Assimilate SCRATCH 8.6 open beta

[Mazze]

Hi all,

today we've started the open beta for SCRATCH v8.6.
Guys, I'm pretty excited about it .


RELEASE NOTES
General

SCRATCH v8.6 requires an upgrade of your license. If you have a valid v8.5 license you can request a temporary v8.6 upgrade license key from licensing@assimilateinc.com. Once v8.6 is officially released, all existing licenses with a valid support contract are automatically upgraded. After installing the new version you have to re-activate your existing key once.

This update contains a number of changes in how certain formats are processed. As such, they are not fully backward compatible. Before upgrading, you should maintain a backup and are advised not to upgrade in the middle of a project.

Format Support Updates and Enhancements

New DNx MXF Encoder for high speed encoding of OpAtom and Op1A, including DNxHR.

New more efficient DNx MXF Decoder, reading OpAtom, OP1a and Op1B variants.

Increased performance of QuickTime and XAVC MXF readers.

New DNG Raw reader with improved performance and high quality debayer. Reads wide range of DNG variants, including brand-new Panasonic Varicam LT DNG.

New support for wide range of still camera raw formats like Canon, Nikon, Kodak, Hasselblad, Pentax, Leica and more.

Update on Kinefinity support with new high quality debayer.

The MXF DNx Encoder includes audio channel name information into the (OpAtom) audio filename so the info remains available in an AVID roundtrip.

Option to create 10 bit H264 .mp4 or .mov output. Important to generate HDR output; the files contain all HDR statistics (such as color space and transfer function info and mastering luminance levels). Furthermore, the H264 maximum output resolution is now 8192x6144. The higher resolutions are especially important in the VR environment.

ACES: this version contains all the latest standard transforms as published by the Academy. This version also introduces ACEScct; this is a derivative of ACEScc (also referred to as ACES log) but has a different fall off in the shadows of an image.

Added an FFmpeg writer node to be able to output various (less common) formats (like e.g. Flash Video or Windows Television (.WTV) ). Note that FFmpeg covers may codec and container formats. Not all combinations of settings are possible and have been tested.

UI Updates & re-design

The new Logon screen includes project poster images for easier navigation through your projects. A Poster image is written automatically on exit of a project or you can override the image from the Tools menu in the CONstruct.

The Matrix layout has been updated and re-labeled for more intuitive access. Furthermore, all non-default values in the Matrix will now highlight, including the control-set selection panel.

Swipe sensitivity is now a user setting and SCRATCH will now display Swipe placeholders in both the CONstruct and the Player if a panel has been swiped away.

The Structure view has been incorporated into the Player Stack on the right. You can now easily switch between the source stack indented list or the structure view.

Added tooltips to better explain all the available functionality. Advanced users can turn this function off in the user settings. Note that this is a work in progress and currently only the generic functions in the Player have been labeled.

The functionality of the Process module has been consolidated to the top menu bar in the Player to have quick access to the render and cache functionality of SCRATCH from within the Player.

HDR Update

The PQ and HLG transfer functions are now an integral part of SCRATCH's color management. There is no need to manually search and apply LUTs. With a single click you can define the transfer function for any shot, output or display.

The scopes will automatically switch to HDR mode if needed and show the levels in a nit-scale. Furthermore, you can now choose whether the scopes should reflect the levels of your source media, your UI monitor or your reference monitor, which might include an additional color space transformation or custom display LUT.

On the project level you can define your HDR Mastering Metadata: color space, color primaries and white levels, luminance levels, etc... This metadata is automatically included in the Video HDMI interface (AJA, BMD, BlueFish) for the display. The Luminance levels set in the meta data are also displayed in the scopes, where it will warn you if the current levels exceed the maximum levels entered.

Next to the static metadata SCRATCH now also has the function to calculate dynamic luminance metadata like MaxCLL and MaxFALL. This metadata can be saved in a sidecar report next to your output or is included in the H264 media that you render.

The REC2020 color space matrices have been added for the SDI output settings for the proper YUV conversion.

Added the P3 D65 colorspace as an alternative HDR mastering.

VR 360

Added 360 stitch functionality. You can now load all your source media from your 360 cameras into SCRATCH and combine it to a single equirectangular image. You can use an external template or 'pano'-file for combining the sources or use SCRATCH's own functions to determine the stitch setup. Within SCRATCH you have the full set of grading and compositing tools available to optimize your stitch and you can review it while you work in 360 mode in a headset or on a reference monitor / theater projection. You can render out the stitched equirectangular shot or continue working on the stitch node in SCRATCH. The main benefit is that at any time during post and mastering your 360 project, you are only clicks away from your source footage.

Support for templates: Hugin and *.kava files (AutoPano) files.

Ambisonic Audio. SCRATCH can load and playback ambisonic audio files to complete your 360 immersive experience. SCRATCH will automatically recognize ambisonic audio that is included in an h264 file or you can load a separate *.amb audio file and link it to a shot / timeline. Playback of ambisonic audio is automatically linked to the motion of your headset or the direction of the video you set with the PanZoom tool. From the audio panel you can adjust the base vector / direction of the ambisonic audio when it is not in line with your video. When rendering out 360 media to H264, SCRATCH will include and properly tag the linked ambisonic audio so that other players (e.g. YouTube or Facebook) will recognize it. (Note that currently SCRATCH does not yet apply any direction change you might have set for the ambisonic in the audio panel in the rendered output. For now that is still only for playback inside SCRATCH).

Next to using ambisonic audio, you can also load multiple mono or stereo audio files and adjust their position inside your 360 environment. Again - this is all done through the audio panel - in the ambisonic section.

Added overlay handles to the existing 2D-Equirectangular plug-in to more easily position 2D elements in a 360 scene.

Misc

Back by popular demand: the Link-softness option.

Nest and plug-in nodes by default now render to Project Cache folder.

Added a border-option to video wall plug-in.

Added option in the Stabilizer to either apply the data to the Framing parameters (as it used to do) or alternatively create a layer with the stabilize motion applied. This latter solution has the advantage that you can easily group the stabilizing layer and add a second autonomous motion (e.g. camera pan) on the already stabilized image. Also, the stabilize function did not properly handle over-under 360 stereo media, and the yaw, pitch and roll parameters where not always properly translated into a stereo node.

Added the option to select an output-template with the Project setting which is then applied every time you create a new CONstruct. This will save you time rebuilding your standard output -tree.

[Nicolas Hanson]

Great with the new DNxHD enhancements!

[Mazze]

And here's a new-features-video with cheesy music for you to watch:

 

Also new in the video: DIT reporting functionality :-) .

 

Cheers,

Mazze