(Last document update 13 May 2019)
CHANGE LOG - Maintenance releases (8.8.xxx ) appeared after 8.8.0
Mistika 8.8.2 - 20th May 2019 (open beta)
New Features:
- Video Board autodetection.
- Added VLOG-L Mode Panasonic in Unicolor effect.
- Support for Sony X-OCN codec.
- Support for Neat Video version 5.
- VR Stitch Effect is now faster when more than 32 inputs are used.
Bug Fixes and minor changes:
- 2235 Change Request: Grade Effect has been renamed as Gradient.
- 2277 Fixed XML conform issue with Framing and TimeWarps.
- 2286 Change Request: Mistika now allows the configuration of the render with handles in frames rather than timecode.
- 2291 Frame rates from some AAFs now can be loaded properly.
Mistika 8.8.1 - 8th May 2019
Bug Fixes and minor changes:
- Fix DVS Stereo3D dual link bug: On systems with DVS video boards configured in Stereo3D dual link mode in mConfig, when changing to other stereo modes within Mistika produces wrong video output, and the record monitor bar can be stuck.
- Fix some conform issues.
Mistika 8.8.1 - 17 April 2019
New Features:
- Integration of Panasonic Varicam LT library
- ACES updated to the latest version 1.1.
- Cineform format support improved.
- Enhanced output of UHD and 4K formats, with more HDMI displays supported at 4K / UHD
Note: For the case of Boutique (WIndows and macOS) it is required to intall the latest version of AJA driver 15.x and the latest firmware for your Aja board. (Ultima linux systems do not need any modification)
- Changed TC behaviour in render. The timecode clip is now controlled by the parameter Metadata Source / Filter. It has two options: "Lowermost clip" and "Only used clips". When “only used clips” option is selected, the render will apply the used clips (upper most clip) as timecode source.
- Quad SDI now supports both SQD and 2SI modes . Previously only SQD was supported. (SQD = image divided in four quadrants, one per SDI output. 2SI = interleaved rows and colums of pixels. Each SDI output carry one version of the whole image, with each output alternating between odd and even pixel rows/columns,
Bug Fixes and minor changes:
2143 Improved rendering of AVI Movie DV25 codec.
2125 Mocha Pro tracking performance enhancements.
2173 Tiff files visualization improved with newly added FreeImage library support.
1703 Upgraded keyframe visualization in slider when working with layer blend.
1911 Fixed behaviour of R3D parameters in alpha channel when applied in ACES mode.
2006 Improved performance of the Alpha Channel in Solid Effect.
2085 Upgraded behaviour of the Burn tool when sending the selected information in Record Monitor to live video.
1984 Improved stability of overlay burn tool in a rendered file.
2197 Fixed output in live video with RGBA Apple ProRes Files.
2188 Improved behaviour of vectorscope scale in Nits.
2205 Special Symbols can now be used to name render presets and audio paths.
2084 Fixed communication between Record Monitor and Visual Effect window when using a Display Filter.
2221 Fixed destination target in the render tab in a clean installation.
2224 Improved conforming using RND files.
2228 Upgraded management of AAF multiple video tracks files.
2218 Enhanced rendering with holes and Proxy activated.
2225 Output to HDMI in 4K resolution with AJA io 4K video board is now available in MacOs systems
2166 Improved management of VTR/EDLTapes/EDL file.
2167 (Ultima only) YUV 10 bits output in DVS cards fixed .
2144 Fixed management of Sony XAVC files.
2162 (Ultima only) License server in SuSe systems now connects to internet to download the license.
2216 Enhanced rendering to XAVC 23fps in UHD projects.
End of th Change-Log. The original release notes of Mistika 8.8 follow:
What is new in Mistika 8.8
Consolidated Product line:
Important note: Mistika Ultima 8.7 version was released as a maintenance version between two major upgrades (Mistika 8.6 and Mistika 8.8), and it only had partial implementation of the functionality below.
The new version naming is aiming to provide an unified version numbering between all Mistika products, thus indicating the compatibility between them
In general, from this point Mistika Ultima , Mistika Boutique, Mistika Review, Mistika VR, and any other coming products will be able to read files from other Mistika products as long as they are the same (or later ) version number than the product used to create that file. (in this way can check if your workflow will work between different products by just looking at the version numbers). (you can find the product compatibility guide at the end of this document)
Note: In next sections, any references to "realtime" capabilities are based on the latest Mistika Ultima hardware. In Mistika Boutique they can also work in realtime or not depending on each configuration, but there is no warranty.
New features in Mistika Ultima / Mistika Boutique 8 .8 (Compared to Mistika 8.6)
MULTIPLATFORM: Mistika 8.8.0 is the first version to support Linux, Windows, and Mac. It is available in two configurations:
Mistika Ultima: Turnkey systems based on Linux, including workstation, Storage, and high speed connectivity options.
Mistika Boutique: Software only / Pay per use version for Windows and macOS.
INTERFACE
Mistika Immersive Reality Toolset module:
VR mode / VR 360 / VR 180 support
Stitch effect, with similar manipulators and functionality to Mistka VR
VR Stabilization
VR Shapes
Lens distortion effect
VR View effect, for compositing in VR environment
Import Mistika VR files and presets
Rnd files produced in Mistika VR can be sent to Mistika Ultima & BatchManager, including path translation (via MistikaVR->Add to render queue function).
Streaming to VR headsets (Ultima only)
Streaming live output (Mistika Ultima only) To stream the equivalent to live video output over an ip network (LAN, Wifi, Internet, VR Headset..). Use mConfig->Streaming to configure it
New Edit->Align Clips function, to align clips by audio or by Timecode
Overall revision of Shapes in general, with many improvements in all aspects, improved bounding boxes and more. Also with support for shapes in VR mode, providing natural and intuitive behaviour in 360 scenes while drawing the shape.
New keyframe organization and visualization in Shapes:
Added a Tracking Folder in the Shape's Parameters where all tracking information of the shape will be stored.
The form of the shape now displays Keyframes independently. This improves usability giving the operator the ability to modify the form of the shape without affecting the tracking information.
Improved Notes & Markers, with multiple colour types and navigation “per type”.
New Edit->ByPass capability to mute selected effects, also with separate control per eye (Stereo3D)
Smart Paste function to paste effects to multiple clips.
Visual Editor -> Unscale function, to see full source images or scaled to render format.
New function Edit->Setup->MuteMovingClips. To disable monitor evaluation temporally while moving clips of complex formats. If it is active, the image refresh is restarted when you release the clip in one place.
Improvements to the Load From Rnd function, with support for all relevant settings and render name management
Improved Render by Segments in "Selected" mode, to render selected clips in separated files rather than joining adjacent clips (as a difference to rendering "by blocks"
New control to permit to cancel the import processes
Locked clips can not be changed by "Set Duration"
Added "currentFrame" and "totalFrames" parameters to GLSL effects
Added support for UHD 8K 60p 10bit realtime uncompressed IO (Mistika Ultima only). Including support for 8K Quad 12G playbacks, 8K Quad 12G capture from Panasonic 8K VTRs, 8K 2SI & SQD video modes supported, faster than realtime multiGPU totem render at 8K, 32 audio channels.
Note: Requires special hardware based on SGO customized Aja KONA 5 dual 8K and specialised Mistika 8K Storage. These features are only available for SGO turnkey systems.
IMAGE FORMATS AND CODECS
Official Apple ProRes support. The support for ProRes formats is highly improved, both in terms of speed and metadata, using the latest new Apple Prores SDK.
Support NVidia hardware encoder (H264 & H265/HEVC, both lossless and user defined compression). Fast H264 or H265 / HEVC encoding at high quality, based on hardware render with NVidia GPUs, up to UHD 8K 10 bit. Supported both for rendering and for streaming.
Typically it can be around 10 times faster than software encoding.
Many formats are possible. Specially we recommend the LossLess modes when very high bitrates are possible, and the YUV420 QP mode for an optimal quality to bitrate ratio. Support H254 up to 4K, and H265/HEVC up to 8K
NVidia encoder is much faster than any other encoder (up to 10 times faster). But supported resolutions depend on the GPU model (see these tables https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-video-codec-sdk)
Playback speed optimizations for uncompressed formats. For example tiff16 can now playback in realtime at 4K 24p for DCDM reviews.
Support latest SDKs from RED, Arri, Sony, Canon...
New Canon formats: C700 12bit support and Canon raw format
Read support for DNxHR HQX UHD
New format Mistika js YUV4444 16b
New format Mistika js YUV422-10bit-P. Similar to traditional YUV422-10bit, but faster performance in high resolution formats thanks to using identical bit ordering as the video board hardware, which avoid a bit conversion in the video pipeline. (The old YUV422-10bit will be discontinued at some point as a render format, although it will still work as read only)
Much improved support for DNG format, now much faster and with timecode support.
Improved support for Phantom “Flex” cameras: They use the same container (.cine) but store the image as uncompressed 16 bit RGB, so debayer isn't needed. Now allowed the use of Phantom Params effect in Flex movies, using neutral values as default. Please note that the parameter Color Matrix should be set to "None" if you want to get the same result as "no effect" )
Speed optimizations for MP4 and H265 formats, even when there is no hardware encoder available.
Added support for Rec2020 on automatic conversions between YUV and RGB (now you can choose between 601, 709, and 2020 in mConfig->MasterFormats->YUV color space )
New features - Hardware support
Added support for Tangent Arc colour panels
Added support for new Hp Z8 workstations
Added support for NVidia RTX family.
Added support for new Mistika-Storage models, also with QOS capabilities where realtime systems are prioritized. Permits to build a “SAN in a box” in cost efficient manner, using 32G Fibre Channel or SAS 48Gb (both initiator and target modes are supported). Support both rotational disks and NVMe raids. Realtime performance up to 8K 60p 10bit uncompressed, even with traditonal 7.2K rpm disks, and even if they are protected in raid6.
New features - mConfig (For Mistika Ultima on linux only, the next features are not available for Mistika Boutique ):
Improved MultiGPU support :
New “Mistika Copilot” function (experimental support), to create an Assistant style seat on second GPU. Now you can install a second GPU and attach a monitor, keyboard and mouse to it, then have an assistant operator working on it. It works without interfering with the main seat and with no extra license cost. It can be used for a local operator or for having a remote session using the second seat, without interfering with the main seat..
Improved background renders on multiGPU mode. When used in Copilot mode, now background renders on 2nd GPU do not affect the interactivity of the main GPU session at all, as the desktop manager is not shared in this mode. In addition there is more control: the render progress bar from the 2nd GPU is shown in a window in the main seat, and it provides an easier way to terminate the render by simply closing this window.
Unattended upgrades to multiple workstations remotely.
Now the Version Manager permits to install Mistika upgrades to all the Mistika Ultima systems and linux render nodes through the network. Also, when they have different versions it permits to switch all of them to use the same version as selected for the local system.
Note: Please note that remote upgrades will not reboot systems at the end of upgrades. Reboots are normally not needed for storage servers and render nodes, but front end systems may require a manual reboot later (typically necessary when the upgrade needs to update the video board drivers & firmware).
New function FilePaths->PlaybackCache->Max MB size. To delete less recently accessed cache files automatically when their size limit is exceeded. Used in combination with a new function Mistika->Edit->PlaybackCache->Cache_Verify , which will refresh cache status after deleting those files.
New function "QOS Priority" (only for Mistika-Storage appliances with QOS license).
When you press playback in a realtime system it will instantly reduce disk bandwidth (to user defined limits) for non realtime systems. As soon as the playback is stopped it will revert to normal (no bandwidth limits). This permits efficient use of the storage while also granting realtime performance on playbacks, even when there are heavy processes using the same storage units at the same time ( render process, intensive network access, etc). In this ways those processes can be automatically throttle down while a realtime playback is taking place elsewhere.
Compatibility guide between Mistika products.
- Mistika Ultima and Mistika Boutique are based on the same application. In few words, Mistika Boutique is the software-only / pay-per-use version of Mistika Ultima. While Mistika Ultima is a turnkey system including Mistika software, Mistika workstation, and Mistika Storage). All project files can be passed between them.
- Both Mistika Ultima / Boutique 8.8 and Mistika Review 8.8 can read projects from Mistika VR 8.8
- Mistika Review 8.8 can read projects both from Mistika VR 8.8 and from Mistika Ultima / Mistika Boutique 8.8.
Note: Mistika Review can only navigate between different timeline "segments". For this reason, before passing .env files to Mistika Review we recommend to execute Edit->Macros->Split Conform, or at least check that no clips have longer durations than their effect stacks.
- Mistika VR 8.8 can not read timeline files from other Mistika products, although the project files that it creates ( .vrenv and .rnd files) can be read by the other products. That is considered normal because Mistika VR is specialised on stitching as the first step in the production chain, and it does not have an interface to manage more complicated timelines. However, the camera preset files are Mistika group files (.grp) that are compatible between Mistika VR and Ultima/Boutique, so they can also be used to pass stitch parameters to Mistika VR.