What is new in Mistika 10

[Melanie Diaz]

[RELEASE]

Mistika 10 is now available

Hi all,

Mistika 10 is now released, providing a massive upgrade to Mistika Ultima and Boutique, elevating the efficiency and finesse of color-based processes and workflows.

All the new features and enhancements made to Mistika 10 are available at no additional cost. This version can be found already on your Online SGO Account.

 

Improvements:

• New reset functionality by double-clicking on the label of the tool.
• Improved responsiveness of the new Color GUI.
• Improved responsiveness of the Color Panels in the new Color GUI (Tangent and Precision). 
• Improved icons for better visualization of the tools. 
• Invert Shape button added on the left toolbar.
• Disable Shapes button added on the left toolbar.
• “Create at Center” function added on the Line, Circle and Square buttons.
• Improved distribution of the Shutters functions in the Tangent Mapper Software.
• Play shutter function of the Visual Editor added on the Alternative button of the play button in Tangent panels. 
• Added Burn Timecode of the Timeline in the Virtual Slate options. 

Fixes:

• 2904 The size of the text in the Color Grade node is now properly displayed when using the zoom layout in Windows.
• 2949 The layers in the Multilayer lists now show results when being selected.
• 2948 Images refresh properly when scrolling in the timeline of the Keygraph.
• 2924 The lock function in the Qualifier tab is now fixed.
• 2918 The Tangent panels are now working correctly when the Curves Window is closed.
• 2913 The Color GUI is now shown correctly in the Visual Editor.
• 2879 Improved performance of 3DLut Creator OFX plugin.
• 2943 Enhanced timecode display in the Timespace when navigating through frame by frame using the arrow keys.
• 2974 The In and Out Points are now correctly shown with an XML from Resolve with Time speed manipulation.
• 2934 Improved Display Filter configuration when creating a new timeline.
• 2940 Render Cache on the Evaluation version is now fixed.
• 2979 The Timecode over the horizontal scrollbar in the Timespace now shows the correct information of each frame.

Known issues:

• Keyframes created in the embedded params of the shots are not properly shown in the Visual Editor timeline.
• The Tangent file located in the Mistika User is not overwritten when a new version is installed. Manual Fix: delete the Tangent.map.xml file located in the Mistika User.

 

[OPEN BETA]

Hi everybody!

We have released a massive upgrade Mistika 10, elevating the efficiency of color-based workflows and providing even greater finesse in color-grading processes.

Mistika 10 is currently in Open Beta and available to all Mistika Boutique and Mistika Ultima users in the Download section of their Online SGO Account. This pre-release is also available in the completely free of charge Eval version of Mistika Boutique, so everyone has the opportunity to try it and give their feedback on SGO Forum.

Here is the complete list of new features and enhancements made to Mistika 10:

New Features:

New Color Grade GUI:

• New Top Toolbar in the Color Grade Node to manage all the settings and basic options for grading
• New quick access to LUT control in the Color Grade node
• New quick access to the Clamp control in the Color Grade node
• New labels and names for standardizing many of the tools following the industry standards
• New Offset mode for the trackball in Primary
• New Contrast mode for the Trackball In Primary
• New and cleaner design for Printer Steps 
• New Temperature and Tint controls
• Complete redesign of the Pivots for Primary Grading
• New waveform scope in Primaries to manage the pivots in a visual and interactive way 
• New RGB curves scope in Primaries to visualize color grading changes
• New toggle to enable and disable the Knee Soft tool in Pivots
• Bands and Ranges have been merged into one panel
• New Sliders mode control to manage Hue, Saturation and Contrast in Bands for Black, Midtones, White and General values
• New histogram scope in Bands to manage ranges in a very visual way
• New RGB curves scope in Bands to visualize the grade changes
• New visual design for Fixed vectors
• New numerical values and more accurate control for Fixed vectors
• Complete overhaul of the Curves panel
• New RGBY curve panel to compare curves and to manage any curve in an easier way.
• New solo mode for RGBY curves for easier control
• New maximize mode for Curves to open them at any scale and control them in a more accurate way. 
• New quick access in n the Hue curves to add points in Primaries and Secondaries 
• New Filters Panel with Blur and Sharpen tools
• Complete overhaul of the Keyer panel, now renamed to Qualifier
• General top toolbar to manage and control all the basic settings for the Qualifier
• General bottom toolbar to manage all the filters and blurs for the Key
• New cursors for the different pickers in the Qualifier
• New quick access to select primary, secondary colors and skin tone in the Hue wheel.
• New and bigger design for the strokes in the 3D Keyer to facilitate visualization of the selected color
• New integrated panel for Multilayer files to manage all the layers and parameters without the need of navigating through the Parameters tree

Other new features:

• New full resolution thumbnails in the Media browser
• Embedded RAW parameters in RAW Media
• Embedded Framing (Scale parameters) in all clips
• Automatic result size of the media to project resolution
• New behaviour in the Visual Editor for the media. The automatic Fit to Fill option has been replaced by a much easier and clean 1:1 behaviour of the media, to complete synchronization between Timspace and Visual Editor
• New Toggle to switch between Image Source Resolution and Project Resolution
• New Overlays for the Visual Editor to manage the resolution of the media and the project
• Complete GUI overhaul of the Visual Editor. Panels have been organized in a more logical and clean way, and quick access have been added to speed up the work with all effects 
• New quick access to shape creation and shape controls
• New common shape presets for all FX
• New and simplified Play shuttle in the Visual Editor
• New option to switch between Timecode and Frames in the Visual Editor
• New and reorganized menu for Histories 
• New and cleaner list to manage Gangs
• New EDL Export combining all of the features of EDL1 and 2, and improving the data organization to better support some of the effects

Fixes

• 2705 The settings selected by the user in the Dolby Manager are now properly saved.
• 2520 “Scope” effect now lists the correct label “YUVA 4444 16 b”.
• 1668 Framing effect now correctly crops the Alpha Channel of the image.
• 2029 Segment rendering now puts the correct tape name in a clip when Default Render Name is selected.
• 1491 The K type is now properly recognized when using notes in the Timeline.
• 2574 The Save Image button on the Record Monitor now works correctly when the shortcut is used.
• 2670 Improved Autosave parameter. The environments are now properly saved when setting the Autosave parameter to 0 in the Mconfig application.
• 2594 Hotkeys can now be assigned correctly to “StepFraction1” in Printer Lights.
• 2652 The up/down zoom button in the Record Monitor has been improved.
• 2307 Display Filters are now properly saved in the correct project folder destination which is the following location: C:/MATERIAL/WORK/MYPROJECT/PRESETS/DISPLAY_FILTERS
• 2469 Enhanced the zoom navigation option when working with different groups in the Timeline.
• 2295 Propagate function now works properly in combination with Lock and Hide features.
• 2582 Display Filter for safe area is now saved in the build.
• 2569 A pop-up window now appears with a correct warning message when odd resolutions are set or when the project resolution does not match with video resolution.
• 2751 These OP-Atom_DNx files are now supported:  8K_DNxHR_HQ  /  8K_DNxHR_HQX_10bit  /  8K_DNxHR_LB  /   8K_DNxHR_SQ
• 2750 These 8K QT DNxHR files are now supported:   8K_DNxHR_HQ  /  8K_DNxHR_HQX_10bit  /  8K_DNxHR_LB  /   8K_DNxHR_SQ
• 2752 These OP1A_DNxHR files are now supported:   8K_DNxHR_HQ.mxf  /  8K_DNxHR_HQX_10bit.mxf  /  8K_DNxHR_LB.mxf  /  8K_DNxHR_SQ.mxf
• 2541 The User Login feature now saves to the correct folder when the shared folder is set on a different location.

28 April Upgrade:

• 2828 When a Color Grade effect is opened in the Visual Editor, but it has not been modified, it no longers shows as if it was edited with the asterisk icon on top of the effect in the Timeline Editor.
• 2858 When changing from the Inside to Outside mode while having the highlight activated, it properly refreshes the alpha shown in the Visual Editor.
• 2851 Improved behaviour of the Stop button when changing between play backward and play forward in the Visual Editor.
• 2829 GUI scaling factor can now be properly customized for the new interface.
• 2869 Link an image sequence as single images is now working properly.
• 2839 Shots in the Visual Editor can now be properly played backward.
• 2843 Stereo 3D effects now showing correctly in the FX tab.
• 2848 Prev and Next key shortcuts now working correctly.
• 2781 Canon CRM RAW files now are imported with the RAW parameters embedded.
• 2860 When in Vector 2 or superior, the Outside mode is now locked properly when moving around the timeline in the Visual Editor.
• 2802 Fixed behaviour of the Lock feature.
• 2857 When moving between functions that have associated icons, such as picker or shape, the relevant icon is now displayed correctly. 
• 2812 When conforming, Mistika now correctly positions the beginning of the stacks in the drop frame indicated in the conform menu.
• 2849 Deleting a point in the Curves with the RGB Gang enabled now working properly. 
• 2865 The Histogram of the Bands tab is now normalized.
• 2026 Dynamic grades with In/Out points are now working correctly.
• 2856 The pickers in the Qualifier are now working correctly when the image is set as an input and has a different resolution.
• 2596 Fixed behaviour of the source monitor when performing “invisible playback”.
• 2728 Fixed lecture on Burn Layout for EXT TC when working with Image Sequences.

 

Known issues

• The new features in the new Color Grading Toolset are not mapped yet to the panels. It only affects the new features, the rest of the mapping is working as expected. Precision Panels are not working in Mac in this first Beta.
• (Only in Mac) Few FX have been temporarily removed in this Beta due to some issues. They are the following: Glint, Green Screen, Noise y Slope Blur.
• The image is lost with the Proxy or Dynamic visualization mode enabled in the Visual Editor. Full quality works fine. This doesn’t affect the Video Output. Hence, the Proxy and Dynamics modes are temporarily banned from the Open Beta.
• Shapes created in the Shape tab (the toolbar on the right side) are not working in the Color Grade. They have to be created in the shape options located in the upper right bar. 
• The VR Stitch effect is not working properly.

 

27 May Upgrade:

New Features:

• AJA T-Tap support

 

Improvements:

• 2873 An option to modify the Expiration Date Warning has been added to the Mconfig.
• The Tangent color panels have been remapped based on the color community feedback. There are various new functionalities, better organization of the features in the Tangent Mapper software and enhanced user experience. The new functionalities are:

1. Primaries Mode: 

• Added functionalities of the Knob panel: Temperature, Tint, Blend and Kneesoft. 
• Added functionalities of the Trackball panel: Contrast and Offset controls for ring and trackballs added on B bank. 
• Improved mapping of the Printer Lights, with new naming of the different Printer Lights modes for consistency, and more options available in the Alternative bank (Super white mode, Video Grade Mode, HDR Mode, Offset and Contrast Mode, Mute In and Mute Out of the Primaries mode). 

2. Bands mode:

• Improved mapping with new labelling for consistency. 
• Improved mapping of the Ranges with new labelling of the functionalities. 
• Track Balls and Slider buttons added. 

3. Fixed Vectors:

• On Element color panels, the Luminance functionalities have been mapped on the Tk panel, so the three different fixed vectors, Hue, Saturation and Luma, can be adjusted without entering on a B bank. 

4. Qualifier:

• Better mapping with more clear functionalities on the Kb. 
• Added functionality to the Knob panels: PrekeyBlur, Prekey Blur Type, Filter 1, Filter 1 type, Filter 2 and Filter 2 type, Merge Key, External Key Source, External Key Channel, Outside Key Mode and Export Key.
• Added functionalities for the Button panels: Solo, Lock and Reset buttons for Luminance, Saturation and Hue selection respectively, one button for each of the Hue selection presets; Add Points and Reset Points for the Contrast Key Curve.
• Added functionalities for the Trackball Panel: on the B bank, the Curve Point can be moved with the track balls

5. Window:

• The functionalities for the Windows will remain in the Bt panel, coexisting with the Shapes buttons. 
• Added functionalities on the Bt panel: the buttons for the Line, Ellipse and Rectangle Shape. 
• Added functionalities on the Kb: controllers for the Width, Offset, Inside and Outside softness of the Shapes. 

6. Curves:

• Added functionalities for both Kb panel and Tk Panel: the Curve points can now be controlled from the color panels.
• Added functionalities for the Bt panel:
• Bank 1: Solo Curve, Gang RGB, R Curve, G Curve, and B Curve; one button for each of the Color presets for the Hue Curve on the Alternative bank.
• Bank 2. Lock X, Lock Y, Smooth Point, Sharp Point, Constant Point, Independent Point, Prev Point and Next point. 

7. Filters Mode:

• New mode added for controlling Blur and Sharp.
• Added functionalities: Blurp/Sharp button toggle to activate each mode, one Knob to control the quantity of Blur or Sharp, depending on the mode activated, and a Kb controller for the Blend of each of the modes. 

8. Other new functionalities:

• Reset Vector button added on the Alternative bank of the Bt2 for navigation.

 

Fixes:

• 2869 “Link an image sequence as single images” operation is now working correctly.
• 2872 Fixed appearance of the scopes. 
• 2881 Clips (.clp file) with embedded metadata (Framing and Color) are now created properly when rendering.
• 2864 Improved functionality of “Space” hotkey in the Visual Editor.
• 2875 The cache process is now working properly on Arri files.
• 2568 Improved response time when pausing playback and playback loop.
• 2884 Audio parameters and curves now displayed correctly when importing clips with audio. 
• 2794 The Source Size X and Y in the Framing effect are now displaying correctly.
• 2384 Fixed typo in Watch Folder of the Batch configuration panel.
• 2653 Record Monitor, Source Monitor and Visual Editor now contain proper fitting values in a 4K interface.
• 2878 Shapes created in the Shape tab are now working correctly in the Color Grade node.
• 2824 Fixed behaviour of the Visual Editor when selecting Proxy and Dynamic visualization mode.
• 2807 Dynamic grades are now working properly in the Color Grade node.
• 2551 The calibration of Insta360 Pro is now working properly when imported.
• 2142 Precision and Tangent panels no longer modify a Locked Color Grade node
• 2902 Lock FX now properly grays-out the new ToolBars in the Visual Editor.
• 2570 Tracking data can now be properly saved as shape mode.
• 2897 Timelines can now be opened with different Zoom levels in the Storyboard and refreshed correctly.
• 2584 The Visual Editor can now be locked correctly when the Stereo 3D node is also locked.
• 2156 Fixed behaviour of the “Unscale” function.  
• 2735 Fixed performance of the low quality histogram.
• 2933 Improved lock feature of X and Y points using Tangent grading panels.
• 2921 Fixed behaviour of Add/Delete points in the Curves using Tangent grading panels.
• 2922 Embedded parameters can now be animated properly.

 

Known issues:

• The Evaluation License does not allow to render playback cache. Workaround: make a simple render in Mistika JS format, and select the Playback Cache folder as destination folder for this first render. That will activate the permissions needed to render playback cache. It has to be done for each new project.
• Slightly lower performance in the GUI and in color panels compared with Mistika 8 versions.
• Keyframes created in the embedded params of the shots are not shown in the Visual Editor timeline.

[jeff@dungeonbeach.com]

Are there recommended GUI scale factors for common monitor resolutions? At my studio I have a 1920x1200 monitor so the Mistika UI looks great, but I'm on the road now and find myself with a 3840x2160 4K laptop attached to a 3440x1440 ultra wide screen secondary display. Just trying to find a comfortable scaling factor for either display.

Also, how shall we give Beta feedback? This thread? A separate thread on this forum? A Slack channel?

[matt@lightsailvr.com]

I am using dual 4K HP Dreamcolor z31 monitors and can't use the app with GUI Scaling on (which makes everything so tiny, it's difficult to work). Opening the app gives an error about the monitors not being the same resolution (which is false).

Unchecking GUI scaling allows me to use two monitors, however, whenever I click on a popup UI, the whole program freezes and i have to force exit.

[matt@lightsailvr.com]

Also, using the ZCam K1 2880x2880 preset, the VR stitch doesn't work the same as the previous version of Boutique. The focal length is interpreted incorrectly.

[Cristobal Bolaños]

Hi Jeff!

Thanks a lot for sharing your technical issues with us throughout our forums. 

On 4/23/2020 at 3:48 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Also, how shall we give Beta feedback? This thread? A separate thread on this forum? A Slack channel?

Indeed, we can use this thread to discuss different topics about Mistika 10. You an always open a ticket in our support ticket, but this way we can share thoughts and feedback on a more broad open manner. 

On 4/23/2020 at 3:48 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Are there recommended GUI scale factors for common monitor resolutions?

The best scaling factor for Mistika (and other applications as well) would be an UHD monitor. Since it's the double of an HD monitor, it is mathematically more simple to calculate. However, although in this first beta there are known issues related to scaling GUI, I can guarantee you those will be fixed, so users don't have to adapt to Mistika rather than Mistika adapts to the scaling of the user preferences.  

Personally, I would go definitely for a 3840x2160 monitor, which is the one I'm currently using.  This is my personal opinion, but I think it makes everything sharper and more pleasant to see (in Mistika and other applications). Other users prefer to use 2560x1440 pixel monitors, which is also a great aspect ratio for your office set up. 

 

On 4/23/2020 at 4:56 AM, matt@lightsailvr.com said:

I am using dual 4K HP Dreamcolor z31 monitors and can't use the app with GUI Scaling on (which makes everything so tiny, it's difficult to work). Opening the app gives an error about the monitors not being the same resolution (which is false).

Unchecking GUI scaling allows me to use two monitors, however, whenever I click on a popup UI, the whole program freezes and i have to force exit.

 

Hi Matt!

Indeed, we are facing that issue in this beta. The dev team is already tackling down the problem. I'll let you know whenever the issue is solved!

But, please, try the following settings, instead of leaving the automatic mode, select 2 on both monitors. It worked for me:

 

Looking forward to your replies.

Cheers,
Cristóbal 

 

[Cristobal Bolaños]

On 4/23/2020 at 4:57 AM, matt@lightsailvr.com said:

Also, using the ZCam K1 2880x2880 preset, the VR stitch doesn't work the same as the previous version of Boutique. The focal length is interpreted incorrectly.

Matt, can you open a ticket support with us so we can take this a deeper look? Indeed, there seems to be issues with the VR stitch effect.

Cheers,

Cristóbal 

[jeff@dungeonbeach.com]

Thank you for the reply. My laptop happens to be 3840x2160, so I guess I'm in luck. I still wonder a bit about aspect ratio. I know Mistika was initially developed for 16:10 screens. Is this still the case going forward? Or is development now assuming most people will have 16:9 monitors? I understand both aspect ratios are/will be supported, but I also know that screen real estate is at a premium with the new color tools, so just wondering what's optimal...

I'm liking M10 - I posted some impressions on Liftgammagain.

I have some questions / feature requests:

(1) Is it possible to not have "License Expires in X Days" message appear every time Mistika is launched and we arrive in a blank time space? I don't know if this is a bug or intended behavior. It's easy enough to dismiss the message, but I am always startled by receiving an error noise when I launch. I am on monthly subscription.

 

(2) Speaking of launching into empty timespace...is there a way to load the last .env file you were in by default when Mistika starts? So we don't have to open it manually each time to resume our work?

 

(3) I noticed in the media browser, when you click on a file that is a movie, you see a preview in the source monitor in the GUI. Which is nice when you are searching for the right file to open. But it would be much nicer if the movie opened on the video card output so we can preview on the big screen.

 

(4) Is there a keyboard shortcut to temporarily mute the entire color node, not just the vector you are on? I like to periodically disable the entire grade to see where I'm at.

 

(5) Is there a keyboard shortcut to enter the visual editor with a particular node selected on the timespace? I know you typically enter the visual editor by double clicking a node. But with a stylus, double clicking is not an optimal gesture and you can even bump the node by mistake when you just want to enter the visual editor. I thought hitting enter might do the trick, but it doesn't.

 

(6) Can I suggest drastically reducing the time it takes for tool tips to appear when you hover over an icon? I feel like when I want a tool tip, I'm waiting a long time. And some tool tips don't seem implemented yet, so I don't know if I should keep waiting or not. Especially now that we have nice icons on the top left and top right, which are unlabeled, I think new users will need to hover over them and see a quick tool tip to identify.

 

(7) I understand that Unicolor is probably going to be improved at some point, but in the short term, is it possible to rearrange the color space dropdown in alphabetical order? Right now, whenever I try Unicolor, I'm losing a lot of time hunting for Arri, ACEScct, etc., because the color spaces are arranged arbitrarily. Eventually it would be nice if Unicolor could read the clip node metadata and make a suggestion for input color space. Also, it would be nice, in the short term, if picking color space would automatically suggest gamma. Like you pick Rec709, it should automatically suggest 2.4. If you pick ACES, it would automatically suggest Linear, etc..

 

(8) It would be good to have a consistent "reset" operation on the new color tool that you can do with a pen. I noticed you can right-click and choose "delete" for the sat slider. Would be good to just double click the sat knob to reset, since many operators are used to that from Resolve/Adobe. In Assimilate we control click parameters to reset them. It could be something else. I don't love pressing delete to reset parameters because it involves putting down the stylus and reaching for the keyboard. 

 

(9) Just observing that it takes a while for an external drive to show up in the media browser if you plug it in with the media browser open. Even though Windows recognizes the drive and gives it a letter, Mistika takes quite a bit of refreshing and exiting / reentering the browser for the drive to appear.

 

(10) Play/pause lag is still significant compared to other applications, even with pipe units reduced, and having tried Mistika on many different machines. Stopping is particularly jarring, because there's always a little twitch when you hit stop. Mistika won't stop playing on the exact frame you hit stop, it jumps a few frames and it's kind of disorienting, and can even land you outside of the shot you tried to stop on. Just want to flag this issue for the team and make sure they are aware and seeing this issue. 

 

Thank you for the incredible work!

Jeff

[Yoav Raz]

On 4/24/2020 at 2:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Thank you for the reply. My laptop happens to be 3840x2160, so I guess I'm in luck. I still wonder a bit about aspect ratio. I know Mistika was initially developed for 16:10 screens. Is this still the case going forward? Or is development now assuming most people will have 16:9 monitors? I understand both aspect ratios are/will be supported, but I also know that screen real estate is at a premium with the new color tools, so just wondering what's optimal...

I'm liking M10 - I posted some impressions on Liftgammagain.

I have some questions / feature requests:

(1) Is it possible to not have "License Expires in X Days" message appear every time Mistika is launched and we arrive in a blank time space? I don't know if this is a bug or intended behavior. It's easy enough to dismiss the message, but I am always startled by receiving an error noise when I launch. I am on monthly subscription.

 

(2) Speaking of launching into empty timespace...is there a way to load the last .env file you were in by default when Mistika starts? So we don't have to open it manually each time to resume our work?

 

(3) I noticed in the media browser, when you click on a file that is a movie, you see a preview in the source monitor in the GUI. Which is nice when you are searching for the right file to open. But it would be much nicer if the movie opened on the video card output so we can preview on the big screen.

 

(4) Is there a keyboard shortcut to temporarily mute the entire color node, not just the vector you are on? I like to periodically disable the entire grade to see where I'm at.

 

(5) Is there a keyboard shortcut to enter the visual editor with a particular node selected on the timespace? I know you typically enter the visual editor by double clicking a node. But with a stylus, double clicking is not an optimal gesture and you can even bump the node by mistake when you just want to enter the visual editor. I thought hitting enter might do the trick, but it doesn't.

 

(6) Can I suggest drastically reducing the time it takes for tool tips to appear when you hover over an icon? I feel like when I want a tool tip, I'm waiting a long time. And some tool tips don't seem implemented yet, so I don't know if I should keep waiting or not. Especially now that we have nice icons on the top left and top right, which are unlabeled, I think new users will need to hover over them and see a quick tool tip to identify.

 

(7) I understand that Unicolor is probably going to be improved at some point, but in the short term, is it possible to rearrange the color space dropdown in alphabetical order? Right now, whenever I try Unicolor, I'm losing a lot of time hunting for Arri, ACEScct, etc., because the color spaces are arranged arbitrarily. Eventually it would be nice if Unicolor could read the clip node metadata and make a suggestion for input color space. Also, it would be nice, in the short term, if picking color space would automatically suggest gamma. Like you pick Rec709, it should automatically suggest 2.4. If you pick ACES, it would automatically suggest Linear, etc..

 

(8) It would be good to have a consistent "reset" operation on the new color tool that you can do with a pen. I noticed you can right-click and choose "delete" for the sat slider. Would be good to just double click the sat knob to reset, since many operators are used to that from Resolve/Adobe. In Assimilate we control click parameters to reset them. It could be something else. I don't love pressing delete to reset parameters because it involves putting down the stylus and reaching for the keyboard. 

 

(9) Just observing that it takes a while for an external drive to show up in the media browser if you plug it in with the media browser open. Even though Windows recognizes the drive and gives it a letter, Mistika takes quite a bit of refreshing and exiting / reentering the browser for the drive to appear.

 

(10) Play/pause lag is still significant compared to other applications, even with pipe units reduced, and having tried Mistika on many different machines. Stopping is particularly jarring, because there's always a little twitch when you hit stop. Mistika won't stop playing on the exact frame you hit stop, it jumps a few frames and it's kind of disorienting, and can even land you outside of the shot you tried to stop on. Just want to flag this issue for the team and make sure they are aware and seeing this issue. 

 

Thank you for the incredible work!

Jeff

Hi Jeff 

I can answer few of your questions. 

Q2- I don’t think it’s a good idea. Maybe as per user choice. But for me slot of times it’s very helpful to make sure I’m in the correct mic fig and choosing the correct seq/env. Because of versions and or working on episodes. 

Q3- if you look at the source monitor there is a menu button. In there you can press live video. It will send the signal from source monitor to output video card. 

 

Q4 - if You press H it will hide this layer and shift H will get it back.you can also press on the eval tree the eye icon it will do the same. 
 

Q8- you have reset button next to every parameter. And you also have mute for each operator. 
 

Hope it help

cheers Yoav.  

[Cristobal Bolaños]

Hi Jeff!

Thanks a lot for the feedback. It's utterly appreciated. I'll go point by point discussing the topics ?

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Thank you for the reply. My laptop happens to be 3840x2160, so I guess I'm in luck. I still wonder a bit about aspect ratio. I know Mistika was initially developed for 16:10 screens. Is this still the case going forward? Or is development now assuming most people will have 16:9 monitors? I understand both aspect ratios are/will be supported, but I also know that screen real estate is at a premium with the new color tools, so just wondering what's optimal...

Then, I'd say that definitely that a 16:9 screen ratio screen would be optimal. Although I assure you that different screen resolutions will be supported and it's a matter present in the development road. 

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(1) Is it possible to not have "License Expires in X Days" message appear every time Mistika is launched and we arrive in a blank time space? I don't know if this is a bug or intended behavior. It's easy enough to dismiss the message, but I am always startled by receiving an error noise when I launch. I am on monthly subscription.

Indeed, you can do it by modifying a parameter inside the mistikarc.cfg file. Do the following:

- Go to this location: C:\Users\*USERNAME*\SGO AppData\Mistika
- Open the mistikarc.cfg file with a text editor.
- Look for the EXPIRATIONWARNING parameter, you'll see a number on the right column. Modify to 1 if you want only to be warned the last day of your license, or 0 if you don't want to be warned.

I've talked to the dev team, and this option will be added on the Mconfig, so you can manually change it on a more user friendly way. I'll let you know when this is ready ?

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(2) Speaking of launching into empty timespace...is there a way to load the last .env file you were in by default when Mistika starts? So we don't have to open it manually each time to resume our work?

Indeed, this behaviour is considered not to be optimal and efficient by a lot of users. It can make the initialising of Mistika slower

 

On 4/24/2020 at 8:22 PM, Yoav Raz said:

(3) I noticed in the media browser, when you click on a file that is a movie, you see a preview in the source monitor in the GUI. Which is nice when you are searching for the right file to open. But it would be much nicer if the movie opened on the video card output so we can preview on the big screen.

As Yoav said, that's precisely what the source monitor is for! ? 

You can configure it to see the Source monitor on your output video. By activating the "Live Video" option in the Menu settings of the Source Monitor. 

On 4/24/2020 at 8:22 PM, Yoav Raz said:

(4) Is there a keyboard shortcut to temporarily mute the entire color node, not just the vector you are on? I like to periodically disable the entire grade to see where I'm at.

Indeed, the letter "D" for disable, which activates the "Bypass" button. That bypasses the eye that is right to the effects of the Eval tree.  However, shortcuts in Mistika Boutique work depending on the area where the mouse is located, in other words, it depends on the focus. So, to activate this shortcut, you have to locate the mouse focus on the Eval tree. This behaviour will be changed in the future as part of the development tasks. 

 

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(5) Is there a keyboard shortcut to enter the visual editor with a particular node selected on the timespace? I know you typically enter the visual editor by double clicking a node. But with a stylus, double clicking is not an optimal gesture and you can even bump the node by mistake when you just want to enter the visual editor. I thought hitting enter might do the trick, but it doesn't.

I'm afraid I can't think of a way rather than double click to enter the visual editor. I'll dig into this issue. However, I can suggest you to configure on of the clicks of your pen to act as double click. That can sort out your problem. 

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(6) Can I suggest drastically reducing the time it takes for tool tips to appear when you hover over an icon? I feel like when I want a tool tip, I'm waiting a long time. And some tool tips don't seem implemented yet, so I don't know if I should keep waiting or not. Especially now that we have nice icons on the top left and top right, which are unlabeled, I think new users will need to hover over them and see a quick tool tip to identify.

Thanks a lot for this valuable feedback. I'll suggest this in the next meeting. Maybe it could be nice to also have a modifier  of that time in the Mconfig? Let me know your thoughts ?

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(7) I understand that Unicolor is probably going to be improved at some point, but in the short term, is it possible to rearrange the color space dropdown in alphabetical order? Right now, whenever I try Unicolor, I'm losing a lot of time hunting for Arri, ACEScct, etc., because the color spaces are arranged arbitrarily. Eventually it would be nice if Unicolor could read the clip node metadata and make a suggestion for input color space. Also, it would be nice, in the short term, if picking color space would automatically suggest gamma. Like you pick Rec709, it should automatically suggest 2.4. If you pick ACES, it would automatically suggest Linear, etc..

Indeed, I also think it's a great idea. I'll document this and  let the dev team know. 

 

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(8) It would be good to have a consistent "reset" operation on the new color tool that you can do with a pen. I noticed you can right-click and choose "delete" for the sat slider. Would be good to just double click the sat knob to reset, since many operators are used to that from Resolve/Adobe. In Assimilate we control click parameters to reset them. It could be something else. I don't love pressing delete to reset parameters because it involves putting down the stylus and reaching for the keyboard. 

That's been asked from other users too. Already added to the feature request list!

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(9) Just observing that it takes a while for an external drive to show up in the media browser if you plug it in with the media browser open. Even though Windows recognizes the drive and gives it a letter, Mistika takes quite a bit of refreshing and exiting / reentering the browser for the drive to appear.

Is it possible that it's the time for the system to recognise the external drive? In my system, as soon as the external unit is recognised, I refresh the Media Browser and I can enter.

On 4/24/2020 at 1:08 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

(10) Play/pause lag is still significant compared to other applications, even with pipe units reduced, and having tried Mistika on many different machines. Stopping is particularly jarring, because there's always a little twitch when you hit stop. Mistika won't stop playing on the exact frame you hit stop, it jumps a few frames and it's kind of disorienting, and can even land you outside of the shot you tried to stop on. Just want to flag this issue for the team and make sure they are aware and seeing this issue. 

 Yes, we are aware of this issue and it will be improved. Thanks for bringing it up! 

 

I hope I solved some of your doubts! Thanks a lot for the awesome feedback ?

 

Cheers,

Cristóbal 

[Yoav Raz]

hi all

just wonder about my old workflow. and the new framing embedded in M10

i Used to work with the framing on top of all fx. set to project pad to fit. and  i drew shapes on the original size of the media.

so when changing Mconfig from HD to UHD for example i would always keep my shape at the correct position.

now when working  on the new embedded framing i loss my shape position. am i wrong?

or need to adopt to another workflow?

[agonzalez@sgo.es]

Hi Yoav, 

You can work in the same way, but instead of leaving your media in Project, you have to leave it on Input (propagate the value, in the future we will add this as a general option so you can select the behaviour).

Once you have it in Output you can apply on top a Framing or a Display Filter and automatically all your shapes and adjustments will be adapted to your project resolution. 

 

 

[Yoav Raz]

Thanks a lot Adrian

[Yoav Raz]

Hi guys 
I missing few things. 

I crated a shape like circle. Then did color change to lets say 50% saturation.  Now I remove the shape but cannot see the grade. 
 

And another thing is I can’t find the invert shape. Its  hidden in the menu but not in the shape tub. 

Thanks Yoav 

[Cristobal Bolaños]

Hi Yoav!

On 5/13/2020 at 5:44 AM, Yoav Raz said:

I crated a shape like circle. Then did color change to lets say 50% saturation.  Now I remove the shape but cannot see the grade.

That must be a particular issue of that beta version that is already fixed and will be available in the forthcoming version.

On 5/13/2020 at 5:44 AM, Yoav Raz said:

And another thing is I can’t find the invert shape. Its  hidden in the menu but not in the shape tub. 

The are different ways to work on the outside selection of the shape. The easiest would be to create the shape, and then go to the Outside mode.  The other one, is going to the Shape tab and set input alpha > Invert, Combine > Add inverted. 

Is that what you are looking for? Please, let me know your thoughts ?

 

Cheers,

Cristóbal 

[Yoav Raz]

HI Cristóbal 

thanks it dose the trick

i was just looking for that invert button from the old version.

\cheers yoav

[Cristobal Bolaños]

That Invert button will be added on the left tool bar with the rest of the shape combination tools ?

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Cheers,
Cristóbal 

[jeff@dungeonbeach.com]

I've been grading a beautifully shot short film in Mistika 10 this week and have had a great experience so far. Definitely the best feature has been the mini curve / histogram in the bottom right which visualizes your corrections (does this thing have a name???). It's been very helpful for "look development," because you can see how you are affecting the curve. Visualizing the RGB separation helps make creative choices.

The only thing about the new interface that is really sticking out as noticeably irksome is the placement of the "FX presets" button. 

Currently the FX presets button is in the top right of the visual editor, at the top of the new tool band (strip?). But actually the thumbnails of the FX presets appear all the way on the bottom left. So there's a lot of reaching all the way from one corner of the screen to the other to reveal / use the FX presets, then hide them again. I'm working on an ultrawide display so it's an especially long round trip.

Maybe it would be better to have the button that reveals / hides the FX presets in the middle / bottom left?

Speaking of FX presets -- I know the whole interface will be refreshed eventually, but that's one area that stands out as fairly cluttered and in need of cleanup. Like I'm not sure we need to see a filepath in the visual editor or "new folder" buttons, etc. As colorists, it would just be nice to see a clean window with as many thumbnails as possible. In terms of saving presets in specific folders, exporting, etc., that could all be handled with right-click contextual menu, or by navigating using Windows Explorer.

I think while grading, we just want to quickly capture and recall stills within the current environment.

A dream request would be the ability to drag thumbnails directly form the visual editor into a Gmail compose window -- we colorists are needing to send stills to clients constantly. Not just during Covid. It would definitely save quite a bit of time to not have to save a preset, switch to Windows, navigate to the SGO Data folder, project, etc., open the DPX in photoshop, convert to jpeg, find it, attach it to gmail...

[Cristobal Bolaños]

 

Hi Jeff!

On 6/1/2020 at 10:48 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Definitely the best feature has been the mini curve / histogram in the bottom right which visualizes your corrections (does this thing have a name???). It's been very helpful for "look development," because you can see how you are affecting the curve. Visualizing the RGB separation helps make creative choices.

We'are so glad you are getting yourself comfortable with Boutique! Indeed the visualizing of the RGB separations is a great help to se what you are actually doing to the image. It's pretty. 

 We can call it waveform ?

On 6/1/2020 at 10:48 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

Maybe it would be better to have the button that reveals / hides the FX presets in the middle / bottom left?

 

Dev and GUI design team will look this option among others to see how this can be improved. Thanks a lot for the feedback!

The same goes for the FX preset design. That will be renewed as you mention. 

On 6/1/2020 at 10:48 AM, jeff@dungeonbeach.com said:

A dream request would be the ability to drag thumbnails directly form the visual editor into a Gmail compose window -- we colorists are needing to send stills to clients constantly. Not just during Covid. It would definitely save quite a bit of time to not have to save a preset, switch to Windows, navigate to the SGO Data folder, project, etc., open the DPX in photoshop, convert to jpeg, find it, attach it to gmail...

You can actually do that pretty quickly with the Watchfolder functionality of Mistika Workflows.

You could make a Watchfolder node in which you save stills from Boutique in DPX (to retain maximum quality), but then in Mistika Workflows, convert this DPX automatically to PNG (for example) and send it your client by mail. The magic of this, is that this process will be automatically made everytime you set a new DPX in the Watchfolder. Let me know if you need more information about that ?

 

 

Here you have a tutorial explaining how it works: 

 

[jeff@dungeonbeach.com]

Ah, using Workflows to convert the DPX to PNG and email it is a very fun idea. I'll try it.