January 2009 - Pro-apps-dev

How are you using -frameSetup:::?
by Darrin Cardani 15 Jan '09

15 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com 3rd Party Developers, So my questions to developers are these: Thanks, Darrin -- Darrin Cardani dcardani(a)apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… I'd like to get a feel for how developers are using the -frameSetup::: method. I'm looking at a bug about software rendering, and it occurred to me that the current model for -frameSetup::: is flawed. The current situation: Motion (and I would bet FCP) currently call - frameSetup::: once per frame right before calling -renderOutput:::. Because -frameSetup::: is where the plugin tells the host app whether the plugin can render in hardware or software, we don't know that information at any other time than right before the plugin renders. So when we try to figure out if the output is going to be small enough to fit in VRAM, we don't yet know if the plugin will actually be using any VRAM. (i.e. if it's software, it likely won't be.) So in looking to the (far) future, I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to either split apart -frameSetup::: which allows your plugin to allocate memory and do any other necessary setup before rendering, and asking the plugin whether it's going to render in hardware or software, or if it would be reasonable to leave it as is, but call - frameSetup::: (and of course -frameCleanup) in more places. 1) In general, do you do much setup in -frameSetup:::? If so, what sorts of things are you doing? (Allocating memory, pBuffers, etc? Just doing some quick calcs?) 2) Do your filters generally work only in either hardware or software (but not both), or do your filters generally make a decision based on settings (like 8, 16, 32 bit rendering, frame size, etc.) to decide whether to render in hardware and/or software? In other words, do you generally hardcode the values for canRenderHardware/canRenderSoftware, or is there generally logic to determine what they should be set to? This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Can Motion FXPlug read a file to create text objects and applying existing text behaviors?
by Darrin Cardani 15 Jan '09

15 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com On Jan 14, 2009, at 6:51 PM, Hayden Young wrote: And then they'll all have the behavior in one step: Let me know if that answers your questions. Thanks, Darrin -- Darrin Cardani dcardani(a)apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com I want to write a FX Plugin for Apple Motion and want i want it to do is to read a file, create text objects and then the user can decide which text-behaviors to apply so, what i have at the moment is: a plug in that loads into Motion, and it appears in the generator folders... 1. can i just load a user interface into motion that users can access from the library? or can i only ever make filters, transitions, and generators? FxPlug does not allow for any sort of interaction with the host app other than filters, generators, and transitions. However, you could write an application which creates a Motion document containing the text you want it to contain. For more information on how to do that, see here: <http://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppleApplications/Conceptual/motio… > i can successfully load text files and read and process them (since it's written in objective c) 2. can i get the plug in to make text objects? If so, how? No, but as I said above, you can create a document which contains the text objects, and you can even put the behaviors on the text objects in the document you create. 3. can i use the plug in to mass apply and mass modify a text behavior i want to apply to a subset of those text objects? for example: - there are 374 text objects - the user wants to apply a text behavior (like zoom in from left) to 288 of those text objects - the user wants to modify the text behavior ONCE and it affects all 288 text objects that have that text behavior applied to it i learned there is no quick way to mass apply a text-behavior to lots of text objects as quick as it should be able to be done. So i figure the plugin will be able to loop through all the selected text objects and change their applied behavior Yes i know you can copy-drag and drop a behavior onto different text objects, but copy-drag and drop is too slow. obviously this process is very slow and can be automated as it has been in other applications Actually, there's a much easier way for users. Once the text objects are in the project, simply select them all in the layer list, and choose a text behavior from the "Add Behavior..." popup menu in the toolbar: Or you can do it programmatically as I mention above if you create the Motion document yourself. In this case, there's no way to modify one behavior and have them all get modified. But you could write an application which could allow that.

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Can Motion FXPlug read a file to create text objects and applying existing text behaviors?
by Hayden Young 15 Jan '09

15 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to :subject:mime-version:content-type; bh=PxJSiIMVUJIRjKUYLJcawFaSvHnlWtAcKYX200qopnc=; b=tBp5iEycgjz+3P/++ak8/6NE4QQIOFP+8+9ZH9uvylUcCQjhjXjWhlh8/szSTK97bN ndrxSVNwZY+/W5eziKYQFc2Lr8ehS2m2GWyylyr+GZny5hmkEidsDv7pdyJDO7exDnuY Ssu31dWsKE0zw5/KaMWteu37+50LFf24Q+Q+4= Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type; b=pUG3sDaEdakd3Gt/FaqpVWDrDz6FPpvDgf44qybpbDY9O1BJCxg41F8+Lkz8DxB+Cc jz6oyD/cVWBU8lmacqR14TmdZzYSWL9mTpTNaOQxVkaf9c6zFnK/LNhIj9EHZLgzTZjX fYUov5nRwdp9cu3o6Op0PpZ+mbXG1tPmpjmYU= _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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OT Replacing media while maintaining in and out points
by Emile Tobenfeld (a. k. a Dr. T) 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Hi Example: Any suggestions on the easiest way to do this? Thanks. -- F. Scott Fitzgerald Emile Tobenfeld, Ph. D. Video Producer Image Processing Specialist Video for your HEAD! Boris FX http://www.foryourhead.com http://www.borisfx.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… This is really a user question, but I'm not on any FCP user lists, and I'm guessing someone where knows the answer. I'm looking for an easy way to replace the media for a single clip (or sometimes for all clips using the same media) in the timeline, while maintaining the in and out points for that clip/ I have a timeline with one or more instances of a particular clip. I've externally rendered an effect that uses the entire clip, and I would like to replace one or more instances of the clip with the rendered effect, while maintaining the timing of the original clip in the timeline. (Something like an after-the-fact multiclip) "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." Visit "Before the Fall -- Images of the World Trade Center" at http://www.foryourhead.com This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Where is this warning message coming from?
by Piers Goodhew 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com On 14/01/2009, at 12:22 PM, Brad Wright wrote: PG _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… You are correct! I just tested my plug-in on a standard definition clip and the problem doesn't show up. I need to get a bigger graphics card. And make sure you ammend your system requirements: I had thought I saw my last "out of memory" dialog with OS 9, I was not amused when I worked out what the problem was. This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Reconnecting to modified media
by David Heidelberger 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Thanks Ky, - David On Jan 13, 2009, at 3:27 PM, Ky Hopwood wrote: David Thanks Andreas, Thanks, - David On Jan 13, 2009, at 2:13 PM, Andreas Kiel wrote: Hello, Andreas Kiel On 13.01.2009, at 18:58, David Heidelberger wrote: Hello all, Andreas Kiel Spherico Nelkenstr. 25 D-76135 Karlsruhe Tel.: +49 (0)721 183 9753 eFax: +1 650 897 8094 eMail: kiel(a)spherico.com http://spherico.com/filmtools -- workflow tools for FCP P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… That's the behavior I would expect. Except the media is unedited. In testing, I imported, stripped the tracks, and then reconnected. I even deleted the default blank sequence from the new project. The project only has my test clips. When the error message called the clip a "sequence," that certainly gave me pause. There are no sequences or edits anywhere. Also, I get the same result if I delete the tracks by hand in Quicktime. The Log and Transfer window does let you specify the tracks, yes. But the point of this utility is if the user forgets to do that. It sounds as if you have edited the original media, including the audio tracks that you don't desire and going to be tossing away. If you just imported the old media or only edited the video tracks ( or the tracks that are going to be in the new media ), then you should not get an error. If however you have used all of your tracks, then I would expect for this error to happen. By the way, the Log and Transfer input settings don't allow you to configure to only import the tracks you wish on your camera? That is likely too obvious, but I thought to ask just in case that was overlooked. Assuming it doesn't, just do the following ( before editing) : 1/ transfer media 2/ use your tool to strip the unused tracks 3/ reconnect to the new media. In that scenario, assuming that they were stripped properly, then it should work. I appreciate the thoughts. I realize it's not truly deleting audio. It's not really to free up space, it's more a convenience so that when the assistant editor accidentally digitizes 16 audio tracks over SDI or whatever, you don't have to continually disable 14 of them or waste time redigitizing. Since it's really for convenience, I was trying to make a simple, free utility so that you don't have to shell out 400 euros for MXF4QT (although I hear it's pretty fantastic, I may have to look into it for other uses). Also, since it's for correcting mistakes after-the-fact, it's designed for a user who hasn't captured audio and video separately (I don't think I've ever met anyone who does that). Anyway, still looking for thoughts on that error message. I don't know what your utility does but just deleting an audio track not really removes the track - it just removes the internal QT reference. Just look at the file size before and after. But you can create a new referenced movie that only contains video for example. With P2 you can use the mxf4mac component and you'll never get this problem again as with this component P2 files/tracks are kept as the are - discreet files. Another option is to capture audio video to different locations. This will allow you to delete the audio from the QT file in a way you described since the audio is only a reference within the QT file and Final Cut will re-connect correctly. Sometimes in Final Cut, particularly with newer hard-disk cameras, you can wind up mistakenly digitizing or log-and- transferring media with way more audio tracks than you need. It can become a hassle to constantly be disabling audio tracks while you're editing, so I wrote a little utility program that can strip out excess audio tracks from Quicktime movies, basically batching the same functionality you get when you go into the properties window in Quicktime Pro and delete tracks by hand. For a while, this was fine. You could delete the audio tracks and Final Cut would make the media offline. When you reconnected, it would give you a warning about not being able to find all the tracks, but would reconnect to the media no problem. Somewhere around either 6.0.2 or 6.0.4, something changed and now when I reconnect the media, after going through the warning in the reconnect files window and hitting "Connect," I get this message: "The file does not have enough audio tracks to reconnect to '0003RG' at time 08:59:10;14 in sequence '0003RG'. Click 'OK' to make this item independent and go to the next clip or 'Cancel' to skip all clips from this file." This is using P2 media, and the timecode is the media start time of the clip. Trouble is, neither option seems to do anything. Cancel just cancels out. And hitting okay leaves the clip offline. I've figured out a semi-workaround using Batch Lists and/or XML, but that complicates what was a very simple utility. I guess I don't really have a question, but I'm wondering what should happen if I click "OK" in that dialogue box? Shouldn't it reconnect to my media, but make it a new, independent clip? Since it doesn't, is that a bug? Also, as an aside note, I think Final Cut should be a bit more flexible about missing audio tracks, like it used to be. Thanks, - David Heidelberger _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/kiel% 40spherico.com This email sent to kiel(a)spherico.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/khopwood% 40apple.com This email sent to khopwood(a)apple.com This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Where is this warning message coming from?
by Brad Wright 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Brad Wright On Jan 13, 2009, at 5:12 PM, Piers Goodhew wrote: PG On 14/01/2009, at 11:50 AM, Paul Schneider wrote: Hi Brad, - Paul On Jan 13, 2009, at 6:42 PM, Brad Wright wrote: _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/piers%40u-h-p.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… You are correct! I just tested my plug-in on a standard definition clip and the problem doesn't show up. I need to get a bigger graphics card. Yes, we saw this message with 2 monitors connected to a 256MB graphics card (on a project which had begun on a 512MB card) (DVCPro HD 1080i50 project). Bought a new card and the message went away. for GPU rendering, Final Cut needs to create a few full-sized textures for you (at least one for input and one for output). A float texture is four times as big as an 8-bit texture, so with large frame sizes and older graphics cards, it's possible for you to not have enough VRAM to create the textures with float processing. Compounding the problem is the fact that if you have two monitors attached to your graphics card, we will cut the amount of available VRAM in half, in order to work around some GL driver issues. You don't say what your sequence format is, or if you have two monitors attached to the card, but my guess is that you are working with a 2K sequence and have two monitors attached. I'm getting an error message with my plug-ins from Final Cut saying that the effect failed to render, because the hardware cannot render at the requested size and depth. My sequence settings video processing is set to "Render all YUV material in high-precision YUV". My plug-in is supporting R4FL, as well as, all the other rendering formats. I'm rendering in hardware only in the plug-in. If I switch back to, "Render in 8-bit YUV" the message goes away. Why is this message happening? I'm using a MacPro with an ATI Radeon HD 2600. I'm performing the rendering in Core Image. Why is Final Cut giving me this error message? The graphics card should be able to support higher than 8 bit rendering, right? I'm using the latest version of FCP, 6.05. Brad Wright _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/pschneider% 40apple.com This email sent to pschneider(a)apple.com This email sent to piers(a)u-h-p.com This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Where is this warning message coming from?
by Piers Goodhew 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com PG On 14/01/2009, at 11:50 AM, Paul Schneider wrote: Hi Brad, - Paul On Jan 13, 2009, at 6:42 PM, Brad Wright wrote: Brad Wright _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/pschneider%40apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/piers%40u-h-p.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… Yes, we saw this message with 2 monitors connected to a 256MB graphics card (on a project which had begun on a 512MB card) (DVCPro HD 1080i50 project). Bought a new card and the message went away. for GPU rendering, Final Cut needs to create a few full-sized textures for you (at least one for input and one for output). A float texture is four times as big as an 8-bit texture, so with large frame sizes and older graphics cards, it's possible for you to not have enough VRAM to create the textures with float processing. Compounding the problem is the fact that if you have two monitors attached to your graphics card, we will cut the amount of available VRAM in half, in order to work around some GL driver issues. You don't say what your sequence format is, or if you have two monitors attached to the card, but my guess is that you are working with a 2K sequence and have two monitors attached. I'm getting an error message with my plug-ins from Final Cut saying that the effect failed to render, because the hardware cannot render at the requested size and depth. My sequence settings video processing is set to "Render all YUV material in high-precision YUV". My plug-in is supporting R4FL, as well as, all the other rendering formats. I'm rendering in hardware only in the plug-in. If I switch back to, "Render in 8-bit YUV" the message goes away. Why is this message happening? I'm using a MacPro with an ATI Radeon HD 2600. I'm performing the rendering in Core Image. Why is Final Cut giving me this error message? The graphics card should be able to support higher than 8 bit rendering, right? I'm using the latest version of FCP, 6.05. This email sent to pschneider(a)apple.com This email sent to piers(a)u-h-p.com This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Where is this warning message coming from?
by Paul Schneider 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Hi Brad, - Paul On Jan 13, 2009, at 6:42 PM, Brad Wright wrote: Brad Wright _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/pschneider%40apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… for GPU rendering, Final Cut needs to create a few full-sized textures for you (at least one for input and one for output). A float texture is four times as big as an 8-bit texture, so with large frame sizes and older graphics cards, it's possible for you to not have enough VRAM to create the textures with float processing. Compounding the problem is the fact that if you have two monitors attached to your graphics card, we will cut the amount of available VRAM in half, in order to work around some GL driver issues. You don't say what your sequence format is, or if you have two monitors attached to the card, but my guess is that you are working with a 2K sequence and have two monitors attached. I'm getting an error message with my plug-ins from Final Cut saying that the effect failed to render, because the hardware cannot render at the requested size and depth. My sequence settings video processing is set to "Render all YUV material in high-precision YUV". My plug-in is supporting R4FL, as well as, all the other rendering formats. I'm rendering in hardware only in the plug-in. If I switch back to, "Render in 8-bit YUV" the message goes away. Why is this message happening? I'm using a MacPro with an ATI Radeon HD 2600. I'm performing the rendering in Core Image. Why is Final Cut giving me this error message? The graphics card should be able to support higher than 8 bit rendering, right? I'm using the latest version of FCP, 6.05. This email sent to pschneider(a)apple.com This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Where is this warning message coming from?
by Darrin Cardani 14 Jan '09

14 Jan '09

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com On Jan 13, 2009, at 4:42 PM, Brad Wright wrote: Darrin -- Darrin Cardani dcardani(a)apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… I'm getting an error message with my plug-ins from Final Cut saying that the effect failed to render, because the hardware cannot render at the requested size and depth. My sequence settings video processing is set to "Render all YUV material in high-precision YUV". My plug-in is supporting R4FL, as well as, all the other rendering formats. I'm rendering in hardware only in the plug-in. If I switch back to, "Render in 8-bit YUV" the message goes away. Why is this message happening? I'm using a MacPro with an ATI Radeon HD 2600. I'm performing the rendering in Core Image. Why is Final Cut giving me this error message? The graphics card should be able to support higher than 8 bit rendering, right? I'm using the latest version of FCP, 6.05. Yes, that hardware can render in high precision. I usually see this message when a filter is accidentally returning NO from either - frameSetup: or -renderOutput:. Is it possible that you do something slightly different in one of those methods in the 32-bit case, and accidentally return NO? This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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