files.

Synced Sessions allow you to control playback on colleagues' computers and direct them to parts of the movie you want them to see.

Kollaborate caching

CinePlay can now cache cloud files locally in situations where the user is on a slow internet connection. This is an option you must initiate manually by going to Cloud > Cache Current File. This downloads the file to your computer for fast scrubbing and playback but interacts with it as if it were stored on the cloud.

This is a useful option during a Synced Session when different users are on connections of different speeds.

Kollaborate approval

Kollaborate files marked as Needs Approval can now be approved or rejected, along with an optional comment, directly within CinePlay.

Additionally, the Kollaborate Browser now indicates the status of a file under the filename.

Major architecture overhaul

We've re-engineered the playback code within the app to be more modular. This potentially allows us to easily slot in additional formats that are not compatible with AV Foundation and this is something that we will explore in future updates.

Other changes


  • Metadata is now shown in the Info dialog
  • Remote files can be downloaded
  • Activity window allows you to queue up encoding or downloading tasks for a file
  • Kollaborate features have been moved to the Cloud menu
  • Hover over timeline to show timecode
  • Option to make full screen UI show constantly
  • Pause on marker option

CinePlay is an invaluable addition to any video professional's toolkit. To find out more, check the feature list, read the user manual, watch the overview video or download the free 15-day trial.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Feb 26 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Utilities
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Pro Maintenance Tools 2.1 - Plugin crash test improvements, improved Avid support

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.1 is a minor update to our suite of tools to maintain, optimize and troubleshoot Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer.

Plugin Crash Test improvements

The crash tester in Plugin Manager now supports FCPX, the FCPX trial, Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer. This makes it easier to locate a rogue plugin that is crashing your editing application at startup.

Improved Avid support in Housekeeper

Housekeeper can now trash Avid waveform caches and logs, providing easy ways to reduce disk space and troubleshoot problems.

Other changes

  • Plugin Manager - You can now show video / audio plugins only
  • Plugin Manager - Various UI improvements
  • Preference Manager - Minor bug fixes
  • Updated Crash Analyzer definitions
  • Various bug fixes and tweaks

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for media professionals that is used by freelancers and major studios alike. To find out more, view the feature list, read the user manual, watch the overview video or download the free 15-day trial.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Feb 10 2015 to Front Page News, DR News, Pro Maintenance Tools
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Cut Notes 2.4 for iPad - share button profiles with other devices

Cut Notes 2.4 is a major update to our iPad note-taking app for video and audio professionals.

Share button profiles

One of our top feature requests was the ability to share button configurations between multiple devices running Cut Notes. We've now made that really easy.

1. Go to the Settings menu and tap Export Buttons.

2. A Compose Mail dialog will appear along with a .cnbuttons file as an attachment.

3. Email the button profile to an account accessible on the other device.

4. On the other device, tap the .cnbuttons attachment then select Open in Cut Notes.

Note: in some cases it may be necessary to tap and hold for the popup to appear.

5. Cut Notes will launch and ask if you want to import the button profile. Tap Import and your current button configuration will be overwritten by the new profile.

We've also added the ability for Kollaborate project admins to modify the comments of others and fixed several bugs.

Cut Notes is a useful addition to any post production professional's toolkit. To find out more, visit the product page, read the user manual or watch the overview video.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Feb 5 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Utilities
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Video Space Calculator 1.2 for iOS - UI refresh, Blackmagic 4K support

Video Space Calculator 1.2 for iOS is a major update to our mobile codec data rate calculator.

In this version we've refreshed the UI with a darker theme and added support for the Blackmagic Raw 4K codec, in addition to tweaking some of the other codecs.

We've also added a settings menu that allows you to hide codecs you don't use so that you don't have to spend time scrolling around them, as well as giving you the opportunity to switch units so that 1 KB is 1000 Bytes instead of 1024.

The Mac version will be receiving a similar update soon.

Video Space Calculator is an essential tool for video professionals. To find out more, see our page on the App Store.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Feb 2 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Utilities
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