Sony Catalyst

[Ian Stark]

This looks very interesting. Something I've been struggling with the last couple of years as the business has grown: https://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/catalystprepare

[Seth Bloombaum]

Something like Adobe Bridge, but for video?

OMG, look at this:

Ultra Wide Color Gamut
Work with the same High Dynamic Range color space as your camera. Set the source color space and the grade color space independently.

Exposing the color space as a controllable parameter. Dare we hope that this will come to Vegas one day?

I do like the idea of tools for pre-edit media management very much. We should make better use of metadata. Someday we'll be able to tag in-camera...

[Steven Davis]

I hope it's not some crazy price, 200.00 sounds about right.

[Ian Stark]

Then you'll be happy about this - jump to the bottom for the good news :-):

Friday, September 12, 2014
Sony Announces New Line of Media Preparation Applications
Catalyst Browse and Catalyst Prepare, powerful applications that provide the fastest, most reliable path from Camera to Post

Middleton, WIS. — Sony Creative Software, a leading global provider of professional editing and authoring solutions, today announced its new line of production applications, Catalyst Browse™ and Catalyst Prepare™. These new applications streamline media management and production processes, enabling professional producers to efficiently move media from their cameras and decks, saving valuable production time and providing confidence that their media is securely backed up.

Catalyst Browse is a free, powerful clip-management tool specifically designed for the latest portfolio of Sony camcorders and decks such as CineAlta, SR, XDCAM and NXCAM, including the new PXW-FS7. Catalyst Prepare, the fast, simple, reliable path from camera to post, works with a variety of cameras beyond Sony, including Canon and GoPro, and offers a set of media preparation tools that bridge the gap between acquisition and editing. Catalyst Browse and Catalyst Prepare both support Windows and Mac OS X and have a simple consistent, UI design across both platforms. The Windows version is also touch-friendly.

"Sony Creative Software is pleased to announce these new products. Our research and development has been focused on uniting our cameras and software in new ways that foster maximum speed and precision on the way to post," said John Freeborg, vice president of Sony Creative Software. "These applications offer solutions that kick-start the post-production process in ways that will make you better, faster, and more organized than ever."

Both applications are built from a set of underlying technology components which combine to provide a powerful, consistent experience:

OpenCL GPU accelerated video engine for smooth playback and fast rendering
Precise color engine featuring ultra wide color gamut and large dynamic range capabilities for previewing and adjusting S-Log, S-Log2, S-Log-3, RAW, and Rec.709 source footage
Precise and comprehensive format support for all the Sony Professional cameras including the new PXW-FS7
With Catalyst Browse, the user can:
Browse — Quickly browse the files on your device using a thumbnail view or detailed list.
View — See the details of each clip, check focus, mark in and out points, adjust colors, and edit metadata.
Fast Copy — Copy all clips on the media, a subset, or only the desired portion of a clip to save time and space.
Ultra Wide Color Gamut — Review with confidence the full range of color captured by your S-Log and RAW Sony cameras. Apply color looks, and import/export standard ASC-CDL files with other workflow tools to save time.
Clip Lists — Create, import, and export Sony Professional Disc clip lists for quick play-out needs.
Transcode and Cloud Upload — Transcode clips to the most popular video production formats. Upload clips directly to the Sony Ci media cloud for collaborative team review.
Catalyst Prepare, built on Catalyst Browse functionality, revolutionizes the post-production workflow with a variety of advanced features, including:
Import — Quickly view and import clips from the latest professional cameras, including Sony, Canon, GoPro, and others.
Organize — Organization is key: Prepare gives you the ability to organize your media into targeted, meaningful collections.
Edit — View the details, zoom into every corner, mark In/Out, edit metadata, adjust colors non-destructively, and create a storyboard to rough draft your vision.
Export — Export a file, a group of files, or a storyboard. Render to .MP4, DPX, OpenEXR, ACES, ProRes (Mac only), or XAVC in a variety of resolutions and frame rates, or upload to the cloud via Sony Ci media cloud for collaborative team review.
Confident Backup — Back up the entire camera media with the confidence of checksum verification.
Ultra Wide Color Gamut — Work with the same wide color gamut as your camera. Set the source color space and the grade color space independently. Grade in Rec.709, Log, or ACES.
Create a Rough Cut — Use the storyboard editor to sequence and edit a rough cut, then render the storyboard or export it to a variety of NLEs.

Price and Availability
Catalyst Browse is a free application. Catalyst Prepare is available for $199.95. Both applications will be available for digital download and physical purchase October 2014. For more information, please visit: www.sonycreativesoftware.com/catalyst.

[Steven Davis]

Man, I should do all of Sony's pricing. I'll wait for the call from their PR.

I'm assuming Sony sees FCPX with it's indexing/library and says, "hmm, we can do a catalog software...." Or maybe Sony's copying Adobe like was mentioned above. Now if Sony would include this in Vegas, well then that would get my skin excited.

[Ian Stark]

I'm hoping that it will allow me to import, sort and manage files from an Atomos Samurai Blade and/or a Panasonic AF101/GH3/GH4.

[Ron Evans]

Looks like they have combined all the transfer software they had before. Content Management Utility , Content Browser. Playback Motion Browser and Playmemories all of course come free with their respective Sony cameras and PMB and Playmemories provide cataloging etc too. I use PMB and Playmemories for most of my stuff now. Look forward to these when they come available to replace the range I now use. Hope it includes the nice way the current software renames files by date clip was taken etc.

Ron Evans