CORTEX v1.5.1 release notes

This topic is for Cortex v1.5.1 release announcements

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VERSION 1.5.1

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

FEATURES

IMAGE PROCESSING

  • UPRES / RESIZE (INCLUDING UHD & 4K)
    • New high quality resize algorithm option in deliverable configs (ENTERPRISE EDITION only)
    • Resize to and from any resolution during encoding, including up-res to UHD and 4K
  • APERTURE CORRECTION TOOL
    • New tool tab in color tool to apply aperture correction to enhance perceived sharpness of images
  • DYNAMIC EFFECTS:
    • Can now add transitions and dissolves for Framing, Aperture and Grain effects

DATA AND METADATA

  • COPY TOOL
    • Copy and verify data from multiple sources to up to 3 destinations (primary storage and 2 backups)
    • Backup to LTO with LTFS
    • MD5 checksums calculated during copy. Optionally verify checksums on destination copies
    • Output reports of all data copied
    • Checksums and list of files included in Job Manifest
  • JOB MANIFEST
    • Provides a means to exchange metadata between Cortex systems and intelligently merge it with new or existing media
    • Missing media is clearly displayed to provide greater confidence that all media has been properly received
    • Ability to export Job Manifest with all pertinent metadata from a Job at time of export
    • Ability to import Job Manifest from any system
    • Ability to merge metadata with existing clips, automatically prompted after manifest import
    • Ability to relink media to offline clips automatically when media is imported
  • RELINK
    • Ability to relink offline clips to media at a new location
    • Relink automatically searches for any remaining clips at similar a relative paths based on the identified clip
    • Automatically uses a combination of timecode, tapename and filename to match clips
  • IMPORT EDL
    • Ability to import CMX 3600 EDL files to create a pull list or list of offline clips
    • During EDL import, can now select whether clip name defaults to source name or comment
  • TRACEBACK / MERGE METADATA
    • Ability to trace through and merge metadata from several sources:
      • Current project database
      • Another project database
      • ALE, FCP XML and CORTEX XML File(s) or Folders of files
    • Selectively apply color, sound, sync and edit metadata during merge
  • PDF REPORTS
    • Export PDF reports for each reel or for an entire job
    • Replaces text based FLR and NDR reports with one single report
    • Optionally include details sections for QC Notes, Reels, Copy Jobs and Data Discrepancies

FILE FORMATS AND CODECS

  • SONY RAW CUSTOM DEBAYER AND SGAMUT3/SLOG3 COLORSPACE
    • Fast, high quality, full resolution debayer now available for Sony RAW footage (F5, F55, F65)
    • SGamut3/SLog3 colorspace now available
    • Sony RAW controls now available for Exposure Index, Color Temperature and Tint
  • RED SDK WITH GPU SUPPORT
    • R3D files are now decoded using the new GPU accelerated SDK when possible
  • ARRIRAW OPENGATE AND MONOCHROME SUPPORT
    • Can debayer ARRIRAW Open Gate format (3414 x 2198)
    • Can decode ARRIRAW monochrome files
  • PHANTOM FLEX 4K SUPPORT
    • Added support for new Phantom Flex 4K camera
    • Added additional controls for Phantom color metadata
    • Colors now match Phantom SDK when using GPU debayer with advanced parameters
  • DNXHD QUICKTIME / MOV SUPPORT
    • Can read and write DNxHD of all bitrates in a QuickTime / .mov wrapper
  • 16 BIT DPX SUPPORT
    • Added support for reading and writing 16 bit DPX files
  • COMPRESSED CINEMA DNG SUPPORT
    • Added support for reading compressed CinemaDNG files
  • MONOPHONIC WAV FILE SUPPORT
    • Can import audio monophonic wav files and use them directly in the sync tool
  • H264 BLURAY SUPPORT
    • Can create BluRay disc images with the H.264 codec

USER INTERFACE

  • SELECTIVELY APPLY COLOR AND IMAGE SETTINGS TO MULTIPLE CLIPS
    • When copying and saving color from one clip to many, select which parameters to clone, all the way down to a single RED setting
  • CLIP BIN COLUMN LAYOUTS AND SORTING
    • Sort the clip bin by any column by clicking the header
    • Column layout is automatically saved between sessions (column order, width and visibility)
    • Custom layouts can be saved with a name and recalled on demand
  • JOB NAVIGATION SIDEBAR
    • Added sidebar for navigating among reels and copy jobs. Replaces tab-based reel navigation
    • New views for clip list: Thumbnail Only and Thumbnails + List
    • All actions for each reel or copy job bin are now accessible via right-click on bin in side nagivation list
  • STILL STORE OPTIMIZATIONS
    • Optimizations to still store makes saving color corrections faster, takes less disk space
    • Optimizations to still store makes loading jobs faster and browsing project stills faster
  • ABILITY TO SYNC PICTURE AND AUDIO SHOT AT DIFFERENT FRAMERATES
    • Picture and audio can now be sync’d together if they were shot at different framerates (eg. picture at 24, audio at 30)
  • AUTO-COMPLETE COMMENTS
    • Auto-complete comments as they are added in the SYNC tool
  • SCOPE CONTROL AND REGION OF INTEREST (ROI)
    • Click and drag in image area to define a region of interest to highlight in the waveform and vectorscope
    • Right click scope for options to choose various display options (channels, gain)
  • BETTER TANGENT ELEMENT SUPPORT
    • Added mapping files for all Tangent Element panels

4K MONITORING

  • BLACK MAGIC DESIGN SDI OUTPUT
    • A variety of black magic design hardware can now be used to output SDI video (along with AJA and DVS which continue to be supported)
  • UHD SDI OUTPUT
    • Can output SDI at UHD using AJA, BMD or DVS SDI cards

DIAGNOSTICS AND TROUBLESHOOTING

  • ERROR LOG
    • Notifications displayed for any errors logged while running application
    • Can open log window to see errors, cut/copy error messages, and filter by severity. Can also save logs to send to support.

IMPROVEMENTS

  • COLOR: Tools are disabled when clip with offline media is selected
  • COLOR: When switching between RED clips, the chosen RED tab stays selected
  • COLOR: Framing decisions are included in still thumbnails and exports, per the Preview configuration
  • COLOR: Save button is enabled when multiple clips are selected, regardless of whether any changes were made
  • COLOR: Save button now on all tabs
  • COLOR: Color tools and tabs are disabled when a deliverable is selected which is configured not to apply a given tool
  • COLOR: Aspect ratio of still thumbnails matches source frame
  • COLOR: Still store project browser expands down so controls are less likely to be out of view
  • COLOR: T key now toggles framing changes in addition to other color changes
  • COPY: Copy jobs pause automatically when clips are importing to reduce contention over disk and database access.
  • COPY: Current moving average copy speed is shown in addition to average speed for whole job.
  • COPY: Can now calculate disk space on StorNext and other volumes mounted in NTFS folders
  • COPY: Show current file being copied in the copy job widget
  • COPY: Optimized copy tool for copying file sequences (like .ari or .dpx files)
  • COPY: Available and remaining space now includes in progress copy jobs
  • COPY: Verification waits until copies to that volume are finished
  • COPY: Checksum calculation of downstream copy can be used to verify upstream copy
  • COPY: Can copy from multiple sources at one time
  • COPY: Folders hidden in ‘show clips’ mode
  • COPY: Ability to resume a copy job that has failed
  • COPY: Improved layout for each copy job widget
  • COPY: Database optimizations to handle millions of file entries for file-per-frame media types
  • COPY: Source name is set to volume name if the root drive is chosen as source
  • COPY: Ability to set the maximum number of concurrent offloads (copy to primary)
  • GENERAL: In file list, “Mismatches” and “Not Listed” are now differentiated
  • GENERAL: When clips are imported on another system, it is less disruptive (current clip and frame are maintained)
  • GENERAL: Comments imported from manifest are now always merged with existing comments
  • GENERAL: Stills and LUTs are now always located via the project path at the chosen root directory:
    {project}\stills
    {project}\luts
    Allows users to more easily move stills and LUTs when moving projects between locations or moving project from one storage volume to another
  • GENERAL: Update RED SDK to v5.0, includes RED Gamma 4, RED Dragon Color
  • GENERAL: Now able to import a project into a sqlite database using import project feature
  • GENERAL: Can import DPX files with bogus framerate. Fall back on project framerate when header value is not present or obviously incorrect.
  • GENERAL: When project configured to use filename as clip name, index part of filename is no longer included.
  • GENERAL: Can now set file sequence configs to start at any chosen number or a number based on timecode.
  • GENERAL: Added ability to import broadcast wave files with .bwf extension
  • GENERAL: Improved licensing so that plugging/unplugging USB wireless adapters should not cause re-activation
  • GENERAL: Sort files by path/filename in PDF reports
  • GENERAL: Ability to add embedded audio back to clip after it has been removed
  • GENERAL: Optimizations to ensure real time playback of 4K material on appropriate hardware.
  • GENERAL: Faster loading of clips with lower up front memory footprint
  • GENERAL: Faster decoding of ProRes in optimized mode
  • GENERAL: When deleting a reel with many clips or large dpx files, busy message is displayed
  • GENERAL: The edit timecode setting last used is remembered
  • GENERAL: Can now import multiple clips of Avid MXF media stored in a single folder
  • GENERAL: Can now import multiple sequences of DPX files with the same base name stored in a single folder
  • GENERAL: Can now import DPX sequence where the padding / index number changes in the middle of the sequence
  • GENERAL: When importing manifest, if sync’d audio is online, show in white even if picture is offline
  • GENERAL: Player stops when application is minimized - fixes application freeze that could happen
  • GENERAL: Much faster playback of RED material when using RED Rocket or RED Rocket-X
  • GENERAL: After deleting clips, Cortex now lets go of file handles so they can be moved or deleted
  • GENERAL: Separate locations for deliverables and stills and LUTs can now be chosen for your project
  • GENERAL: Column for comments now available in clips bin
  • GENERAL: When importing media that has a wav file in the same folder, separate audio clip is created so it can be re-synced if necessary
  • GENERAL: Player loops to beginning of reel when in reel playback
  • GENERAL: Do not allow user to add clips to a source timecode reel if playspeed is modified and ‘enforce consistency’ is checked
  • RENDER: Automatic decode quality for Sony RAW better optimized for speed / quality trade-offs
  • RENDER: File-per-reel deliverables which don’t start encoding until reel is closed now more accurately reflect their progress
  • RENDER: Ability to create BluRays with 0, 2, 4 or 6 audio channels

BUG FIXES

  • COLOR: Fix null reference exception when toggling in and out of ACES mode
  • COLOR: Picture would shift in wrong direction when Flip H or V was enabled, with a position shift and high-quality resize enabled
  • COLOR: Aperture correction applied only in active picture region when resizer adds letterbox or pillarbox
  • COLOR: Fix issue where aperture correction would add black line at the bottom of the frame
  • COLOR: Color correction applied only in active picture region when resizer adds letterbox or pillarbox
  • COLOR: Initial sort of timeline stills was wrong
  • COLOR: Fix issue where get next and previous color sometimes did not work
  • COLOR: Fix navigation of stills which broke when new sorting methods were added
  • COLOR Fix issue where tabs could be empty when switching between multiple open jobs
  • COLOR: Fix issue where color was applied to Media Offline slate
  • COLOR: Fix issue where stills were timeline sometimes loaded for clips that no longer exist
  • COLOR: Fix some cases where invalid dissolves could be added to clip
  • COLOR: FlipX and FlipY are properly ignored when ‘No Resize’ or ‘Original Clip’ sizing settings are chosen in deliverable configuration
  • COLOR: Fix issue where ‘Output LUT’ would alsways be selected during save color to multiple clips
  • COLOR: Fixed issue where Film Grain Saturation would sometimes be selected erroneously during ‘save color to multiple clips’
  • COLOR: Fixed issue with still captions not showing take id properly
  • COLOR: Fixed issue with panels not connecting when you first click ‘Connect’ until restart application
  • COLOR: When jumping to next color event (dynamic/dissolve), cursor now always lands on next sub-clip
  • COPY: Fix crash when drive root is selected as source
  • COPY: Fix issue where copy could fail saying destination file already exists
  • COPY: Fix crash when trying to copy folder with single frame duration file sequences (eg JPG stills)
  • COPY: Fix issue where GUI could freeze when copy finished while viewing details tab
  • COPY: Fixed issue where clips could be imported to the wrong job by the copy tool when multiple jobs are open
  • COPY: Fixed crash when you click ‘create copy job’ and source path does not exist
  • COPY: File attributes are maintained during copy
  • COPY: Copy jobs are handled properly in multi-node systems (copy jobs are owned by the initiating workstation, but visible on others)
  • COPY: Fixed crash in copy tool when attempting to process hidden files
  • COPY: Fixed some cases where copy job would appear ‘stuck’ after copy/verify completed
  • COLOR: Fix intermittent issue where thumbnails still wouldn’t load in clip list until loading timeline stills.
  • COLOR: Fix issue with auto-repeat on printer lights button
  • COLOR: Put back deprecated RED Color and Gamma options for compatibility with older media and systems
  • COLOR: Fix issue exporting stills for files that have variable resolution decoding options (RED, etc)
  • COLOR: Fixed behavior of arrow keys in Framing Tool
  • COLOR: Save and revert buttons work now after changing the LUT on a clip
  • COLOR: Added extra checks to prevent incomplete color pipelines from being saved to database
  • COPY: Fix issue where local checksums sometimes did not update after verification until you closed and reopened the job.
  • COPY: Fixed a few issues when running multiple copy jobs simultaneously
  • COPY: Fix crash trying to access non-NTFS drives. Issue introduced in when support for following junction points was added.
  • COPY: Fix issue where deleting one copy job could cause other running copy jobs to stop updating progress in the GUI
  • COPY: Fix potential conflicts when running multiple copy jobs
  • COPY: Fix issue that could cause verify job status and progress not to be updated when job completes while application is closed
  • COPY: When restarting a copy job in the verify column, only restart verification
  • COPY: Better indication when Copy Jobs fail
  • COPY: Fix issue where opening other jobs while copy jobs are running could cause verification process not to start
  • COPY: Fixed issue creating a ‘verify only’ copy job on systems pointing to shared database
  • COPY: Fixed issue where manual pause/resume were disabled for verify jobs until play/stop
  • COPY: Fix for occasional failure to import clips after copy job completed
  • GENERAL: Fix for occasional hang while deleting a reel
  • GENERAL: Can read timecode from AVCHD files
  • GENERAL: Fix issue that could cause app to hang when reopening jobs with QuickTime files
  • GENERAL: Fix issue with importing new LUTs as Display LUTs into deliverable congigs
  • GENERAL: Fix issue decoding Sony XAVC files
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where thumbnails in clip list were not appearing until the Timeline still store was selected in color tool
  • GENERAL: Fix hang importing manifest and merging metadata to existing clips with offline media
  • GENERAL: Fix hang importing manifest that has clips pointing to the same file in two different locations
  • GENERAL: Fix issue deleting jobs with file entries imported from manifest on MySQL systems
  • GENERAL: Fix issue that could cause wrong clips to merge with manifest metadata in certain edge cases when tapename was missing
  • GENERAL: Fix issue importing watermark images on MySQL systems
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where total run time of a reel was not correct until you reopened the job
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where attempting to traceback many clips created by an EDL could cause Cortex to crash
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where clip list would scroll after selecting multiple clips
  • GENERAL: Show warning when episode filename exceeds max length (20 characters)
  • GENERAL: Fixed several issues related to doing traceback after importing an EDL
  • GENERAL: Fixed issues with calculating timecodes for record timecode reels
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where sometimes the ‘save reel’ button would not do anything when trying to edit a reel
  • GENERAL: Fixed new issue with merging manifest metadata from manifest due to more precise subframe timecode calculation
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where sometimes multiple clips remained selected when only one appeared selected
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where Enter and Esc stopped working to exit text edit fields after running a copy job.
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where it appeared as though comments were not deleted until you reopened the job.
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where PDF report could show bogus ‘missing’ and ‘unlisted’ files when exported from Project Manager.
  • GENERAL: Fixed hang importing manifest could hang due to improper naming of LUT filename in manifest.
  • GENERAL: Clips can now play back immediately after traceback from EDL when media is already online.
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where source decoding settings were not properly stored after EDL import and traceback for certain file formats.
  • GENERAL: Fixed crash caused by attempting to relink media on import when path has not changed.
  • GENERAL: Fixed crash when importing media to a job with offline clips that have embedded audio.
  • GENERAL: Prevent crash caused by user trying to traceback through another project file or ALE folder with no path specified.
  • GENERAL: Fixed crash when attempting to create new database folder for SQLite projects.
  • GENERAL: When doing traceback, if ‘Edit’ is unchecked, mark in and out are retained from imported clip.
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where Cortex sometimes thinks multiple clips are selected
  • GENERAL: Fix for reading audio from certain quicktime files with a sample size table equal greater than 1
  • GENERAL: Fix for wrong duration reported when reading certain quicktime files
  • GENERAL: Fix issue updating project databases from 1.4.x to 1.5.x
  • GENERAL: Fix issue with tearing in Black Magic SDI output due to illegal values
  • GENERAL: Fixed hang that could occur when playing a reel with only 1 clip to the end
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue with slate durations sometimes being incorrect in ALE
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue with duplicate events showing up in GUI when opening/closing a reel with head formatting on deliverable
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue with clip bin and reel run times being slightly off
  • GENERAL: Fixed crash when sorting clip list by the comments column
  • GENERAL: Fixed hang sometimes caused by pressing the Tab key in the Color tool
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where Cortex would sometimes erroneously attempt to load the two wav files as one clip
  • GENERAL: Fixed crash when attempting to read audio files with more than 16 channels. Now channels greater than 16 are ignored.
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where clips sometimes did not show up in clip bin after being imported until re-open job
  • RENDER: Fixed issue where clips could be rendered to the wrong folder after changing the reel name
  • RENDER: Fixed issue with intermittent incomplete DNxHD renders
  • GENERAL: Fix regression where CDL’s were not importing due to exception generating timecode
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where occasional exception shown when loading stills while opening job
  • GENERAL: Fix stuttering of certain formats during initial playback on SDI with BlackMagic card
  • GENERAL: Fix ‘pulsing’ when playing back RED material with RED Rocket or RED Rocket X
  • GENERAL: Fix crash on startup and on exit that could occur due to bad config file
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where color was sometimes not loaded from manifest file
  • GENERAL: Information message “A clip is still encoding…” could come up unnecessarily after stopping Convey
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where wav files could not be imported if they were in the same folder as other media with audio
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where reel was sometimes not sorted properly when initially selected
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where certain tabs were disabled after closing log window
  • GENERAL: Fix issue where checkbox could erroneously show up in deliverable configuration GUI “Show LUTs for this job only”
  • GENERAL: After changing clip timecode, to project framerate, warning about framerate mismatch no longer appears
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where marks could not be added at frames with certain dropframe timecodes
  • GENERAL: Fix possible crash when importing audio only clips into a new job
  • GENERAL: Fix possible crash when deleting sony clip while audio waveform being created
  • GENERAL: Blackmagic design SDI output audio channels set to valid value when first configured
  • GENERAL: Fix intermittent crash in GPU caused by displayer attempting to show frame with invalid parameters
  • GENERAL: Fix crash that could occur when minimizing the application before job is opened
  • GENERAL: Enforce consistency setting now prevents clips with modified playspeed from being added to reels
  • GENERAL: Fix issue with path to LUT files used during rendering when manifest with LUTs is imported
  • HARDWARE: Fix issue selecting 4 audio channels on video output with BMD cards by updating SDK to version 10.1
  • RENDER: Fixed intermittent issue where QuickTime PhotoJpeg files output from Cortex would not open in QuickTime player.
  • RENDER: Fixed intermittent crash rendering to H.264 with more than 2 audio channels caused by insufficient memory allocation.
  • RENDER: Fixed pixel aspect ratio for center extract SD delvierables
  • RENDER: MainConept MPEG encoder rolled back from 9.8 to 9.6 to fix issue with “I-frame pulsing”
  • RENDER: Fix issue when encoding speed slider is set to 0, new reels start slowly encoding
  • RENDER: Cannot output DPX files at certain resolutions like 720x486
  • RENDER: Clip can be left in pending state after start and stop render
  • RENDER: Fix issue where clip could start encoding for disabled deliverable when job is first opened
  • RENDER: Fix issue where jpeg sequences created from clips with modified playspeed did not reflect the speed change
  • RENDER: Fixed half pixel offset in low quality resize
  • RENDER: Fix issue where data offset in DPX headers was sometimes written incorrectly, causing image to ‘bounce’ in certain applications
  • RENDER: Fix issue where DNG extraction settings were not being applied in render
  • RENDER: Can output DPX and OpenEXR clips with the chosen framerate in the header
  • RENDER: When outputting from file sequences, index number of source sequence is duplicated in output filename
  • RENDER: Fix issue where encoding DNxHD as file-per-reel with head formatting events would fail
  • RENDER: Fix issue where jpeg sequences would not render out with modified playspeed
  • SHARE: Fix issue where after syncing clip on another system, audio track is not properly selected in isolate audio mode on the other machine
  • SYNC: Camera, scene, take and sound roll fields were allowing more characters to be entered than are stored in database (16)
  • SYNC: Fix issue where clips that start before midnight and end after midnight could not be sync’d
  • SYNC: Fix issue with waveform disappearing for clips when audio data not exactly the same length in all tracks

Version 1.5.1 b4492

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • GENERAL: Fixed issues importing manifests containing 10s of 1000s of files (eg from ARRI RAW jobs)
  • GENERAL: Fixed issue where sliders in framing tool etc would steal numpad autofocus from timecode widget

Version 1.5.1 b4578

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • GENERAL: Fix intermittent crash when importing many ARRIRAW clips at once
  • GENERAL: Fix intermittent issue where the wrong LUT could appear to be applied during playback
  • RENDER: Fix intermittent issue where a frame could appear out of order in outputs transcoded from RED files

Version 1.5.1 b4596

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • GENERAL: When clip is deleted on another system, stay on current clip
  • GENERAL: Fix issue reading Sony Action Cam footage due to invalid description in QuickTime header
  • GENERAL: Potential fix for ‘duplicate pipeline element’ errors
  • RENDER: Fix issue where head formatting events could get rendered out of order

Version 1.5.1 b4623

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • COPY: Fix issue with running copy tool on systems with certain Locale settings
  • GENERAL: Fixed licensing issue that could cause application to crash when installed on certain system configurations
  • RENDER: Fix issue rendering some pro-sumer camera file types with embedded audio to DNxHD

Version 1.5.1 b4662

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

IMPROVEMENTS

  • COLOR: When importing color from ALEs with no ImageFilename column, set the still Filename to the Name column in the ALE for better captions

BUG FIXES

  • COLOR: Fix issue importing Resolve ALEs: Import color values from ALE now works for ALEs with extra carriage returns or blank lines

Version 1.5.1 b4739

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • GENERAL: Fix issue decoding 12-bit Phantom files
  • RENDER: Fix issue encoding from 47.95 fps GoPro sources - would crash if audio was not removed first

Version 1.5.1 b4754

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • GENERAL: Always treat .cine files as phantom files. Fixes issue where auto-detecting the codec of a phantom file could cause Cortex to attempt to decode improperly and fail in rare cases.

Version 1.5.1 b4772

Is now available. Click here to visit the download page.

BUG FIXES

  • COLOR: Fix issue where copying color from previous or next event could cause changes to color changes from one clip to be applied to another inadvertently
  • COLOR: Add error log message if color doesn’t match what was saved to the database