We've just launched Kollaborate 2.0 - a major update to our cloud workflow platform for video professionals.

Notification Changes

One of the key goals of Kollaborate is keeping people informed, but with the old system it could sometimes be difficult to balance the needs of people who wanted to know about every single change vs those who wanted a much looser connection to the project.

So we’ve now introduced the concept of subscriptions. By default, everyone will receive a periodic digest summarizing recent changes to the project in a single email. You can choose to receive this once an hour, every few hours, once a day or not at all. (If there are no changes to the project in that time you won’t receive an email.)

If you want to receive instant alerts like in the previous version, you can subscribe to a project, file or task. Subscribing to a project makes the behavior identical to the previous version and can be done by clicking the dropdown next to the project on the Projects page.

Subscribing to a file or task alerts you to instant changes involving that item but without switching on alerts for other files or tasks in the project. Some actions automatically subscribe you to a file - such as uploading or commenting on it. You can click the Subscribe button again on the file to unsubscribe.

File management improvements


We've rebuilt the Files page to behave more like a desktop browser like OS X Finder, including arrow key navigation, click to select, shift-click to select a range of files, etc.


QuickLook is also back but this time it behaves a lot more like the one in OS X. Press Space on a selected file to preview it without opening it. You can even QuickLook folders to peek inside them.




Thumbnail view and hoverscrub

You can now toggle between the traditional list view and a new thumbnail view. This provides fewer power user options but is a great way of graphically browsing through your files. 


We've also added hoverscrub thumbnails like in FCPX so you can browse through a file just by scrubbing your cursor over it. You also get a thumbnail view when you hover your mouse over the playhead in the player.


Additionally, audio files now show a thumbnail of their waveform instead of a generic icon.

(Note: we're still converting some of the existing files on the server so it might be a day or two before you see the hoverscrub thumbs show up for files you've already uploaded.)


To-Do Comments


Tap the checkbox icon in a comment to turn it into a to-do comment, then tap it again to mark it done. 


You can filter by to-do and choose to only export to-do comments to your NLE. 


Adobe Premiere panel


We've also launched an extension for Adobe Premiere that functions as both a file browser and task manager.

You can browse files in the cloud and download them directly into your project by double-clicking them. You can also import  markers into your current sequence. 


View your current to-dos, click on them to jump to that position in your timeline and then click the tick to mark them as complete.

The extension is currently Mac-only but will be available for Windows soon.

Dashboard

Dashboard is back - view recent project changes, assigned tasks, favorites, to-do comments and more at a glance. 


Storage boost

We've given both subscribers and trial users a storage boost.

Web Hooks (Beta)

Kollaborate can send events such as uploads or new comments to a third-party server for integrating with in-house databases and task managers.

Some examples of what you could use it for:

• Logging every file uploaded to a database
• Adding new tasks to your calendar management software
• Adding comments or tasks to your in-house work tracking system
• Sending custom email alerts to users
• Creating keywords or hashtags in comments that trigger certain behavior in your in-house systems

Note that web hook events are not immediate and will normally arrive after a few minutes. This is a beta feature so we're keen to hear how customers plan to use this feature and what additional data they need for integrating in-house.

Web Hooks can be switched on from your profile page and will only apply to projects you own.

Major architectural overhaul


We've made significant under-the-hood modifications to the service, not all of which are immediately noticeable to users, but they pave the way for significant features in the future.

One area we've made significant changes to is our API. This improves security by allowing you to approve or deny access to your account on a per-app basis. Did your laptop get stolen? Did you log into an app on your friend’s computer and accidentally forget to log out again? Not a problem - you will be able to revoke access on those devices remotely.

We’ve made the changes in such a way that the current apps still work, but this is only intended to be temporary. We will be releasing new versions of our apps in the coming weeks that support the new API and will be revoking access to older versions in the next few months. We’ll make a public announcement when that date is set so that users know when to update to newer versions.

As always, we take all feedback on board so please let us know what you think using the Feedback link on the site or by contacting us.

Kollaborate is an essential cloud workflow platform that allows you to share files with clients and team members while integrating with Digital Rebellion apps and services. To find out more, see the overview or register for the free trial.

Today we launched Kollaborate Folder Watcher, a free tool to automatically upload files to the Kollaborate cloud platform from your desktop.

Choose a folder on your system to watch for modifications - you can watch multiple folders and link them to different projects, or even to different departments or subfolders within a project. You can also set various preferences such as choosing between automatically converting all videos to playable copies or uploading the files as-is.

The app works on OS X 10.8 and higher but users running OS X 10.10 and above benefit from Finder integration. This allows you to see color-coded file statuses (green = uploaded, orange = upload in progress, red = error, no icon = not queued for upload) and adds right-click options such as manually uploading files within a watch folder and viewing an uploaded file in your web browser.

Kollaborate is a cloud workflow platform to make sharing files and working with colleagues easy. To find out more, check out the quick overview, view the feature list or try the 15-day free trial.

We've just released Kollaborate Server 1.4 and Kollaborate Encoder 1.0.2, which offer major new features that customers can use in-house on their own servers and storage.

Team overhaul

Inviting users to a project is now quicker and simpler. Add as many email addresses as you like, then setup positions and email preferences and invite them to the project in one step.

You can also duplicate users into another department without having to re-invite them.

Full-screen commenting

Hover over the right-hand side of the video in full screen to view comments, add new ones and annotate the image.

Compare revision notes

View comments from previous revisions to check that your notes on the previous cut have been addressed in the new one.

Drag and drop uploading

Easily upload files to Kollaborate by dropping them directly into a department or folder from your operating system.

Other changes

We've improved the color accuracy of Kollaborate Encoder and made several changes to improve reliability and performance.

We've also made some major architectural changes to Kollaborate Server to prepare it for PHP 7. We're not declaring it fully compatible yet but this is the largest change we needed to make and we will continue to make smaller changes in future versions to improve compatibility. It's likely that we will make PHP 7 the minimum requirement once we're fully compatible.

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.

We're pleased to announce the launch of CinePlay for Apple TV, a free cloud video player for the fourth-generation Apple TV.



CinePlay allows you to browse projects and files on Kollaborate and play them back directly on your TV, complete with timecode and multi-speed seeking.

This means you can now watch Kollaborate videos in a comfortable setting that more closely mimics the final viewing environment of your end-users.

CinePlay is available free of charge on the App Store inside the Apple TV.

We will soon be phasing out support for OS X 10.6 in all of our products. While some of our customers are still on this older operating system, Apple's new annual rapid-release schedule means supporting 10.6 requires us to support five operating systems simultaneously and prevents us from using newer technologies that would benefit the majority of our users on more recent versions of OS X.

Over the next few months we will slowly phase out OS X 10.6 and 10.7 support and require a minimum of OS X 10.8, starting with apps that interface with Kollaborate first.

Older OS X 10.6 versions of our apps will still be available for download from the relevant software's page in our Support section.

We're now offering a free new tool to further enhance your Kollaborate cloud experience. With the Today extension, users on OS X 10.10 or higher can see project alerts directly in Notification Center without having to log into the site to check for them. This is a great way to see what's going on in your project quickly and easily from your desktop.

The extension can be toggled on and off from the Extensions pane of System Preferences. Full installation instructions are in the user manual.

The Today extension is available as part of Kollaborate Plugin Pack, which also allows you to upload directly to the cloud from your Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X timelines. In addition to the new extension, we've also made the following changes to the existing upload plugins:

• Export plugins now encode at a higher resolution
• The FCPX plugin is now more intelligent at choosing a thumbnail for the movie
• Changed how Kollaborate credentials are stored. Some users may be asked to login again.

Kollaborate is a cloud workflow platform to make sharing files and working with colleagues easy. To find out more, check out the quick overview, view the feature list or try the 15-day free trial.

Last week we released Kollaborate 1.4 on the cloud, with some great new features as requested by customers.

Team overhaul

Inviting users to a project is now quicker and simpler. Add as many email addresses as you like, then setup positions and email preferences and invite them to the project in one step.

You can also duplicate users into another department without having to re-invite them.

Full-screen commenting

Hover over the right-hand side of the video in full screen to view comments, add new ones and annotate the image.

Compare revision notes

View comments from previous revisions to check that your notes on the previous cut have been addressed in the new one.

Drag and drop uploading

Easily upload files to Kollaborate by dropping them directly into a department or folder from your operating system.

More permissions

Control whether team members can download files and share them with others. We have also tightened the default permissions for clients and agency reps to be more restrictive.

Link downloads

See how many times a link was downloaded and who downloaded it.

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).

We've just released a new beta of Kollaborate Folder Watcher, which is a free tool for automatically uploading files to Kollaborate when they're added to a watch folder on your hard drive.

This version has a Finder Sync extension which allows you to see the status of files in your watch folder when you browse to it in Finder. It will show an orange icon if the file is currently processing and a green icon if it has been successfully uploaded to the cloud (note that these icons will only appear for files added to the folder from now on). You can also right-click files and either reupload them or cancel an existing upload.

Kollaborate Folder Watcher will work on OS X 10.6 and up but the Finder integration requires OS X 10.10. After installing, the extension may not automatically be enabled so please go to Extensions in System Preferences and tick the box marked "Finder" under the "KollabWatcher" heading (you may need to restart your computer for this to appear).

Please be aware that this version is beta quality, which means that it may have bugs and other limitations that could cause problems in a production environment. If you find any issues or have any feedback about integrating the tool into your workflow, please file a bug report on our support site.

We've given our higher-end Kollaborate subscription packages a massive storage space boost completely free of charge. Subscribers now get the following:

The full list of packages and prices can be viewed here.

Kollaborate is a cloud workflow platform for video professionals, centered around Digital Rebellion's post production apps. To find out more, visit the Kollaborate site, view the feature list, watch the overview video or sign up for the free 15-day trial (no credit card needed).

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.