July 3rd Release

[jan1]

I just upgraded to the latest release of Mistika Workflow. I was keen to try out the H.264 transcoding, since my most common workflow outside of the main app is building the delivery files from the master renders.

Still issues. I took a ProRes input with my ProRes 444 master and I took a 'file' input for my audio WAV master connected them to a H.264 output, with default settings. Ran the queue, errors out halfway with 'H.264: Media Write Error', no further details. It created a file that is playable, but is only the first 30s of a 5min video. I ends abruptly at 30s.

The H.264 settings are very terse and difficult to read. For example Bitrate just says 10. I guess it maybe 10Mbps, and confirmed that the file was indeed encoded that way. But it would be good to label these better. Same with Codec 'H264BR' - what does BR stand for? Is this variable for constant bitrate encoding? Does it do a 1-pass, 2-pass, multi-pass encoding? Other than ProRes or DNx.. codecs, H264 has a lot of very important parameters that need to be set correctly. I don't think the current UI is usable for H.264 workflows.

Also at least in my case the 'Audiocodec' defaulted to 'None', even though I had something connected to 'AudioIn', although that was connected as a second step from a different node. I think the validation rules should have warned that there was an audio input, but the codec was set to none. Easy to overlook otherwise. Audio codecs are right now listed as Wav, Aiff, and two more. I don't see AAC listed, which is the most commonly used audio code for digital content, and the default in most NLEs.

The queue system is of course a great feature. But if working more interactively it would be nice to be able to just run the current workflow right from 'Overview'. It could still be in the queue in the background, but forcing everything to the queue creates a few extra clicks.

I think when it comes to H.264 render UIs outside of the NLEs Handbrake and Wondershare are two of the most common converters (as well as the now obsolete Squeeze). Those UIs may be looked at as guideline of what should be possible to configure.

Edited July 3, 2019 by jan1

[Miguel Angel Doncel]

Thanks for the Feddback! about the problem, pls let us check it and we will get back to you ASAP

[Miguel Angel Doncel]

18 hours ago, jan1 said:

I took a ProRes input with my ProRes 444 master and I took a 'file' input for my audio WAV master connected them to a H.264 output

is that footage test footage? if so, would it be possible to have a copy of it to reproduce the problem? (by mail to me or to support). 

if it is not test and, we will try to reproduce it either way.

thanks again!

[jan1]

It was a client project and the color render is a 10GB file. But if you want I can file a ticket and provide a Dropbox link there. I trust your team will handle the footage with the appropriate discretion.

[Miguel Angel Doncel]

16 hours ago, jan1 said:

It was a client project and the color render is a 10GB file. But if you want I can file a ticket and provide a Dropbox link there. I trust your team will handle the footage with the appropriate discretion.

Sure. it will be used internally to reproduce the problem and deleted afterwards.

[Miguel Angel Doncel]

20 hours ago, jan1 said:

I don't see AAC listed, which is the most commonly used audio code for digital content, and the default in most NLEs.

Audio in Movie is either aac or uncompress depending on the format. but it is obviously not clear at all in the GUI as it is not mentioned. We are revisiting that with the other GUI comments you gave us. We want to give a mayor revamp to the way we manage the codec settings

[Miguel Angel Doncel]

Hi Jan, after analyzing your feedback, let me add some more info to my previous comments:

On 7/3/2019 at 10:22 PM, jan1 said:

I took a ProRes input with my ProRes 444 master and I took a 'file' input for my audio WAV master connected them to a H.264 output, with default settings. Ran the queue, errors out halfway with 'H.264: Media Write Error', no further details.

We have reproduced the problem here. we are working to fix it for the next beta. thanks for your support on this

 

On 7/3/2019 at 10:22 PM, jan1 said:

The H.264 settings are very terse and difficult to read.

we are working on a deep revamp of that area. we will definitely improve it before the release. In this direction we want to improve 2 things:

- the way to configure the codecs (making it more intuitive, and giving access to more parameters)

- The metadata displayed from the movies. as it is currently very limited and we are receiving a lot of requests to improve that too

I hope, after the revamp, these aspects will improve.

On 7/3/2019 at 10:22 PM, jan1 said:

in my case the 'Audiocodec' defaulted to 'None', even though I had something connected to 'AudioIn', although that was connected as a second step from a different node. I think the validation rules should have warned that there was an audio input, but the codec was set to none.

we are fixing this as we speak. it will definitely be fixed in next beta. The node will give a warning if the audio codec is "None" but the input has audio channels

 

On 7/3/2019 at 10:22 PM, jan1 said:

The queue system is of course a great feature. But if working more interactively it would be nice to be able to just run the current workflow right from 'Overview'. It could still be in the queue in the background, but forcing everything to the queue creates a few extra clicks.

 

this sounds easy to be added. we will try to add it for next beta too.

 

thanks again for your feedback!

 

[jan1]

Thanks. Happy to see how quickly you respond and improve things ?