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Professional cloud workflow platform
Simplified media management

Kollaborate Server 1.3.2 and Kollaborate Encoder 1.0.1 - Python scripting, simplified sharing

Kollaborate Server 1.3.2 was released late last week, offering some great new additions to our in-house cloud workflow platform for video professionals.

Save playback position

Kollaborate Server will automatically play back files where you left off, making it seamless to switch between home and office or desktop and mobile. This is also supported by the latest versions of CinePlay for Mac and CinePlay for iOS.

This setting can be disabled in Actions > Playback Settings in the player.

Simplified sharing

It's now easier than ever to share files with clients outside your project. We've reduced the number of clicks required to share a file and made it much easier to track links across the entire project.

Plus you can get additional statistics including when a recipient last viewed the link and the timecode position at which they stopped viewing.

You can also relink to a different file so that you can silently fix problems without needing to send the person another link.

Python scripting (beta)

The Python scripting beta has been incorporated into Kollaborate Server 1.3.2. It is considered beta so we welcome all feedback. You can find more about how to script Kollaborate Server in the Scripting Guide.

Other changes


  • Project alerts - Easily see the most recent changes to a project with the project alert dropdown at the top right of the screen
  • The Users section of the player now shows the last time a user viewed a file
  • Import markers via FCPX XML
  • Marker colors are now respected when importing from FCP 7 XML
  • Right-click the Files page to add a new folder or comment stream
  • You can now add up to 25 linked accounts to your subscription
  • Various UI improvements

Kollaborate Encoder 1.0.1

We've also released Kollaborate Encoder 1.0.1 which adds support for higher-resolution encoding (you need to activate this from Kollaborate Server itself by visiting yoursite.com/beta) and offers several encoding optimizations.

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 Jun 24 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Kollaborate
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Pro Media Tools 1.3.7 - batch rotate and flip QuickTime movies

Earlier this week we released Pro Media Tools 1.3.7, a minor update to our suite of Mac media management tools.

Batch rotate and flip QuickTime movies

QT Edit can now rotate, flip and flop QuickTime movies, either individually or in a batch. This is useful if videos were shot in landscape on a phone but are incorrectly rotated to portrait. It can also be helpful in situations where a lens adapter or other camera accessory is causing video to be recorded upside down.

Other changes

 

  • QT Edit - Videos can now be batch rotated, flipped and flopped
  • QT Edit - Conform improvements
  • QT Edit - Improved detection of non-HFS file systems
  • QT Edit - Added an option to disable non-HFS file system check
  • Various other bug fixes, tweaks and improvements

Pro Media Tools is an essential toolkit for media professionals. 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 May 21 2015 to DR News, Front Page News, Pro Media Tools
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Kollaborate 1.3.2 - restore playback position, simplified sharing and project alerts

Kollaborate 1.3.2 is now live on the cloud, offering some great new additions to our cloud workflow platform for video professionals.

Save playback position

Kollaborate will automatically play back files where you left off, making it seamless to switch between home and office or desktop and mobile. A corresponding update for our Mac / iOS player apps will be released soon.

This setting can be disabled in Actions > Playback Settings in the player.

Simplified sharing

It's now easier than ever to share files with clients outside your project. We've reduced the number of clicks required to share a file and made it much easier to track links across the entire project.

Plus you can get additional statistics including when a recipient last viewed the link and the timecode position at which they stopped viewing.

You can also relink to a different file so that you can silently fix problems without needing to send the person another link.

Project alerts

Easily see the most recent changes to a project with the project alert dropdown at the top right of the screen.

Large thumbnails

We've enlarged the size of thumbnails to make it easier to locate and tell the difference between clips. This affects all uploads from now on but if you want to apply it to existing files, you can go to Actions > Set Thumb to Current Frame in the player.

A new Kollaborate Transfer 1.3 beta has been released with support for the larger thumbnail size. Our other uploading apps will be updated later this week.

Other changes


  • The Users section of the player now shows the last time a user viewed a file
  • Import markers via FCPX XML
  • Marker colors are now respected when importing from FCP 7 XML
  • Right-click the Files page to add a new folder or comment stream
  • You can now add up to 25 linked accounts to your subscription
  • Various UI improvements

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 May 13 2015 to Kollaborate, DR News, Front Page News
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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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