Software Video Mixer

Martin Sinclair · November 28th, 2008, 03:29 AM

Hi,

I have been working on some software for quite some time that takes a variety of inputs such as:

* AVI, MPG, anything Windows Media Player can play.
* DVDs
* Video Capture (Analog and Digital, including BlackMagic Design intensity pro cards)
* DV and HDV sources via Firewire
* Images and slideshows (JPG, GIF, PNG)
* Powerpoint (simple frames, no transitions)

And mixes them (fade, cut) for output to:

* Primary monitor (all inputs + preview + output)
* Secondary monitor / projector / tv out etc (output)
* DV file (PAL/NTSC)

All with minimal delay (1-3 frames) when used with analog sources.

It has similarities to the Sony Anycast system which was my original inspiration.

Specs wise it can run on a modest dual core XP machine with a decent mid-range consumer 3d graphics card. (Currently running on a NVIDIA 7600 GS)

I am now wondering if there is any interest in this sort of software being made available commercially?

It is currently being used to queue up video clips at my church and has been used to output a three camera live production in the past.

I am unsure how it would stack up for "professional" purposes, but I am interesting in find out what people here think....

Andrew Francis · November 28th, 2008, 01:52 PM

Hi Martin, I've been looking into software to do multi-camera switching to disk of DV cameras connected over firewire. Your software sounds really promicing, and I would be interested to have a look at it.

How would you say it compares to Wirecast or John Miller's DV Swicher ?

Martin Sinclair · November 29th, 2008, 12:01 AM

Mixing DV inputs as you describe would be possible, but since the program doesn't mix the raw dv data directly (as that dv filter does) it would require a pretty powerful machine to decode those streams and re-encode them to dv on the fly.

For that task you are better off going with something that handles DV natively such as CutFour:

AvTake CutFour, DV video mixing software, live DV video mixer, DV switcher, AV / A/V mixing, titling, video streaming, Avi Capture, Firewire mixer, audio switch, HDV, HD, Cut4

The idea of my program is to mix live streams for live display with minimal delay using analog sources. (DV has a unusable 0.5s delay for live applications)

Martin Sinclair · December 4th, 2008, 11:46 PM

Attached is a screenshot if anyone is interested.

Robert Herman · December 23rd, 2008, 12:49 AM

I am trully interested in that. I have recently found some software (wirecast, some soft for VJs, DV Mixer PRO, AvTake CutFour... ) Some of them are nice but don't have fullscreen output, and some didn't worked. I would like to try your mixer. Would you dare to send it to me, please?

Ric Marrty · January 28th, 2009, 03:04 PM

Robert

Have you tried the AvTake CutFour it looks very interesting. I downloaded the demo but i can only see the top portion of the interface the bottoms camera monitors are barely viewable.

I have sent emails to tha company but no response not even an auto response, so don't know if they are a for real company or recently closed. I did see that there site shows new fatures like slowmo and pip. But there lack of response to my emails makes me nerveous about buying it.

Do you know of any simililar app

thanks
Ric Marty

Matt Ratelle · January 29th, 2009, 05:56 PM

Hi Martin! I'm just wondering what platform your software runs on? From what you said, it has the ability to playback video formats...would those videos be kept in an onboard hard drive? Does your program have scheduling capability? I'd really like some more info on your system! Is the programming complete? Any chance you could send it to me?

Marwan Tzenios · February 23rd, 2009, 04:19 AM

Hello Martin,
I need to use your software for a church in lebanon. We want mix 2 or 3 cams (crossfade) manually or (scheduled if possible) and use the output to broadcast to ustream or mogulus.
I wonder if you give us a copy of your software either free of charge or for a low fee.
NB: Is it possible to send the output to a virtual wdm driver so that it could easily be seen by ustream encoder of adobe flash media encoder...

Regards,
Marwan Tzenios

Tawia Pachuau · October 11th, 2009, 11:53 AM

hello,
I'm intrested whats your price and is there any demo?

Giroud Francois · October 11th, 2009, 02:53 PM

currently i am using VideoLan to get live video plus some logo or title out of a laptop.
I think an interesting feature would be to provide a program that take video from a capture device, a let you superimpose some text or logo, or make windowed video on a background.
this , without delay, since most of time , this feature is needed for live presentation.
with Videolan i still got .3 sec of delay so it is hardly usable.
the output can stay on the external vga output of the laptop, while control is made from the internal screen, so dual screen is a must.
Keeping output to VGA is gret since you can display high res graphics that would be impossible with video.
This looks very simple task, but it still needs to be found as a simple application.
I know i can use very expensive hardware to do that, but i think a simple eee Pc would be very cool.

Martin Sinclair · October 22nd, 2009, 08:43 PM

Hi,

Well it's been nearly a year! After testing it with a live production back in December there were a few issues that needed to be fixed before public beta testing could begin.

Most of the code has been rewritten and optimised extensively.

=================================
Features
=================================
(sorry if it is overly technical...)

* Support for standard Analog capture sources
* Support for 1080i HD video sources from BlackMagic-Design Intensity and DeckLink cards.
(Theoretically supporting HDMI, SD, HD-SDI, Component, S-VIDEO and Composite)
* Unlimited inputs supported up to hardware limit

---NOTE: HDV and DV input sources are NOT supported due to excessive hardware delay---

* Real-time output to a secondary monitor / tv out / component / hdmi (depending on graphics card capabilities)

* Real-time output at a customisable resolution with BlackMagic-Design cards
(HDMI, SD, HD-SDI etc)

* Real-time recording to disk in DV (for SD Video) or CineForm (for HD Video)
(CineForm not included)

* Video, DVD, Photos and PowerPoint inputs
* Real time overlay of any of the inputs over another. Alpha channel used automatically where supported by the source. (For example a PNG image)
* Screen Capture over the network. This allows another computer screen to be set as a program input.

Each input supports the following:

* RGB colour correction with customisable Black/White levels (for 16-235 to 0-255 for YUV)
* Deinterlace
* Sharpen
* Custom Aspect Ratio

=================================
System Requirements
=================================

The following system has been tested with 2 HD sources at 1080i mixed to a 720p CineForm output (and 720p screen output simultaneously) 25fps.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
2x Intensity Pro
NVIDIA 7600GS
3GB RAM
XP PRO SP3

=================================
Beta Testing
=================================

The program is now at the stage where I would like to see how/if it works on other hardware.

If anyone is interested in testing it out email me at mixer@marty.id.au

I would also be happy to answer any questions in this thread.

-

Martin

Martin Sinclair · October 22nd, 2009, 08:53 PM

Attached is a screenshot demonstrating real time overlay of HD video

Kelly Rush · November 11th, 2009, 03:18 PM

Already said it in my e-mail, but I'd be interested in checking this out... :)

Cory Oswald · November 12th, 2009, 08:45 AM

As would I... :-)

Kelly Rush · November 15th, 2009, 11:25 PM

Bump? Can we get this thing to try out? :)

November 28th, 2008, 03:29 AM	#1
Martin Sinclair New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 14	Software Video Mixer - Any interest? Hi, I have been working on some software for quite some time that takes a variety of inputs such as: * AVI, MPG, anything Windows Media Player can play. * DVDs * Video Capture (Analog and Digital, including BlackMagic Design intensity pro cards) * DV and HDV sources via Firewire * Images and slideshows (JPG, GIF, PNG) * Powerpoint (simple frames, no transitions) And mixes them (fade, cut) for output to: * Primary monitor (all inputs + preview + output) * Secondary monitor / projector / tv out etc (output) * DV file (PAL/NTSC) All with minimal delay (1-3 frames) when used with analog sources. It has similarities to the Sony Anycast system which was my original inspiration. Specs wise it can run on a modest dual core XP machine with a decent mid-range consumer 3d graphics card. (Currently running on a NVIDIA 7600 GS) I am now wondering if there is any interest in this sort of software being made available commercially? It is currently being used to queue up video clips at my church and has been used to output a three camera live production in the past. I am unsure how it would stack up for "professional" purposes, but I am interesting in find out what people here think....

December 4th, 2008, 11:46 PM	#4
Martin Sinclair New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 14	Attached is a screenshot if anyone is interested. Attached Thumbnails

December 23rd, 2008, 12:49 AM	#5
Robert Herman Tourist Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia Posts: 1	Interesting. I am trully interested in that. I have recently found some software (wirecast, some soft for VJs, DV Mixer PRO, AvTake CutFour... ) Some of them are nice but don't have fullscreen output, and some didn't worked. I would like to try your mixer. Would you dare to send it to me, please? Last edited by Robert Herman; December 23rd, 2008 at 02:54 AM.

January 28th, 2009, 03:04 PM	#6
Ric Marrty Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Tenerife Spain Posts: 71	AvTake CutFour Robert Have you tried the AvTake CutFour it looks very interesting. I downloaded the demo but i can only see the top portion of the interface the bottoms camera monitors are barely viewable. I have sent emails to tha company but no response not even an auto response, so don't know if they are a for real company or recently closed. I did see that there site shows new fatures like slowmo and pip. But there lack of response to my emails makes me nerveous about buying it. Do you know of any simililar app thanks Ric Marty

October 22nd, 2009, 08:43 PM	#11
Martin Sinclair New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 14	Update Hi, Well it's been nearly a year! After testing it with a live production back in December there were a few issues that needed to be fixed before public beta testing could begin. Most of the code has been rewritten and optimised extensively. ================================= Features ================================= (sorry if it is overly technical...) * Support for standard Analog capture sources * Support for 1080i HD video sources from BlackMagic-Design Intensity and DeckLink cards. (Theoretically supporting HDMI, SD, HD-SDI, Component, S-VIDEO and Composite) * Unlimited inputs supported up to hardware limit ---NOTE: HDV and DV input sources are NOT supported due to excessive hardware delay--- * Real-time output to a secondary monitor / tv out / component / hdmi (depending on graphics card capabilities) * Real-time output at a customisable resolution with BlackMagic-Design cards (HDMI, SD, HD-SDI etc) * Real-time recording to disk in DV (for SD Video) or CineForm (for HD Video) (CineForm not included) * Video, DVD, Photos and PowerPoint inputs * Real time overlay of any of the inputs over another. Alpha channel used automatically where supported by the source. (For example a PNG image) * Screen Capture over the network. This allows another computer screen to be set as a program input. Each input supports the following: * RGB colour correction with customisable Black/White levels (for 16-235 to 0-255 for YUV) * Deinterlace * Sharpen * Custom Aspect Ratio ================================= System Requirements ================================= The following system has been tested with 2 HD sources at 1080i mixed to a 720p CineForm output (and 720p screen output simultaneously) 25fps. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 2x Intensity Pro NVIDIA 7600GS 3GB RAM XP PRO SP3 ================================= Beta Testing ================================= The program is now at the stage where I would like to see how/if it works on other hardware. If anyone is interested in testing it out email me at mixer@marty.id.au I would also be happy to answer any questions in this thread. - Martin

November 28th, 2008, 01:52 PM	#2
Andrew Francis Tourist Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Canterbury, England Posts: 1	Hi Martin, I've been looking into software to do multi-camera switching to disk of DV cameras connected over firewire. Your software sounds really promicing, and I would be interested to have a look at it. How would you say it compares to Wirecast or John Miller's DV Swicher ?

November 29th, 2008, 12:01 AM	#3
Martin Sinclair New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 14	Mixing DV inputs as you describe would be possible, but since the program doesn't mix the raw dv data directly (as that dv filter does) it would require a pretty powerful machine to decode those streams and re-encode them to dv on the fly. For that task you are better off going with something that handles DV natively such as CutFour: AvTake CutFour, DV video mixing software, live DV video mixer, DV switcher, AV / A/V mixing, titling, video streaming, Avi Capture, Firewire mixer, audio switch, HDV, HD, Cut4 The idea of my program is to mix live streams for live display with minimal delay using analog sources. (DV has a unusable 0.5s delay for live applications)

January 29th, 2009, 05:56 PM	#7
Matt Ratelle Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: St. Catharines, ON Posts: 63	Hi Martin! I'm just wondering what platform your software runs on? From what you said, it has the ability to playback video formats...would those videos be kept in an onboard hard drive? Does your program have scheduling capability? I'd really like some more info on your system! Is the programming complete? Any chance you could send it to me?

February 23rd, 2009, 04:19 AM	#8
Marwan Tzenios Tourist Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: lebanon Posts: 1	Hello Martin, I need to use your software for a church in lebanon. We want mix 2 or 3 cams (crossfade) manually or (scheduled if possible) and use the output to broadcast to ustream or mogulus. I wonder if you give us a copy of your software either free of charge or for a low fee. NB: Is it possible to send the output to a virtual wdm driver so that it could easily be seen by ustream encoder of adobe flash media encoder... Regards, Marwan Tzenios

October 11th, 2009, 11:53 AM	#9
Tawia Pachuau Tourist Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: India Posts: 1	hello, I'm intrested whats your price and is there any demo?

October 11th, 2009, 02:53 PM	#10
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	currently i am using VideoLan to get live video plus some logo or title out of a laptop. I think an interesting feature would be to provide a program that take video from a capture device, a let you superimpose some text or logo, or make windowed video on a background. this , without delay, since most of time , this feature is needed for live presentation. with Videolan i still got .3 sec of delay so it is hardly usable. the output can stay on the external vga output of the laptop, while control is made from the internal screen, so dual screen is a must. Keeping output to VGA is gret since you can display high res graphics that would be impossible with video. This looks very simple task, but it still needs to be found as a simple application. I know i can use very expensive hardware to do that, but i think a simple eee Pc would be very cool.

October 22nd, 2009, 08:53 PM	#12
Martin Sinclair New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 14	Attached is a screenshot demonstrating real time overlay of HD video Attached Thumbnails

November 11th, 2009, 03:18 PM	#13
Kelly Rush New Boot Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: United States Posts: 6	Already said it in my e-mail, but I'd be interested in checking this out... :)

November 12th, 2009, 08:45 AM	#14
Cory Oswald Tourist Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Detroit Lakes, MN Posts: 1	As would I... :-)

November 15th, 2009, 11:25 PM	#15
Kelly Rush New Boot Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: United States Posts: 6	Bump? Can we get this thing to try out? :)