4 Rendering takes a section of the timeline, performs all the editing,
5 effects and compositing, and creates a new media file. You can then
6 delete all the source assets, play the rendered file, or bring it
7 back into \CGG{} for more editing. All rendering operations are
8 based on a region of the timeline to be rendered. You need to
9 define this region on the timeline. The rendering functions define
10 the region based on a set of rules. When a region is highlighted or
11 in/out points are set, the affected region is rendered. When no
12 region is highlighted, everything after the insertion point is
13 rendered. By positioning the insertion point at the beginning of a
14 track and unsetting all in/out points, the entire track is rendered.
15 But you also have the choice to render \textit{one frame}.
17 \section{Single File Rendering}%
18 \label{sec:single_file_rendering}
20 Use the \textit{File} pulldown and select Render to start the render dialog
21 (figure~\ref{fig:render}). Then choose the desired parameters.
23 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
24 \includegraphics[width=0.7\linewidth]{render.png}
25 \caption{Example of the Render menu}
30 \item[Select a file to render to:] enter the path and filename to
31 write the rendered file to in the textbox below.
32 \item[File Format:] use the down arrow to see file format options.
33 For ffmpeg, which has its own set of options, you will then have to
34 select an ffmpeg file type from the down arrow choices. The format
35 of the file determines whether you can render audio or video or
37 \item[Render audio tracks:] check this toggle to generate audio
39 \item[Render video tracks:] check this toggle to generate video
40 tracks. The Render window will sometimes automatically update the
41 Render Audio Tracks or Render Video Tracks checkbox as allowed by
42 the chosen file format, but you should always check
43 (figure~\ref{fig:render01}). For example, if the PNG file format is
44 selected, only the \textit{Render Video Tracks} will be checked. Or
45 if an ffmpeg format is chosen and the file format does not render
46 audio, the \textit{Render Audio Tracks} will be unchecked. The
47 invalid choices will be ghosted out.
50 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
51 \includegraphics[width=0.7\linewidth]{render01.png}
52 \caption{Audio and Video tracks automatically checked for Pro file
58 \item[Wrench:] select the \textit{wrench} next to each toggle to set
59 compression parameters. If the file format can not store audio or
60 video the compression parameters will be blank. If \textit{Render
61 audio tracks} or \textit{Render video tracks} is selected and the
62 file format does not support it, trying to render will result in an
63 error message. More details in the section:
64 \nameref{sub:extra_cin_option_ffmpeg}
65 \item[Create new file at each label] the option causes a new file to
66 be created when every label in the timeline is encountered – a
67 separate file for each. This is useful for dividing long audio
68 recordings into individual tracks. When using the Render Farm
69 (described later), \textit{Create new file at each label} causes one
70 render farm job to be created at every label instead of using the
71 internal load balancing algorithm to space jobs. If the filename
72 given in the render dialog has a 2 digit number in it, the 2 digit
73 number is overwritten with a different incremental number for every
74 output file. If no 2 digit number is given, \CGG{} automatically
75 concatenates a number to the end of the given filename for every
76 output file. For example, in the filename
77 \texttt{/movies/track01.wav} the $01$ would be overwritten for every
78 output file. The filename \texttt{/movies/track.wav}; however,
79 eventually would become \texttt{/movies/track.wav001} and so on.
80 Filename regeneration is only used when either render farm mode is
81 active or creating new files for every label is active.
82 \item[Render range:] choices are \textit{Project},
83 \textit{Selection}, \textit{In/Out points}, and \textit{One Frame}
84 for single images like Tiff. For these images, Render range will
85 have \textit{One Frame} automatically checked and all of the others
86 ghosted since nothing else makes sense (figure~\ref{fig:render02}).
87 This makes it easy to set the insertion point where you want the 1
88 frame to be rendered rather than having to precisely zoom in to set
89 the in/out pointers. Note that whichever Render range is checked,
90 remains checked so that if \textit{One Frame} gets automatically
91 checked, the next time you render it will still be checked and you
92 will have to select a different one if desired. That is why you
93 should always check the settings.
96 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
97 \includegraphics[width=0.7\linewidth]{render02.png}
98 \caption{Render menu displaying a PNG \textit{one frame} option}
103 \item[Beep on done:] as a convenience when a render is complete,
104 check this box. It gives you the chance to work on something else
105 while waiting and still be immediately notified when the render is
107 \item[Render Profile:] another convenience feature to take advantage
108 of if you use specific render formats frequently, is to save that
109 profile for future usage without having to set it up again.
110 \item[Save Profile:] after setting up your render preference
111 formats, use the save profile button to save it.
112 \item[Delete Profile:] if you want to delete a saved profile,
113 highlight the one you no longer want and delete.
114 \item[Insertion strategy:] select an insertion mode from the
115 available choices as seen when you click on the down arrow on the
116 right hand side of the option. The insertion modes are the same as
117 with loading files. In the case if you select “insert nothing” the
118 file will be written out to disk without changing the current
119 project. For other insertion strategies be sure to prepare the
120 timeline to have the output inserted at the right position before
121 the rendering operation is finished.
123 Even if you only have audio or only have video rendered, a paste
124 insertion strategy will behave like a normal paste operation,
125 erasing any selected region of the timeline and pasting just the
126 data that was rendered. If you render only audio and have some
127 video tracks armed, the video tracks will get truncated while the
128 audio output is pasted into the audio tracks.
131 \section{Batch Rendering}%
132 \label{sec:batch_rendering}
134 Batch Rendering automates the rendering of audio/video files in that
135 you can establish a set of job parameters, save them, and use them
136 repeatedly. It also allows for \CGG{} to be run by external
137 programs, with no need for the user to manually interact with the
138 user interface (figure~\ref{fig:batch01}).
140 If you want to render many projects to media files without having to
141 constantly set up the render dialog for each one, batch rendering is
142 a more efficient method of rendering. In the Batch Render menu, you
143 specify one or more \CGG{} project XML files, the EDL, to render and
144 unique output files for each. (The EDL is the Edit Decision List or
145 the set of changes to be applied to the project and media files.)
146 Then \CGG{} loads each project file and renders it
147 automatically. The project XML files, combined with the settings for
148 rendering an output file, are called a batch. This allows a large
149 amount of media to be processed without user intervention.
151 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
152 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{batch01.png}
153 \caption{Example of the Batch Render menu}
157 The first thing to do when preparing to do batch rendering is to
158 create one or more \CGG{} projects to be rendered and save them as a
159 normal project, such as \texttt{ProjectA.xml}. The batch renderer
160 requires a separate project file for every batch to be rendered.
161 You can use the same \CGG{} project file if you are rendering to
162 different output files, as in an example where you might be creating
163 the same output video in different file formats.
165 To create a project file which can be used in batch render, set up
166 your project and define the region to be rendered either by
167 highlighting it, setting in/out points around it, or positioning the
168 insertion point before it. Then save the project as usual to your
169 \texttt{project.xm}l file. Define as many projects as needed this
170 way. The batch renderer takes the active region from the EDL file
171 for rendering. If we have not set active regions, it is better to
172 bring the insertion point to the beginning of the timeline to avoid
173 possible problems with the rendering.
175 With all the \CGG{} xml project files prepared with active regions,
176 go to \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Batch Render}. This brings up the
177 batch render dialog. The interface for batch rendering is more
178 complex than for single file rendering. A list of batches must be
179 defined before starting a batch rendering operation. The table of
180 batches appears on the bottom of the batch render dialog and is
181 called \textit{Batches to render}. Above this are the configuration
182 parameters for a single batch; a batch is simply a pairing of a
183 project file with a choice of output file and render settings.
185 Set the \textit{Output path}, \textit{File format}, \textit{Audio},
186 \textit{Video}, and \textit{Create new file at each label}
187 parameters as if you were rendering a single file. These parameters
188 apply to only one batch. In addition to the standard rendering
189 parameters, you must select the \textit{EDL Path} to be the project
190 file (such as \texttt{ProjectA.xml}) that will be used in the batch
191 job. In this case, \textit{EDL Path} is not related in anyway with
192 the EDL files as created by \texttt{File/Export EDL}. In batch
193 render mode the program will not overwrite an existing output file
194 and will simply fail, so make sure that no files with the same name
195 as the output files exist before starting.
197 If the batches to render list is empty or nothing is highlighted,
198 click \texttt{New} to create a new batch. The new batch will contain
199 all the parameters you just set. Repeatedly press the \texttt{New}
200 button to create more batches with the same parameters. When you
201 highlight any batch, you can edit the configuration on the top of
202 the batch render window. The highlighted batch is always
203 synchronized to the information displayed. You can easily change
204 the order in which the batch jobs are rendered, by clicking and
205 dragging a batch to a different position. Hit \texttt{Delete} to
206 permanently remove a highlighted batch. In the list box is a column
207 which enables or disables the batch with an \texttt{X} meaning the
208 batch job is enabled and will be run. This way batches can be
209 skipped without being deleted. Click on the \texttt{Enabled} column
210 in the list box to enable or disable a batch.
212 The description of each of the columns in the batch list are as
216 \item[Enabled:] an X in this column means the batch job will be run.
217 \item[Labeled:] an \texttt{X} in this column goes hand in hand with
218 create new file at each label.
219 \item[Output:] path and filename for the generated output.
220 \item[EDL:] the path and filename of the source EDL for the batch
222 \item[Elapsed:] the amount of time taken to render the batch if
223 finished. If field is empty, it did not run.
224 \end{description} To start rendering from the first enabled batch,
225 hit \texttt{Start}. Once rendering, the main window shows the
226 progress of the batch. After each batch finishes, the elapsed column
227 in the batch list is updated and the next batch is rendered until
228 all the enabled batches are finished. The currently rendering batch
229 is always highlighted red. To stop rendering before the batches are
230 finished without closing the batch render dialog, hit \texttt{Stop}.
231 To stop rendering before the batches are finished and close the
232 batch render dialog, hit \texttt{Close}. Or you can exit the batch
233 render dialog whether or not anything is being rendered, by hitting
236 You can automate \CGG{} batch renders from other programs. In the
237 batch render dialog, once you have created your list of batch render
238 jobs, you can click the button \texttt{Save Jobs} and choose a file
239 to save your batch render list to. Once you have created this file,
240 you can start up a batch render without needing to interact with the
241 \CGG{} user interface. From a shell prompt, from a script, or other
244 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
245 {path_to_cinelerra}/cin -r batchjob.xml
246 \end{lstlisting} substituting your actual filename for
247 \texttt{batchjob.xml}. When invoked with these parameters, \CGG{}
248 will start up and perform the rendering jobs in that list, without
249 creating its usual windows.
251 \subsection{Command Line Rendering}%
252 \label{sub:command_line_rendering}
254 The command line rendering method consists of a way to load the
255 current set of batch rendering jobs and process them without a
256 GUI\@. This is useful if you want to do rendering on the other side
257 of a low bandwidth network and you have access to a high powered
258 computer located elsewhere. Setting up all the parameters for this
259 operation is somewhat difficult. That is why the command line aborts
260 if any output files already exist.
262 To perform rendering from the command line, first run \CGG{} in
263 graphical mode. Go to \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Batch
264 Render}. Create the batches you intend to render in the batch window
265 and close the window. This saves the batches in a file. Set up the
266 desired render farm attributes in \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$
267 Preferences} and quit out of \CGG{} if you want to use the Render
268 Farm capability. These settings are used the next time command line
269 rendering is used to process the current set of batch jobs without a
272 On the command line run:
274 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
278 \subsection{More about Save/Use EDL and Save/Load Jobs}%
279 \label{sub:more_save_use_edl_jobs}
281 The \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Batch Render} pulldown brings up the
282 Batch Render window to be used for batch rendering as well as DVD/BD
283 creation. There are some additional buttons that can save time and
284 mistakes. These are described next.
286 The \textit{Save to EDL Path} and \textit{Use Current EDL} buttons
287 can be valuable tools for advanced usage or for developers doing
288 testing. Description of how you can expect them to work will help
289 to illustrate how to take advantage of their capabilities.
292 \item[Save to EDL Path] if you have made a change to the EDL, use
293 this button to save the changes so that they will be used in the
294 render operation. Although you can get the same results by using
295 \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Save\dots}, this capability was initially
296 added to assist developers in testing the batch jobs needed to
297 create dvd/bluray media as it keeps the work focused in a single
298 window and retains the original job name. An example --you have
299 everything all set up with a new job in the Batch Render window
300 using \texttt{generic.xml} for the EDL path and with a job name of
301 \texttt{original\_name.xml}. Then you realize that you forgot to
302 cut out a section in the media that is not wanted in the final
303 product. You can cut that out and then \textit{Save to EDL Path} so
304 your change will be in effect for the rendering. Without this
305 button, you would be using the EDL you started with and the cut
306 would be ignored. Alternatively, if the cut changes are saved via
307 \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Save as}\dots with a filename of
308 \texttt{new.xml} and then you use \textit{Save to EDL Path}, the
309 current highlighted job displayed in the window as
310 \texttt{original\_name.xml} will be replaced with \texttt{new.xml}.
311 However, it is important to note that the result will be saved with
312 the name \texttt{original\_name} – that is, the new content from
313 \texttt{new.xml} but with the old name of
314 \texttt{original\_name.xml}.
315 \item[Use Current EDL] if you are working on media and still testing
316 out the results, you can take advantage of this click-box to quickly
317 get results. Basically, you change the media, save that change with
318 another name (in order to preserve the original name in case you
319 don't like the changes), and press \textit{Use Current EDL}. As an
320 example, a user creates a new job in the Batch Render window using
321 the current media, previously defined in generic.xml, with the EDL
322 path of \texttt{generic.xml}. The user then changes the media on
323 the timeline, saves the changes via \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Save
324 as\dots} with a new name, such as \texttt{new\_name.xml}, and then
325 clicks on \textit{Use Current EDL}. In this case, the EDL path
326 listbox will be automatically updated to the \texttt{new\_name.xml}
327 and the current existing highlighted job will be replaced with the
328 \texttt{new\_name.xml} in the EDL column.
329 \item[Save Jobs] when you have set up the batch jobs the way you
330 want and you think you may have to run them more than once, it is
331 beneficial to save the jobs for later use so you easily run them
333 \item[Load Jobs] reload a previous set of saved jobs. This can come
334 in handy if you did not have the time to render them when you
335 originally set them up, if you need to rerun, or if you got
337 \item[Warn if Jobs/Session mismatched] After you set up your render
338 and press Start, the program checks to see if the current EDL
339 session matches your Batch Render job. If the EDL has been changed
340 since the batch job was created, it warns you so that you have the
341 opportunity to \textit{Save to EDL} path to record those changes.
342 Otherwise, you can dismiss that warning box, disable the warning
343 message by unchecking the box and use the original values. If you
344 never want to be warned about the mismatches, leave the box
345 unchecked (figure~\ref{fig:batch02}).
348 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
349 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{batch02.png}
350 \caption{Batch render with the 4 ghosted buttons on the right side
351 + the Warning message below}
355 \section{Background Rendering}%
356 \label{sec:background_rendering}
358 Background rendering causes temporary output to be rendered
359 constantly while the timeline is being modified. The temporary
360 output is displayed during playback whenever possible. This is
361 useful for transitions and previewing effects that are too slow to
362 display in real time. If a Render Farm is enabled, the render farm
363 is used for background rendering. This gives you the potential for
364 real-time effects if enough network bandwidth and CPU nodes exist.
366 Background rendering is enabled in the \texttt{Performance} tab of
367 the \texttt{Preferences} window. It has one interactive function
368 \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$ Toggle background rendering}. This
369 sets the point where background rendering starts up to the position
370 of the insertion point. If any video exists, a red bar appears in
371 the time ruler showing what has been background rendered
372 (figure~\ref{fig:back-ren02}).
374 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
375 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{back-ren02.png}
376 \caption{Settings Background Rendering}
377 \label{fig:back-ren02}
380 It is often useful to insert an effect or a transition and then
381 select \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$ Toggle background rendering}
382 right before the effect to preview it in real time and full frame
383 rates (figure~\ref{fig:back-ren}).
385 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
386 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{back-ren.png}
387 \caption{Timeline with the top red bar}
392 \item[Frames per background rendering job] This only works if a
393 Render Farm is being used; otherwise, background rendering creates a
394 single job for the entire timeline. The number of frames specified
395 here is scaled to the relative CPU speed of rendering nodes and used
396 in a single render farm job. The optimum number is 10 - 30 since
397 network bandwidth is used to initialize each job.
398 \item[Frames to preroll background] This is the number of frames to
399 render ahead of each background rendering job. Background rendering
400 is degraded when preroll is used since the jobs are small. When
401 using background rendering, this number is ideally 0. Some effects
402 may require 3 frames of preroll.
403 \item[Output for background rendering] Background rendering
404 generates a sequence of image files in a certain directory. This
405 parameter determines the filename prefix of the image files. It
406 should be accessible to every node in the render farm by the same
407 path. Since hundreds of thousands of image files are usually
408 created, ls commands will not work in the background rendering
409 directory. The browse button for this option normally will not work
410 either, but the configuration button for this option works.
411 \item[File format] The file format for background rendering has to
412 be a sequence of images. The format of the image sequences
413 determines the quality and speed of playback. JPEG generally works
417 \section{Render Farm Usage}%
418 \label{sec:render_farm_usage}
420 Render Farm uses background rendering, a feature of \CGG{} where the
421 video is rendered in the background, to speed up rendering
422 significantly. Because rendering is memory and cpu intensive, using
423 multiple computers on a network via a render farm is a significant
424 gain. With \CGG{} installed on all nodes, the master node and the
425 clients communicate via a network port that you specify.
427 \CGG{} can distribute the rendering tasks over the network to the
428 other computers of the Render Farm. The render farm software tries
429 to process all of the rendering in parallel so that several
430 computers can be used to render the results. The \textit{Total jobs
431 to create} in the setup or labels on the timeline are used to divide
432 a render job into that specified number of tasks. Each background
433 job is assigned a timeline segment to process and the jobs are sent
434 to the various computer nodes depending upon the load balance. The
435 jobs are processed by the nodes separately and written to individual
436 files. You will have to put the files back together via a load with
437 concatenation, or typically by using a command line tool from a
440 \subsection{Basic Steps to Start a Render Farm}%
441 \label{sub:basic_steps_start_render_farm}
443 The following steps are just a guideline to start your render farm.
444 It is assumed that you already have the master and client nodes
445 communication, shared filesystem, permissions and usernames synched.
448 \item On the master computer, use \texttt{Settings} $\rightarrow$
449 \texttt{Preferences} $\rightarrow$ \texttt{Performance} \texttt{tab}
450 to set up a Render Farm:
452 \item check the \textit{Use render farm} box;
453 \item in the \textit{Hostname} box, keyin your hostname or ip
454 address such as 192.168.1.12 or \textit{localhost};
455 \item enter in a port number such as 401--405 (only a root user
456 can use privileged ports) or $1025$ and click on \textit{Add Nodes};
457 \item you will see something like the following in the Nodes
458 listbox to the right:\newline
459 \begin{tabular}{lllc} On & Hostname & Port & Framerate
461 X & 192.168.1.12 & 401 & 0.0 \\
462 X & 192.168.1.12 & 402 & 0.0 \\
463 X & 192.168.1.12 & 403 & 0.0 \\
464 X & 192.168.1.12 & 404 & 0.0 \\
465 X & 192.168.1.12 & 405 & 0.0 \\
466 X & localhost & 406 & 0.0 \\
467 X & localhost & 407 & 0.0 \\
469 \item set the Total number of jobs to create;
470 \item click OK on the bottom of the Preferences window.
472 \item Now we must join the nodes created to instances of \CGG{}. On the client computers ($192.168.1.12$), on the terminal, start 5 background \CGG{} tasks via:
473 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
474 cd {path_to_cinelerra}
475 cin -d 401 cin -d 402
479 \item Similarly, on the terminal, we must join the local nodes created to instances of \CGG{}. On the master node (localhost), start the 2 background \CGG{} tasks via:
480 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
481 cd {path_to_cinelerra}
485 \item When your video is ready, setup a render job via \texttt{File
486 $\rightarrow$ Render} or \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Batch Render}
488 \item The results will be in the shared file \texttt{path/filename}
489 that you selected in the render menu with the additional numbered
490 job section on the end as $001, 002, 003, \dots 099$ (example,
491 \texttt{video.webm001}).
492 \item When finished, load your new files on new tracks via
493 \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Load} \textit{concatenate to existing
494 tracks} or if you used ffmpeg, run \textit{RenderMux} from the Shell
496 \item If you plan on doing more rendering, you can just leave the
497 master/client jobs running to use again and avoid having to restart
498 them. Or you can kill them when you no longer are using them.
501 \subsection{Render Farm Menu and Parameter Description}%
502 \label{sub:render_farm_parameter_description}
504 Below we describe the Performance tab for configuring a render farm
505 (figure~\ref{fig:farm}).
507 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
508 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{farm.png}
509 \caption{Settings: Preferences: Performance tab, menu
510 to set up your Render Farm}
515 \item[Project SMP cpus] although this field is not Render Farm
516 specific, it is useful for \CGG{} to have the CPU count and for
517 using multiple threads.
518 \item[Use render farm] check this to turn on the render farm option.
519 Once checked ALL rendering will be done via the farm including the
520 usual Render (\texttt{Shift-R}). You may want to turn if off for
522 \item[Nodes listbox] displays all the nodes on the render farm and
523 shows which ones are currently enabled. The Nodes listbox has 4
524 columns -- On, Hostname, Port, Framerate -- which show the current
525 values. An \textit{X} in the \textit{On} designates that that host
526 is currently enabled; \textit{Hostname} shows the name of the host;
527 \textit{Port} shows the port number that host uses; and
528 \textit{Framerate} will either be zero initially or the current
530 \item[Hostname] this field is used to edit the hostname of an
531 existing node or enter a new node.
532 \item[Port] keyin the port number of an existing or new node here.
533 You can also type in a range of port numbers using a hyphen, for
534 example $1501-1505$ when you need to add many.
535 \item[Apply Changes] this will allow you to edit an existing node
536 and to then commit the changes to hostname and port. The changes
537 will not be committed if you do not click the OK button.
538 \item[Add Nodes] Create a new node with the hostname and port
540 \item[Sort nodes] sorts the nodes list based on the hostname.
541 \item[Delete Nodes] deletes whatever node is highlighted in the
542 nodes list. You can highlight several at once to have them all
544 \item[Client Watchdog Timeout] a default value of $15$ seconds is
545 used here and the tumbler increments by $15$ seconds. A value of
546 $0$ (zero) disables the watchdog so that if you have a slow client,
547 it will not kill the render job while waiting for that client to
549 \item[Total jobs to create] determines the number of jobs to
550 dispatch to the render farm. Total jobs is used to divide a render
551 job into that specified number of tasks. Each background job is
552 assigned a timeline segment to process. The render farm software
553 tries to process all of the rendering in parallel so that several
554 computers can be used to render the results.
556 To start, if you have computers of similar speed, a good number
557 for \textit{Total jobs to create} is the number of computers
558 multiplied by $3$. You will want to adjust this according to the
559 capabilities of your computers and after viewing the framerates.
560 Multiply them by $1$ to have one job dispatched for every node. If
561 you have $10$ client nodes and one master node, specify $33$ to have
562 a well balanced render farm.
563 \item[(overridden if new file at each label is checked)] instead of
564 the number of jobs being set to \textit{Total jobs to create}, there
565 will be a job created for each labeled section. If in the render
566 menu, the option \textit{Create new file at each label} is selected
567 when no labels exist, only one job will be created. It may be quite
568 advantageous to set labels at certain points in the video to ensure
569 that a key portion of the video will not be split into two different
571 \item[Reset rates] sets the framerate for all the nodes to $0$.
572 Frame rates are used to scale job sizes based on CPU speed of the
573 node. Frame rates are calculated only when render farm is enabled.
576 Framerates can really affect how the Render Farm works. The first
577 time you use the render farm all of the rates are displayed as $0$
578 in the \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$ Preferences}, Performance tab
579 in the Nodes box. As rendering occurs, all of the nodes send back
580 framerate values to the master node and the preferences page is
581 updated with these values. A rate accumulates based on speed. Once
582 all nodes have a rate of non-zero, the program gives out less work
583 to lower rated nodes in an effort to make the total time for the
584 render to be almost constant. Initially, when the framerate scaling
585 values are zero, the program just uses package length -- render size
586 divided by the number of packages to portion out the work (if not
587 labels). If something goes wrong or the rates become suspect, then
588 all of the rest of the work will be dumped into the last job. When
589 this happens, you really should \textit{reset rates} for the next
590 render farm session to restart with a good balance.
592 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
593 {path_to_cinelerra}/cin -h # displays some of the options.
596 \subsection{Detailed Setup Description}%
597 \label{sub:detailed_setup_description}
599 {\color{red} CAUTION }, any exact command lines worked as of
600 $01/2018$ on a Fedora system. These can change over time and on
601 different operating systems/levels. Always check/verify any command
605 \item[Set up \CGG{}] A \CGG{} render farm is organized into a master
606 node and any number of client nodes. The master node is the
607 computer which is running the gui. The client nodes are anywhere
608 else on the network with \CGG{} installed and are run from the
609 command line. Before you start the master node for \CGG{}, you need
610 to set up a shared filesystem on the disk storage node as this is
611 the node that will have the common volume where all the data will be
612 stored. The location of the project and its files should be the
613 same in the client computers as in the master computer and to avoid
614 problems of permissions, it is better to use the same user in master
615 and clients. For example, if you have the project in
616 \texttt{/home/<user>/project-video} you must create the same
617 directory path on the clients, but empty. Sharing the directory of
618 the location of your project on the master computer can be done with
619 NFS as described next. Alternatively, you can look up on the
620 internet how to use Samba to share a directory.
621 \item[Create a shared filesystem and mount using NFS] All nodes in
622 the render farm should use the same filesystem with the same paths
623 to the project files on all of the master and client nodes. This is
624 easiest to do by setting up an NFS shared disk system.
626 \item On each of the computers, install the nfs software if not
627 already installed. For example, on Debian 9 you will need to run:
628 (be sure to check/verify before using any command line):
629 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
630 apt-get install nfs-kernel-server
632 \item On the computer that contains the disk storage to be shared,
633 define the network filesystem. For example to export \texttt{/tmp},
634 edit the \texttt{/etc/exports} file to add the following line:
635 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
636 192.168.1.0/24(rw,fsid=1,no_root_squash,sync,no_subtree_check)
638 \item Next reset the exported nfs directories using:
639 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
641 \end{lstlisting} and you may have to start or restart nfs:
642 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
643 systemctl restart nfs
645 \item Each of the render farm computers must mount the exported
646 nfs target path. To see the exports which are visible from a
647 client, login as root to the client machine and keyin:
648 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
649 showmount -e <ip-addr> #using the ip address of the storage host
651 \item to access the host disk storage from the other computers in
652 the render farm, mount the nfs export on the corresponding target
653 path: (be sure to check/verify before using any command line):
654 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
655 mount -t nfs <ip-addr>:/<path> <path>
656 \end{lstlisting} where \texttt{<path>} is the storage host
657 directory, and \texttt{<ip-addr>} is the network address of the
658 storage host. Because all of the computers must have the same
659 directory path, create that same directory path with the same
660 uid/gid/permissions on each storage client computer ahead of time.
661 \item To make this permanent across reboots on the client nodes,
662 add the following line to \texttt{/etc/fstab}:
663 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
664 {masternode}:/nfsshare /mnt nfs defaults 0 0
665 \end{lstlisting} You can make this permanent on the disk storage
666 host BUT the command lines shown, which were correct in January 2018
667 on Fedora, may be different for your operating system or in the
668 future. In addition if your network is not up, there may be
669 numerous problems. If you make a mistake, your system may not boot.
670 To make permanent, add the following line to \texttt{/etc/fstab}:
671 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
672 192.168.1.12:/tmp /tmp nfs rw,async,hard,intr,noexec,noauto 0 0
673 \end{lstlisting} You will still have to mount the above manually
674 because of the \textit{noauto} parameter but you won’t have to
675 remember all of the other necessary parameters. Depending on your
676 expertise level, you can change that.
678 Later, to remove access to the storage host filesystem:
679 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
683 Be aware that you may have to adjust any security or firewalls
684 you have in place. \textit{Most firewalls will require extra rules
685 to allow nfs access}. Many have built-in configurations for this.
687 \item[Configure Rendering on Master Node] There is 1 master node
688 which is running the \CGG{} gui and where the video will be edited
689 and the command given to start up the rendering. Any number of
690 client computers can be run from the command line only, so they can
691 be headless since no X or any graphical libraries are needed. Of
692 course, the \CGG{} software must be installed on each of the client
695 \item Assuming you already have \CGG{} installed on the master
696 node, start \CGG{} by clicking on the icon or by typing the
697 following command on the terminal screen:
698 \texttt{/{cinelerra\_path}/cin}.
699 \item Use the \textit{File} pulldown \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$
700 Preferences}, the Performance tab, to set up your Render Farm
701 options in the Render Farm pane.
702 \item Check the \textit{Use render farm} option. By default, once
703 you enable the option of Render Farm, rendering is usually done
704 using the render farm. Batch rendering can be done locally, or
706 \item Add the hostname or the IP address of each of the client
707 nodes in the Hostname textbox and the port number that you want to
708 use in the Port textbox. You can make sure a port number is not
709 already in use by keying in on the command line:
710 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
711 netstat -n -l -4 --protocol inet
712 \end{lstlisting} Next, click on the \textit{Add Nodes} button and
713 then you will see that host appear in the Nodes list box to the
714 right. The \texttt{X} in the first column of the nodes box denotes
715 that the node is active. To review the \textit{standard} port
716 allocations, check the \texttt{/etc/services} file.
717 \item Enter the total jobs that you would like to be used in the
718 \textit{Total job} textbox.
719 \item The default watchdog timer initial state is usually just
720 fine but can be adjusted later if needed.
721 \item Click OK on the Preferences window when done.
723 \item[Create Workflow] While working on the master computer, it is
724 recommended that you keep all the resources being used on the same
725 shared disk. Load your video/audio piece and do your editing and
726 preparation. Add any desired plugins, such as a Title, to fine-tune
727 your work. You want to make sure your video is ready to be rendered
728 into the final product.
729 \item[Start the Client Nodes] To start up the client nodes run
730 \CGG{} from the command line on each of the client computers using
731 the following command:
732 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
733 /{cinelerra_pathname}/cin -d [port number]
735 /mnt1/bin/cinelerra -d 401
736 \end{lstlisting} This starts \CGG{} in command prompt mode so that
737 it listens to the specified port number for commands from the master
738 node for rendering. When you start each of the clients up, you will
739 see some messages scroll by as each client is created on that
741 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
742 RenderFarmClient::main_loop: client started
743 RenderFarmClient::main_loop: Session started from 127.0.0.1
744 \end{lstlisting} As it completes its jobs, you will should see:
745 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
746 RenderFarmClientThread::run: Session finished
747 \end{lstlisting} A quick way to start a sequence of clients is to
749 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh,mathescape]
750 for n in `seq 1501 1505`; do
754 \item[Render Using Render Farm] After you have followed the
755 preceding steps, you are ready to use the render farm. Click on
756 \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Render}\dots which opens the render
757 dialog. The most important point here is to use for \textit{the
758 Output path / Select a file to render to} a path/file name that is
759 on the shared volume that is also mounted on the clients. Click on
760 OK to render. The \CGG{} program divides the timeline into the
761 number of jobs specified by the user. These jobs are then
762 dispatched to the various nodes depending upon the load balance. The
763 first segment will always render on the master node and the other
764 segments will be farmed out to the render nodes. Batch Rendering,
765 as well as BD/DVD rendering, may use the render farm. Each line in
766 the batchbay can enable/disable the render farm. Typically, video
767 can be rendered into many file segments and concatenated, but
768 normally audio is rendered as one monolithic file (not farmed).
770 Another performance feature which can use the Render Farm is
771 \textit{Background Rendering}. This is also enabled on the
772 \texttt{Preferences $\rightarrow$ Performances} tab. The background
773 render function generates a set of image files by pre-rendering the
774 timeline data on the fly. As the timeline is update by editing, the
775 image data is re-rendered to a \textit{background render} storage
776 path. The Render Farm will be used for this operation if it is
777 enabled at the same time as the \textit{background render} feature.
778 \item[Assemble the Output Files] Once all of the computer jobs are
779 complete, you can put the output files together by using the shell
780 script, \textit{RenderMux} (from the menubar \textit{scripts} button
781 just above FF), if the files were rendered using ffmpeg, or you can
782 load these by creating a new track and specifying concatenate to
783 existing tracks in the load dialog in the correct numerical order.
784 File types which support direct copy can be concatenated into a
785 single file by rendering to the same file format with render farm
786 disabled as long as the track dimensions, output dimensions, and
787 asset dimensions are equal.
790 \subsection{Quick and Easy Render Farm Setup – The Buddy System
792 \label{sub:buddy_system_way}
794 These steps are for quickly setting up render farm with the least
795 amount of additional system work, but it is non-optimal. It is
796 useful in situations where a few people all show up with their
797 laptops to work together on the same video/audio file and you don’t
798 want to bother setting up NFS for a shared disk.
801 \item Make sure the \CGG{} program is installed on all of the
802 computers and the network between the main computer and the client
803 computers is working. Use the same version if possible.
804 \item Load your video file on the master node and use \texttt{File
805 $\rightarrow$ Save as}\dots to save it to \texttt{/tmp}.
806 \item Move that same file with the same name to \texttt{/tmp} on all
807 of the client computers via rsh or sneaker net -- the ONLY reason
808 you are doing this is to avoid having to set up NFS or Samba on the
809 buddy client laptops that show up!
810 \item Edit your video/audio file to get it the way you want it and
811 add the plugins, such as a Title, etc.
812 \item Check for a set of unused ports in \texttt{/etc/services}
813 file, if username is root usually $401-425$ are available; if
814 non-root, then $1024-1079$.
815 \item On the master computer, in \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$
816 Preferences, Performance} tab:
818 \item check the box \textit{Use render farm}
819 \item keyin localhost for the hostname or an ip address of the
821 \item keyin the desired port number for each client; and use
822 \textit{Add Node} for each host
823 \item set total jobs to the number of client computers $+1$
824 multiplied by $3$ (or proportion to client speeds)
827 \item On each buddy client, create a job for each port:
828 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
829 /{cinelerra_pathname}/cin -d port#
831 \item On the master, bring up the render menu and name the output
832 files, for example \texttt{/tmp/myoutput.mp4}.
833 \item The client nodes output results will be on their local
834 \texttt{/tmp} filesystems so you will have to again use
835 \textit{rsh/ftp} or \textit{usb sneaker net} to move them over to
836 the main computer. File names will be the render job output file
837 name with port number tacked on
838 (e.g. \texttt{/tmp/hb.mp4001...mp4005}).
839 \item Load the files by concatenate to existing track on the master
840 node or use RenderMux shell script.
843 \subsection{Multi-core Computers Render Farm Setup}%
844 \label{sub:multi_core_render_farm_setup}
846 If you are lucky enough to have a computer with a large cpu core
847 count, setting up a render farm can really take advantage of using
848 all of the cpus. This is much faster than the default automatic
849 threading capability. Since you don’t need to communicate with other
850 computers, you will not have to be concerned about TCP communication
851 or shared disks/files; only localhost nodes. On the terminal, we will open many instances of \CGG{} by connecting them to the jobs created. The number of such jobs can be the total number of CPU threads or not. When you are going to be doing other work
852 simultaneously while rendering a large job, you will want to leave
853 some of the cpus available for that. Be sure to set \textit{Project SMP
854 cpus} in the \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$ Preferences, Performance} tab to your CPU
857 \subsection{Troubleshooting Tips and Warnings}%
858 \label{sub:troubleshhoting_tips_warnings}
860 \noindent If you have problems running the Render Farm. Here is a
861 list of items to check.
864 \item \CGG{} must be installed on the master node and all client
866 \item It is best to have the same username available on all nodes to
867 avoid problems with access rights.
868 \item Check file permissions and ownership to ensure that the
869 clients all have access.
870 \item If a node does not have access to an input asset it will not
871 die, but just display error messages.
872 \item If a node can not access an output asset, the rendering will
874 \item A port in use when stopped may take up to $30$ seconds to time
875 out before you can restart the jobs.
876 \item Each of the port combinations have to be unique across
877 clients, and not already in use in the network.
878 \item \CGG{} load balances on a first come, first serve basis. If
879 the last section of the video is sent to the slowest node, the
880 render job will have to wait for the slowest node to finish. It
881 would be better to start on the slowest node with the earlier
882 section of the video so keep that in mind when designating port
884 \item If not running as root, a port number in the higher range of
885 $1024$ and above must be used instead of the $400+$ range.
886 \item The master and client jobs on the ports do not go away so if
887 you want to stop them, you will have to kill them via: \texttt{kill
889 \item Check to see if there are services listening on the ports to
890 use: \texttt{netstat -n -l -4 --protocol inet}
891 \item There is a watchdog timer in \CGG{} and if there is no
892 response from a client in the designated number of seconds, it will
894 \item The \textit{localhost} should exist as $127.0.0.1$ in
895 \texttt{/etc/hosts} and as the \texttt{lo} network device in
897 \item If the job loads become unbalanced, you may want to
898 \textit{reset rates} to start over for new framerates.
899 \item If jobs are split in a key section on the timeline, you may
900 wish to \textit{use labels} to prevent this.
901 \item For testing purposes, you may want to start a client in the
902 foreground using \texttt{-f} instead of \texttt{-d}.
903 \item If one of the client computers is unavailable, check to see if
904 there is an \texttt{X} to the left of the \texttt{nodename} in the
905 Nodes listbox. Check the \texttt{X} to disable it which sets ON to
907 \item A red message in the lower left hand corner of the main
908 timeline that reads \textit{Failed to start render farm} often means
909 that the client \CGG{} programs were not started up.
910 \item A message of \texttt{RenderFarmWatchdog::run 1 killing server
911 thread \\ \#address\#} means that the client did not respond in
912 time. You can adjust the timer in \texttt{Settings $\rightarrow$
913 Preferences, Performance} tab.
914 \item When you get the message \texttt{RenderFarmClient::main\_loop:
915 bind port 400: Address already in use}, use a different port.
916 \item A message of \texttt{RenderFarmServerThread::open\_client:
917 unknown host abcompany} means that the hostname of abcompany is not
918 in \texttt{/etc/hosts} so you will have to add it or use the ip
920 \item There are numerous error messages associated with file
921 \textit{open/close/status} or problems with the file that should be
922 dealt with according to what is printed out.
923 \item Other illustrative messages may be shown such as:
924 \texttt{RenderFarmClientThread:: run: Session finished}.
927 And here are a couple of more tips for making Render Farm specific
930 \item Because \textit{index files} speed up displaying the video you
931 may want to share these files with the clients on a shared
932 filesystem. More information on index files configuration is
933 outlined in~\ref{sub:index_file_section}.
934 \item Or, one of the convenient features of \CGG{} is the
935 redirection of the path via \texttt{CIN\_CONFIG} as in:
936 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
937 CIN_CONFIG="/<shared_file_pathname>/<filename_such_as_.bcast5>" cin
938 \end{lstlisting} This means that you can make project related
939 configurations that do not impact the default \texttt{\$HOME}
940 config. You can either export your default \texttt{\$HOME} config
941 or the \texttt{CIN\_CONFIG} config to use on the render farm.
946 If one of the render farm computers is connected to the internet,
947 you should use a firewall to maintain the safety of all of the
948 computers. The ports have to be reachable for the intranet but you
949 do not want the ports to be open to the outside.
951 \section{Some Specific Rendering}%
952 \label{sec:some_specific_rendering}
954 \noindent The next few pages relate to rendering for specific common
957 \subsection{FFmpeg Common H.264 Rendering}%
958 \label{sub:ffmpeg_h264_rendering}
960 Because H.264 is so widely used, the method in \CGG{} Infinity is
961 outlined below. These setup steps make it easy to just get started.
964 \item File $\rightarrow$ Render
965 \item File Format $\rightarrow$ FFMPEG + mp4
966 \item Video Wrench $\rightarrow$ Preset $\rightarrow$ h264.mp4 +
967 bitrate: 6000000 (or whatever) + OK
968 \item Audio Wrench $\rightarrow$ Preset $\rightarrow$ h265.mp4 +
969 bitrate: 224000 (or whatever) + OK
970 \item Set your target path in: Render $\rightarrow$ Select a file to
972 \item Set your timeline in: Render $\rightarrow$ Render range +
974 \item Set your insertion strategy: Replace project (or whatever)
975 \item Press OK to start rendering.
978 \subsection{Lossless Rendering}%
979 \label{sub:loseeless_rendering}
981 Lossless means that in the compression of a file, all of the
982 original data, every single bit, can be recovered when the file is
983 uncompressed. This is different than \textit{lossy compression}
984 where some data is permanently deleted so that when uncompressed,
985 all of the original data can not be exactly recovered. Lossy is
986 generally used for video and sound, where a certain amount of
987 information loss will not be detected by most users or the playback
988 hardware does not reproduce it anyway -- it is a trade-off between
989 file size and image/sound quality. The files created will be more
990 than 10 times larger than usual. Most players will not be able to
991 decode lossless as the bitrate will overwhelm the device.
993 For x264 lossless compression to work, the only color model allowed
994 here is yuv420p. Any other specification will be converted to
995 yuv420p and the data will be modified. Also, keep in mind that the
996 YUV color model has to be converted to RGB, which also modifies the
999 To use x264 lossless rendering -- choose File format of ffmpeg, m2ts
1000 in the Render window. Click on the Video wrench, which brings up
1001 the Video Preset window and scroll down in the Compression filebox
1002 and choose \texttt{lossless.m2ts}. \textit{Preset=medium} is the
1003 default, but can be varied from \textit{ultrafast} (least amount of
1004 compression, but biggest file size) to \textit{veryslow} (most
1005 amount of compression, but still HUGE) in the parameter box where
1006 you see $qp=0$. This option is also available for bluray creation.
1008 \subsection{Extra “cin\_” Options for Render with FFmpeg}%
1009 \label{sub:extra_cin_option_ffmpeg}
1011 There are several special parameters that can be used in the ffmpeg
1012 options file to pass values to the codecs that are not normally
1013 available. They're called Global Options. These are explained
1016 \paragraph{cin\_pix\_fmt} The Render menus allows you to choose the
1017 codec input pixel format (figure~\ref{fig:yuv420}). The Pixels
1018 selection provides the available pixel format options for the chosen
1019 codec type; valid choices vary for the different file types. This
1020 list represents the formats that the codec advertises. It is not
1021 always complete, and it may include options that are not legal with
1022 all parameter configurations.
1024 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
1025 \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{yuv420.png}
1026 \caption{Render \& Video Preset menus displaying Pixel choices}
1031 \item The \textit{Bitrate}, \textit{Quality}, and \textit{Pixels}
1032 fields are only updated when the Video Options are reloaded. This
1033 occurs when you either change the ffmpeg file format, or video
1034 presets compression fields.
1035 \item If the video options preset has \textit{cin\_pix\_fmt}
1036 defined, its value will be loaded as the default. If you override
1037 the default, the value you specify will be used.
1038 \item If the video options preset does not have
1039 \textit{cin\_pix\_fmt}, the default pixel format will be computed by
1040 ffmpeg (\textit{avcodec\_find\_best\_pix\_fmt\_of\_list}), using the
1041 session format as the source choice. The \textit{best} is usually
1042 the format which is most similar in color and depth.
1043 \item If no choices are available, yuv420p for video will be used.
1044 \item You can also specify ffmpeg pixel formats which are not in the
1045 list. The list is provided by ffmpeg as input selection, but is
1046 more like suggestions than fact. For example, the raw formats can
1047 take almost any format, but the rawvideo codec actually specifies no
1051 \noindent Some option files provide \textit{cin\_pix\_fmt} to
1052 suggest a choice for good quality output or to prevent parameter
1053 errors when the other provided parameters conflict with the
1054 \textit{best} pixel format. This is the case in
1055 \texttt{faststart\_h264.mp4} where the \textit{profile=high}
1056 parameter dictates pixel format must be \texttt{yuv420p}.
1058 \paragraph{cin\_bitrate} If you specify the bitrate, you can not
1059 specify the quality.\\ Example: \textit{cin\_bitrate=2000000}
1061 \paragraph{cin\_quality} If you specify the quality, you can not
1062 specify the bitrate.\\ Example: \textit{cin\_quality=7}
1064 \paragraph{cin\_stats\_filename} This parameter is useful for 2 pass
1065 operations.\\ Example: \texttt{cin\_stats\_filename
1066 /tmp/cin\_video\_vp9\_webm}
1068 \paragraph{cin\_sample\_fmt} For audio the preset sample format
1069 default is computed in a similar way as stated above for video or
1070 can be set with the \textit{cin\_sample\_fmt} parameter
1071 (figure~\ref{fig:audio}). If no choices are provided, s16 will be
1072 used.\\ Example: \textit{cin\_sample\_fmt=s16}
1074 \begin{figure}[htpb] \centering
1075 \includegraphics[width=0.7\linewidth]{audio.png}
1076 \caption{Render menu showing where Samples is}
1080 \paragraph{Private Options} (muxers). In the window of the
1081 \textit{wrench} in addition to the \textit{View} button, which
1082 allows more global options and changes to the formats, there is an
1083 additional \textit{Format} button that allows you to modify the
1084 Private Options, i.e.\ relating to specific muxing formats. More
1085 information on all these options can be found at
1086 \href{https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-all.html#Format-Options}{ffmpeg.org}
1089 \subsection{Two-pass Encoding with FFmpeg}%
1090 \label{sub:two_pass_encoding_ffmpeg}
1092 In \CGG{} for two-pass, you need to run ffmpeg twice, with the same
1093 settings, except for designating the options of pass~1 for the first
1094 pass and then pass~2. In pass~1, a logfile that ffmpeg needs for
1095 the second pass is created. In pass~1 the audio codec should be
1096 specified that will be used in pass~2. For more information on
1097 ffmpeg 2-pass, check
1098 \href{https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/H.264}{ffmpeg.org}.
1099 Different libraries may have different requirements and you will
1100 probably have to determine this by looking online at ffmpeg or
1101 looking directly at that code.
1103 This 2 line ffmpeg 2-pass operation can be functionally duplicated
1104 in \CGG{} in the steps below them:
1106 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1107 ffmpeg -y -i $INPUT \
1108 -c:v libx264 -b:v 2600k -pass 1 \
1109 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -f mp4 /dev/null && \
1111 -c:v libx264 -b:v 2600k -pass 2 \
1112 -c:a aac -b:a 128k $OUTPUT.mp4
1116 \item After you have completed your editing, do a Save Session with
1117 \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Save as}\dots Before starting, be sure
1118 your session is ready for batch render. That is, positioned at the
1119 beginning and nothing selected.
1120 \item Bring up \texttt{File $\rightarrow$ Batch Render}\dots where
1121 you will do the setup.
1122 \item Click on the \textit{Delete} box to remove old jobs
1123 highlighted in the bottom listbox.
1125 \item For the \textit{File Format} choose ffmpeg and mp4 for the
1127 \item Set \textit{Output path} to the path and filename for the
1129 \item Click on \textit{Use Current EDL} to use the designated EDL
1131 \item Click on \textit{New} and you will see a new highlighted job
1132 show up in the listbox at the bottom.
1133 \item Use the Audio wrench to set bitrate to $128000$ ($128k$ as
1134 in ffmpeg example above).
1135 \item Click checkmark OK\@. Open the video tools with the video
1137 \item Set the Video Compression to \textit{h264.mp4} (as seen in
1139 \item Set the bitrate to $2600000$ ($2600k$ as in ffmpeg example
1141 \item Add the following 2 lines after the first line:
1142 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1144 passlogfile /tmp/"{temporary log file name}.log"
1145 \end{lstlisting} Click checkmark OK.
1147 \item Click on \textit{New} to create the second pass job. You will
1148 see this second job in the listbox below. Use the Video wrench and
1149 change pass1 to pass2 as follows.
1150 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1153 \item Click checkmark OK.
1154 \item Click on the \textit{Start} box and watch it go!
1155 \item You can now check the output file for results. At the time
1156 this was documented, \textit{rc=2pass} will be in the output.
1159 If you need to re-render this, the Batch Render will still be set up
1160 but you have to click on the \textit{Enabled} column in the listbox
1161 to re-enable the jobs to run which puts an X there. Click Start
1162 again. You can reuse batch job using the \textit{save jobs} and
1163 \textit{load jobs} buttons in the batch render dialog.
1165 \paragraph{Render shortcuts for webm, h264, h265} are available by
1166 using the option files that are already set up for this purpose.
1167 Use the render menu as usual, with ffmpeg/mp4, choose h264 or h265
1168 \textit{pass1of2\_h26x} for the video and
1169 \textit{passes1and\-2\_h26x} for the audio; with ffmpeg/webm, choose
1170 \textit{pass1of2\_vp9}. When that is finished, you will have to use
1171 the render menu again and this time for video, choose
1172 \textit{pass2of2\_h26x} or \textit{pass2of2\_vp9}. The logfile is
1173 hard coded in the options file so will write over any currently
1174 existing logfile if you do not change it before you start the
1177 \paragraph{Requirements for some other libraries} (used instead
1178 of \textit{flags +pass1} \& \textit{passlogfile}):
1180 \item[x265:] add this line:
1181 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1182 x265-params=pass=1:stats=/tmp/{temporary-log-file-name}.log
1183 \end{lstlisting} at the time this document was written, you should
1184 see in the output: \textit{stats-read=2}
1185 \item[libvpx-vp9, xvid, and huffyuv:]~
1186 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1187 cin_stats_filename /tmp/{temporary-log-file-name}.log
1188 flags +pass1 (or flags +pass2 for the second pass)
1192 \textit{NOTE:} for vp9, the best Pixels is \textit{gbrp}
1194 \subsection{Use case: High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)}%
1195 \label{sub:use_case_hevc}
1197 An example of video profile based on CRF, a quality-controlled
1198 variable bitrate, instead of fixed quality scale (ABR). HEVC
1199 (H.265) was developed as a successor to AVC (H.264) to more
1200 efficiently compress the future large amounts of data from 2/4/8k
1201 videos. In comparison to AVC, an average saving of around 30
1202 percent can be assumed for the same quality. Because HEVC is not
1203 bound to any size format, it is suitable for virtually any image
1206 The following example is HD and FullHD oriented and produces a
1207 picture quality similar to the Blu-ray with some limitations. As
1208 container Matroska (\texttt{.mkv}) is used, but also mp4 and others
1211 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1214 # CRF 16 creates a balanced compromise
1215 # between quality and file size.
1218 # Preset changes encoding speed and generally
1219 # degrades the overall result. Medium (default)
1223 # Additional parameters that are passed on to the codec.
1224 # me=star improves the search for very fast
1225 # movements, but slows down the encoding.
1226 #x265-params=me=star
1228 # Keyint does FFmpeg automatically, otherwise
1229 # the setting must match the frame rate.
1232 # Profile does FFmpeg automatically.
1235 # Source sRBG and retention of color space.
1236 # 720/1080=bt709 if no profile set. Useful
1237 # for formats smaller than 720 if no lossy
1238 # conversion is desired.
1241 color_primaries=bt709
1243 # Output in 10 bit, prevents 8-bit step formation
1244 pixel_format=yuv420p
1247 \noindent \textit{NOTE:}
1249 A CRF of 16 delivers satisfactory results in most cases. However, if
1250 the video material is really \emph{grainy}, a CRF~16 can lead to
1251 unwanted large files. In this case, a trial export of perhaps one
1252 minute should be performed. The resulting bit rate can be used to
1253 correct the CRF to 17,\,18,\,19\ldots -- remember, a CRF of $0$ (zero)
1254 means lossless, the higher the number the stronger the lossy
1255 compression. The approximate calculation of the final file size can
1256 be extrapolated from the sample export.
1258 The color space information must be used explicitly so that it can
1259 be included in the video. \CGG{} or FFmpeg does not write it by
1260 itself. Without this information the players (e.\,g.\
1261 \href{https://mpv.io/}{mpv}) stick to the dimensions of the video
1262 and take the assumed color model from a table. With videos in the
1263 dimensions from 720 to 1080 this is bt709. For smaller dimensions,
1264 e.\,g.\ DVD, bt601 is assumed and for 4k and above it is
1265 bt2020. Normally this is not a problem, but if you want to export a
1266 FullHD without color loss to a smaller size like 576 for example,
1267 you have to inform the encoder as well as the decoder of the
1268 player. This also applies if the videos are to be loaded on video
1269 platforms, where they are then converted into videos of different
1270 sizes. It is a security measure to prevent false colors, such as the
1271 color profiles in digital photos and the copies made from them.
1273 The HEVC tuning has not been considered here, because it is is
1274 rarely used and requires background knowledge.
1278 \item \href{http://x265.readthedocs.org/en/default/}{x265
1280 \item \href{http://x265.readthedocs.org/en/latest/cli.html}{x265
1281 Command Line Options}
1282 \item \href{http://x265.readthedocs.org/en/latest/presets.html}{x265
1286 \subsection{Piping Video to a Command Line}%
1287 \label{sub:piping_video_command_line}
1289 You can pipe a video to any command line on the computer, such as
1290 ffmpeg. This can be especially useful with raw video files. Next
1291 is an example usage.
1294 \item on a terminal window create a named pipe file, for example:
1295 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1296 mknod /tmp/piper.yuv p
1297 \end{lstlisting} load your video and do your editing
1298 \item set up your Render (\texttt{Shift-R}), you can choose a raw
1299 format such as \textit{yuv} or \textit{rgb}
1300 \item for the filename \textit{Select a file to render to}, use the
1301 named pipe as created in step 1 (\texttt{/tmp/piper.yuv})
1302 \item for \textit{Insertion Strategy}, you will want to make sure to
1303 select \textit{insert nothing}
1304 \item click for OK on the green checkmark.(the \CGG{} gui will look
1305 like it is hanging while waiting for a command line to use the
1307 \item on the terminal window, keyin your command, for example:
1308 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1309 /mnt0/build5/cinelerra-5.1/thirdparty/ffmpeg-3.4.1/ffmpeg -f \
1310 rawvideo -pixel_format yuv420p -video_size 1280x720 \
1311 -framerate 30000/1001 -i /tmp/piper.yuv /tmp/pys.mov
1315 A slightly different option can be used instead that may be more
1316 familiar to some. In the render menu after choosing the File Format
1317 of \textit{ffmpeg}, use the pulldown to choose \textit{y4m} as the
1318 file type. This choice results in putting a header on the rendered
1319 output with some pertinent information that can be used for ffmpeg
1320 processing thus alleviating the requirement for
1321 \textit{pixel\_format}, \textit{video\_size}, and \textit{framerate}
1322 on the ffmpeg command line. In this case the format is
1323 \textit{yuv4mpegpipe} instead of \textit{rawvideo}. An example
1324 command line would look as follows (assuming the created pipe is
1325 called \texttt{piper.y4m}):
1326 \begin{lstlisting}[style=sh]
1327 ffmpeg -f yuv4mpegpipe -i /tmp/piper.y4m -vcodec libx264 /tmp/test.mp4
1330 \subsection{Faststart Option for MOV type files}%
1331 \label{sub:faststart_option_mov0}
1333 If you have mov video and want to be able to start playing without
1334 having to first load the entire video, \textit{-movflags=+faststart}
1335 is needed for ffmpeg to put the meta-data, known as the \textit{moov
1336 atom}, at the beginning of the file. Otherwise, ffmpeg puts this
1337 atom at the end of the video file which means you have to wait to
1338 play until the whole video is loaded. Or worse yet, if the file
1339 becomes damaged in the middle and you can not get to the end, you
1340 won’t be able to play anything.
1342 Now you can have the \textit{moov atom} put on the front of the file
1343 (automatically via a second pass). To do this, when rendering using
1344 ffmpeg \& either the mp4 or qt format/container, click on the
1345 video/audio wrenches and choose \textit{faststart\_h264}. With the
1346 \textit{qt} format, settings will just be the default whereas the
1347 \textit{mp4} format uses the highest quality and lowest file size as
1348 possible, but you can easily modify these options in the associated
1349 Video Preset textbox.
1351 %%% Local Variables:
1353 %%% TeX-master: "../CinelerraGG_Manual"