This IS the Avid L2: Re: [Avid-L2] Media Composer v7.0.4 and Mac OS 10.9.4

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Re: [Avid-L2] Media Composer v7.0.4 and Mac OS 10.9.4

Thanks for the clarification. Is it okay that in my mind that I consider the term "modern codecs" to be in the same category as "New Paradigm" when FCP X came out? ;-0 Sure they are newer codecs but they aren't as warm as the old Vacuum Tube Codecs that looked great and kept my popcorn warm at the same time. ;-)

---In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, <philip@...> wrote :

Correct. Prior to mavericks QT Player X was still largely QT based, with some special direct calls to Core Video and Core Audio for H.264. From Mavericks it AVFoundation based and includes a Framework for updating "legacy" video to modern codecs before the legacy codecs go away when QT goes away. It's a way to push people forward, but it has a serious downside for our industry.

All modern code in OS X and iOS is built on frameworks. Consider them much more sophisticated versions of you toolbox, but essentially the same concept of a "black box that does stuff in response to inputs".

Most code is written to glue together frameworks, which OS X/iOS inherited from Next.

As an example of how powerful these can be, Greg put together a prototype of a new app in about a day by using AVPlayer Framework (and chose minimal controls, but editing controls are optional, and come "for free"); a list of files to be played in an NSTableView - the whole table setup is done for you, and a web view to display the existing web logging application.

He had to write no code for opening files, obtaining a file list or putting them in a table. He wrote code to glue that together. The web view is essential the basic essence of Safari, in a couple of lines of code. (without bookmarks, and all the extra stuff Safari offers).

If the code for each part had to be written directly it would have been weeks or months of work.

HTH

Philip

On Jul 9, 2014, at 3:43 PM, bigfish@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

So on my work older mac pro OS 10.6.8 Avid SNDX system I have both QT 7 Pro and QT X. I can play an Avid DNX Code Dnx 220 in either player. At home on my 10.8.3 ish mac pro I believe I can do the same. Things seem to change with Mavericks and the conversion process happens on those systems.

When you talk about API's and Frameworks are these somewhat like I understood of older mac operating systems where programs called on a "tool box" within the operating system to handle certain functions? If you have a hammer or preferably an arm waving for dummies description I'd appreciate it.

Am I correct that these QT conversions to "modern codecs" started with Mavericks?

---In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, <philip@...> wrote :

We don't know what happens (or when) they pull QT completely. Remembering that it is the QT APIs - old 32 bit and newer but obsolete 64 bit subset - that we care about. QT Player 7 is worthless without these frameworks and APIs as the player does nothing by itself.

QTX in Mavericks has a framework specifically for converting QT codecs to modern codecs. And yes, that's the way they express it. The legacy QT codecs we used for web work a decade ago have been hidden for years.

The approach to media playback in OS X has changed, starting with the iPhone. Instead of porting the ancient (now 21 years +) code for QT to the new iOS they started over, building efficient, new frameworks that pulled heavily on GPU acceleration.

By controlling what codecs are supported in the AVFoundation framework Apple ensure a consistent experience and that all are GPU centric. Given that FCP X supports codecs (and format containers like MTS, MXF and R3D - with appropriate helpers) that are not supported in QT Player X or QuickLook, it appears that an app developer can add support or their codec within their app itself, but not outside the app.

Interestingly, and great for us right now, it turns out that once FCP X has wrapped R3D et al into a MOV then QuickLook and AVFoundation players do understand them.

Philip

On Jul 9, 2014, at 1:31 PM, 'Dom Q. Silverio' domqsilverio@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Then that begs the question, what happens when they pull QT 7 completely? And how does QTX convert if they remove the older engine? What is Apple's main goal when closing QTX from 3rd party codecs?

Dom Q. Silverio

On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 4:27 PM, Philip Hodgetts philip@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com>wrote:

AFAIK there is no mechanism for Avid or anyone else to "migrate" their codec to AVFoundation.

At this time it does appear that only Apple can add codecs fro QT X natively: H.264, ProRes and done. Everything else will be converted to play back in QT X.

Philip

On Jul 9, 2014, at 1:16 PM, 'Dom Q. Silverio' domqsilverio@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Hi Philip

Does this mean that only Apple can dictate "native" codecs for QT X - as in no "converting" process?
Or is this the case that Avid needs to migrate their codec to AVFoundation?

On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 4:12 PM, Philip Hodgetts philip@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com>wrote:
Unfortunately there is no codec extensibility in AVFoundation, like there was in QuickTime.

Dom Q. Silverio