Coolux QT Codec Information

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Coolux QT Codec Information

Postby Daniel Kaminski » Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:59 pm

Hi,

In this Topic I have collected a lot of usefull information regarding the coolux QT Codec.

The codec has multiple encoding options and formats included.

It supports image sequences and image sequences packed into a QT MOV Container.
You can choose between a couple of Image Formats inside the ImageSequence.

Options are right now:

DDS
DDS with Alpha
PNG
PNG with Alpha
BMP
BMP with Alpha
YCoCg

All of these Option can also be encoded with Snappy Realtime Compression.
We do strongly recommend this for PB, since filesize might (not must) get a lot smaller.
Snappy encoded imagesequence files can only be viewed inside Pandoras box.

You can choose if you want to create a ImageSeq or a MOV Container. Booth ways have benefits and downsides.

Single MOV Container:
+ single file, faster copy
+ can be played back on any system MAC or PC with codec installed
- bad for download over a bad connection
- no partial content replacement

Image Seq:
+ easy to replace frames
+ can be played back forward, backwards or bounced
+ can be rendered by multiple computers and put together
- many files get get confusing very fast
- longer Filetranfers because of the many files

So, as you see depending on your workflow and your production needs booth setups have benefits and downsides.

And since we are at it here is also a short list of benefits and downsides of the different Options inside the Coolux Codec:

DDS
+ very high performance (best choice if you need to playback maximum amount of files)
+ good quality
+ supports Alpha Channel (DDSA)
+ very good ratio filesize vs quality
+ can be used with snappy compression
- needs a long time to encode, depending on complexity of content
- not uncompressed, has some artifacts in computer generated color gradients

YCoCg
+ similar to DDS but better quality
+ good for camera shot videos (Natur, Interviews, and so on)
+ great performance
+ can be used with snappy compression
- no Alpha support
- needs long to encode, depending on complexity of content
- not uncompressed, has some artifacts in computer generated color gradients
- depending on the content quality can be worse than DDS


PNG
+ great quality
+ looseless compression
+ very small files
+ can be used with snappy compression
+ supports Alpha (PNG32)
- needs a lot of CPU Power during playback
+/- encoding time is medium

BMP
+ great quality
+ uncompressed
+ no decoding or decompression (very fast)
+ fast encoding
+ Alpha Support (BMP32)
+ can be used with snappy compression
+ very good for high quality computer generated content (Animated Content with Text or for LED Walls with short viewing distances, like on Car Shows)
- huge files
- needs a lot of HD Space

A few words regarding encoding speed and file size
All Tests were done on a i7-4800MQ with 2.7 GHz and 16GB RAM and SSD Disks under Windows 7 Prof 64bit
Please keep in mind, that SNP Compression Ratio and Encoding speed might vary a lot depending on the nature of the content.

Senario A:
60 sec Computergenerated Testvideo with Animations @ 1920x1080p50 encoded out of Adobe AfterFX CC 2014

AVI Uncompressed RGB
*Filesize : 23,17 GB
*Encoding : 225 sec

CLX DDSA
*Filesize : 2,90 GB
*Encoding : 252 sec

CLX DDS (as ImageSequence)
*Filesize : 2,90 GB
*Encoding : 270 sec

CLX DDS SNP (Snappy)
*Filesize : 0,22 GB
*Encoding : 247 sec

CLX DDS SNP (as ImageSequence)
*Filesize : 0,22 GB
*Encoding : 259 sec

CLX YCoCg SNP
*Filesize : 0,39 GB
*Encoding : 280 sec

CLX DDSA (as ImageSequence)
*Filesize : 5,79 GB
*Encoding : 338 sec

CLX DDSA SNP (as ImageSequence)
*Filesize : 0,38 GB
*Encoding : 304 sec

CLX DDSA SNP
*Filesize : 0,38 GB
*Encoding : 299 sec

CLX BMP
*Filesize : 17,38 GB
*Encoding : 120 sec

CLX BMP (as ImageSequence)
*Filesize : 17,38 GB
*Encoding : 168 sec

CLX BMP SNP
*Filesize : 0,97 GB
*Encoding : 204 sec

Senario B:
30 sec TV Commercial. content is filmed and fast cut at 1920x1080p50. Delievered as Apple ProRes422HQ and Encoded using Adobe Media Encoder CC 2014
You can also use PB Quicktime Converter to encode.

Apple ProRes422HQ (Original Content)
*Filesize : 1,04 GB

CLX DDS
*Filesize : 1,45 GB
*Encoding : 3023 sec

CLX DDS SNP
*Filesize : 1,04 GB
*Encoding : 3020 sec

CLX BMP SNP
*Filesize : 6,19 GB
*Encoding : 131 sec


------- currently known Issues ------------------
5.5.2015 Rev 10858 : Coolux MOV Containers: if Audio is included length is calculated wrong. Please export without Audio. (Solved in Rev 12086)
21.9.2015 Rev 12086: Very Large MOV with BMP SNP are not always recognized correctly. If the file inspector does not say BMP in Snappy than the file was not recognized correctly.
23.11.2015 Rev 12383 solves the Issuses from Version 10858 and 12086 and adds Hap, HapQ and HapAlpha Support to Pandoras Box
--
Daniel Kaminski
Pandoras Box Expert
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Daniel Kaminski
 
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