Telestream Switch 4

Once Apple pulled the plug on QuickTime Player Pro 7, the industry started to look elsewhere for an all-purpose media tool that could facilitate the proper playback, inspection, and encoding of media files. For many, that new multipurpose application has become Telestream’s Switch, now in version 4. Telestream offers a range of desktop and enterprise media solutions, including Vantage, ScreenFlow, Flip4Mac, Episode, and others. Switch fills the role of a media player with added post-production capabilities, going far beyond other players, such as QuickTime Player or VLC.

Switch is offered in three versions: the basic Switch Player ($9.99), Switch Plus ($199) and Switch Pro ($499). Pricing for Plus and Pro covers the first year of support, which includes upgrades and assistance. There is also a free demo version with watermarking. All versions are available for both macOS (10.11-13) and Windows (7-10).

Playback support

The first attraction to Switch is its wide support of “consumer”, broadcast, and professional media formats and codecs. For Mac users, some of these are supported in QuickTime Player, too, but require a conversion step before you can play them. Not so with Switch. Of particular importance to editors will be the MPEG-2 and MXF variations. Some formats do require an upgrade to at least the Plus version, so check Telestream’s tech specs for specifics.

One area where Switch shines is file inspection. This has made it to the go-to quality assurance tool at many facilities. File metadata is exposed, along with proper display and reporting of interlaced video. It supports JKL transport control and frame advance using the arrow keys. Since closed captioning is important for all terrestrial and set-top channel broadcasters, you must have a way to check embedded captions. In the case of QuickTime Player, it will only display a single track of embedded captions and then, only the lower track. So, for example, if you have a file with both English and Spanish captions on CC1 and CC3, QuickTime Player will only display the English captions and not even let you verify that more captions are present. With Switch Plus and Pro, the full range of embedded channels are presented and you have the ability to do a check on any of the caption tracks.

Switch Plus likely covers the needs of most users; but Pro adds additional functionality, such as metering for multi-channel audio and loudness compliance. Pro also lets you open up to sixteen different files for comparison. It is the only version that supports external monitoring through Blackmagic Design or AJA i/o hardware. Finally, Pro lets you QC DPP (Digital Production Partnership) files from the desktop and display AS-11 MXF metadata.

Content encoding

Beyond these powerful player and inspection functions, Switch Plus and Pro are also full-fledged media encoders. You can change metadata, reorder audio channels, and export a new media file in various formats. Files can be trimmed, cropped, and/or resized in the export. Do you have a ProRes master file and need to generate an MPEG-2 Transport Stream file for broadcast? No problem.

I had a situation where I received a closed caption master file of a commercial from the captioning facility. It needed to have the ends of the file (slate and black) trimmed to meet the delivery specs. Normally when you edit or convert a file with embedded captioning, it will break the captions on the new file. Not so with Switch. I simply set the in and out points, set my encode specs to video pass-through, and generated the new file. The encode (essentially a file copy in this case) was lightning fast and the captions stayed intact.

Switch Plus and Pro include publishing presets for Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook. In addition, the Pro version also lets you create an iTunes Store package, necessary to be compliant when distributing via the iTunes Store. Switch is a cross-platform application, but ProRes encoding support is limited to the Mac version. However, the iTunes Store package feature is the exception. ProRes asset creation is available to Windows users when creating the .itms files used by the iTunes Store.

Although Switch Plus or Pro might seem pricy to some when they compare these to Apple Compressor or Adobe Media Encoder; however, the other encoders can’t do the precision media functions that Switch offers. Telestream has built Switch to be an industrial-grade media tool that covers a host of needs in a package that’s easy for anyone to understand. If you liked QuickTime Player Pro 7, then Switch has become its 21^st century successor.

Originally written for RedShark News.

©2018 Oliver Peters

Telestream Switch

For many editors, Apple QuickTime Player Pro (not QuickTime Player X) has been their go-to media player and encoding application. Since this is a discontinued piece of software and Apple is actively deprecating QuickTime with each new version of Mac OS X, it stands to reason that at some point QuickTime Player Pro will cease to function. Telestream – maker of the highly-regarded Episode encoder – plans to be ready with Switch.

Switch will run on Mac and Windows platforms and has steadily gained features since its product launch. (It is currently in version 1.6.) Switch is a multi-function media player that comes in three versions: Switch Player – a free, multi-format media player with file inspection capabilities; Switch Plus – to play, inspect, and fix media file issues; and, Switch Pro – a comprehensive file encoder. All Switch versions will play a wide range of media file formats and allow you to inspect the file properties, but only the Plus and Pro paid versions include encoding.

Building on its knowledge in developing Episode and its tight relationship with Apple, Telestream hopes to make Switch the all-purpose encoder of choice for most editors. The intent is for editors to use Switch where they would normally have used QuickTime Player Pro in the past. Unlike other open source media players, Telestream can play many professional media formats (like MXF), display embedded captions and subtitles, and properly encode to advanced file formats (like Apple ProRes). Since Switch Plus and Pro are designed for single-file processing, instead of batch encoding like Episode, their prices are also lower than that of Episode.

While the playback capabilities of Switch cover many formats, the encoding/export options are more limited. Switch Plus, which was added with version 1.6, can export MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and QuickTime (.mov) files. There’s also a pass-through mode in cases where files simply need to be rewrapped. For example, you might choose to convert Canon C300 clips from MXF into QuickTime movies, but maintain the native Canon XF codec. This might make it easier for a producer to review the media files before an upcoming edit session. Switch Plus also adds playback support for HEVC and MPEG-2 on windows, AC3 audio, and pro audio meters that display tru-peak and momentary loudness values.

Switch Pro includes all of the Plus features, as well as playback of Avid DNxHD, DNxHR, and JPEG 2000 files. It can encode in QuickTime (.mov), MPEG-4, and MPEG-2 (transport and program stream) containers. You can also export still frames and iTunes Store package formats. Codec encoding support includes H.264, MPEG-2, and ProRes. (ProRes export on Windows is ProRes HQ 4:2:2 for iTunes only.) While that’s more limited than Episode, Telestream plans to add more capabilities to Switch over time.

Switch Pro is more than an encoder, it also includes SDI out via AJA i/o devices (for preview to an external calibrated device), loudness monitoring, and caption playback. Even the free Player will pass audio out to speakers through AJA cards and USB-connected Core Audio devices. Unfortunately this does not appear to work when you have a Blackmagic Design card installed. Telestream has acknowledged this as a bug that it plans to fix in the 2.0 release later this year.

The goal for the Switch product line is to be a powerful and affordable visual QC tool, that you can also use it to make corrections to metadata, formats, audio, etc., and encode to a new file. Along with the usual inspection of file properties, Switch includes a set of audio meters that display volume and loudness readings. Although it does not offer audio and video adjustment or correction controls, you can re-arrange audio channels and speaker assignments. Telestream Switch is a very useful encoder, but if you just need a versatile media player and inspection tool, then you can easily start with the free player version.

Originally written for Digital Video magazine / CreativePlanetNetworks.

©2015 Oliver Peters

Sorenson Squeeze 10

Video formats don’t hold still for long and neither do video codecs used for file encoding. As the industry looks at 4K delivery over the web and internet-based television streaming services, we now get more codecs to consider, too. Target delivery had seemed to settle on H.264 and MPEG-2 for awhile, but now there’s growing interest in HEVC/H.265 and VP9, thanks to their improved encoding efficiency. Greater efficiency means that you can maintain image quality in 4K files without creating inordinately large file sizes. Sorenson Media’s Squeeze application has been an industrial strength encoding utility that many pros rely on. With the release of Sorenson Squeeze 10, pros have a new tool designed to accommodate the new, beyond-HD resolutions that are in our future.

Sorenson Squeeze comes in server and desktop versions. Squeeze Desktop 10 includes three variations: Lite, Standard and Pro. Squeeze Lite covers a wide range of input formats, but video output is limited to FLV, M4V, MP4 and WebM formats. Essentially, Lite is designed for users who primarily need to encode files for use on the web. Desktop Standard adds VP9 and Multi-Rate Bundle Encoding. The latter creates a package with multiple files of different bitrates, which is a configuration used by many web streaming services. Standard also includes 4K presets (H.264 only) and a wide range of output codecs. The Pro version adds support for HEVC, professional decoding and encoding of Avid DNxHD and Apple ProRes (Mac only), and closed caption insertion.

All three models have added what Sorenson calls Simple Format Conversion. This is a preset available in some of the format folders. The source size, frame rate, and quality are maintained, but the file is converted into the target media format. It’s available for MP4/WebM with Lite, and MP4/MOV/MKV with Standard and Pro. Squeeze is supposed to take advantage of CUDA acceleration when you have certain NVIDIA cards installed, which accelerates MainConcept H.264/AVC encoding. I have a Quadro 4000 with the latest CUDA drivers installed in my Mac Pro running Yosemite (10.10.1). Unfortunately Squeeze Pro 10 doesn’t recognize the driver as a valid CUDA driver. When I asked Sorenson about this, they explained that MainConcept has dropped CUDA support for the MainConcept H.264 codec. “It will not support the latest cards and drivers. If you do use the CUDA feature you will likely see little-to-no speedup, maybe even a speed decrease, and your output video will have decreased quality compared to H.264 encoded with the CPU.”

As a test, I took a short (:06) 4096×2160 clip that was shot on a Canon EOS 1DC camera. It was recorded using the QuickTime Photo-JPEG codec and is 402MB large. I’m running a 2009 8-core Mac Pro (2.26GHz), 28 GB RAM and the Quadro 4000 card. To encode, I picked the default Squeeze HEVC 4K preset. It encodes using a 1-pass variable bitrate at a target rate of 18,000Kbps. It also resizes to a UHD size of 3840×2160; however, it is set to maintain the same aspect ratio, so the resulting file was actually 3840×2024. Of course, the preset’s values can be edited to suit your requirements.

It took 3:32 (min/sec) to encode the file with the HEVC/H.265 codec and the resulting size was 13MB. I compared this to an encode using the H.264 preset, which uses the same values. It encoded in 1:43 and resulted in a 14.2MB file. Both files are wrapped as .MP4 files, but I honestly couldn’t tell much difference in quality between the two codecs. They both looked good. Unfortunately there aren’t many players that will decode and play the HEVC codec yet – at least not on the Mac. To play the HEVC file, I used an updated version of VLC, which includes an HEVC component. Of course, most machines aren’t yet optimized for this new codec.

Other features of Squeeze aren’t new, but are still worth mentioning. For example, the presets are grouped in two ways – by format and workflow. Favorites can be assigned for quick access to the few presets that you might use most often. Squeeze enables direct capture from a camera input or batch encoding of files in a monitored watch folder. In addition to video, various audio formats can also be exported.

Encoding presets can include a number of built-in filters, as well as any VST audio plug-in installed on your computer. Finally, you can add publishing destinations, including YouTube, Akamai, Limelight and Amazon S3 locations. Another publishing location is Squeeze Stream, the free account included with a purchase of Squeeze (Standard or Pro versions only). Thanks to all of these capabilities, Sorenson Media’s Squeeze Desktop 10 will continue to be the tool many editors choose for professional encoding.

Originally written for Digital Video magazine / CreativePlanetNetwork.

©2015 Oliver Peters

Sorenson Squeeze 9 Pro

Sorenson Media’s Squeeze encoder has always been at the top of the market for encoding features and quality. It’s now in the ninth generation of the software with standard, pro and premium versions. Sorenson Squeeze 9 Standard and Pro are Mac and Windows desktop applications, while Premium is designed to run on Windows servers. The difference between Standard and Pro is that Squeeze 9 Pro supports the encoding of Avid DNxHD and Apple ProRes (Mac only) codecs.

New for Squeeze 9 is an update of the user interface, HTML5 optimization, faster encoding and closed caption support. Another new feature is pre/post-roll stitching. This lets you attach an additional file, like a branding message, to the beginning and/or end of your video. These will be encoded together with the additional video clip(s) embedded into the same file – no editing required. As before, Squeeze supports import from files or camera devices and you can set up watch folders. All Squeeze purchasers get 5GB of free cloud storage with Sorenson 360, which they may use for private review and approval with clients or as a place to host videos that they’d like to embed into their own web sites.

The Sorenson Squeeze 9 presets are built around formats and workflows for easy access. If you want a specific preset, then it’s easier to find that in the format tab. On the other hand, if you want to burn DVDs, then getting there via the workflow tab makes the most sense. Of course, you can modify existing presets, create custom presets from scratch and save the ones you use most often as favorites. There is a large set of audio and video filters, which can be integrated into any preset, including VST audio filters already installed on your computer.

Publishing to the web or disc burning is part of the Squeeze workflow, so your presets can include target publishing destinations, like a YouTube channel or your Sorenson 360 account. One big feature of Squeeze is support for adaptive bitrate encoding. Most smaller users never encounter that, but it’s a requirement for many large enterprise-grade video sites. In this process, a set of different files with low to high data rates are encoded and grouped into a folder for upload. This permits the playback from that site to throttle performance by shifting between the files of these different date rates.

If you have a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU card, then the encoding of AVC/H.264 content is accelerated. Even without it, encoding is fast. On my 8-core Mac Pro with an ATI 5870 card, QuickTime H.264 encoding speeds were comparable to Apple Compressor 4 with similar encoding settings and formats. There was a noticeable improvement in this version with WebM, which is the codec backed by Google and preferred for YouTube. In past tests , this was a real bear to encode. A one minute file might take 20 minutes. With Squeeze 9 it only took a couple of minutes for the same test.

The encoded quality is very good and gone are some of the contrast, gamma and saturation differences of past versions. When you encode QuickTime H.264 files, you can choose between the Apple H.264 and the Main Concept H.264 encoders. Both encoded results play fine in QuickTime Player, though each looks slightly different than a comparable file encoded using Compressor. This likely has to do with how the player interprets the flags within the encoded file. Generally the Main Concept H.264 version was the closer match.

Since I was testing the Pro version, I converted some Apple ProRes files to Avid DNxHD in the MXF format. Squeeze encodes these files complete with corresponding XML and AAF files. This means that you can simply drag the MXF and AAF files into an Avid MediaFiles/MXF/numbered folder. Then import the AAF files into Avid Media Composer and the encoded master clips appear in your bin. No further import or transcoding required. If you work in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or Media Composer and prefer to batch encode a set of non-standard camera files into native DNxHD or ProRes media, then Squeeze is ideal as long as it’s a supported codec. If you purchased Avid Media Composer, then the standard version of Squeeze is included in your third-party software bundle. This can be upgraded to the Pro version by contacting Sorenson Media.

Sorenson Squeeze 9 is a healthy update to a top-notch encoding application and a valuable tool for any editor tasked with delivering a variety of formats. Android, iPad, YouTube, DVD, Blu-ray or broadcast deliverables – Squeeze has it covered.

Originally written for Digital Video magazine

©2013 Oliver Peters

Sorenson Squeeze 8.5 and 8.5 Pro

For many editors, the preferred video encoding application is Sorenson Squeeze. It’s one of the top encoders for both Mac and PC platforms and also comes bundled with Avid Media Composer in its third-party software package. Recently, Sorenson introduced the optional Pro version, which enables the encoding of Avid DNxHD MXF media, as well as Dolby Pro Audio and Apple ProRes QuickTime codecs (Mac only).

Sorenson launched Squeeze 8.5 with more features and faster encoding, especially for users with some CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU cards. CUDA acceleration was introduced with Squeeze 7 and accelerates presets using the Main Concept H.264/AVC codecs; however, 8.5 also accelerates MPEG-4, WebM, QuickTime and adaptive bit rate encoding. Other new features include additional input and output formats, some interface enhancements and 5GB of permanent storage with the Sorenson 360 video hosting site (included with the 8.5 purchase).

I use several different encoders and have always been a fan of Squeeze’s straightforward interface, which is organized around formats and/or workflows. Settings are easy to customize with granular control and modified presets may be saved as favorites. Although I typically import a few files, set my encoding requirements and let it go, Squeeze is also designed to allow import from a camera or work automatically from a watch folder.

The workflow aspect is not to be overlooked. You can set up Blu-ray and DVD disc burns, upload to various web designations and include e-mail notification – all within a single encoding preset. Burning “one-off” review DVDs for a client is as simple as importing the file, applying the DVD workflow preset and loading the blank media when prompted. If you use the web for client review and approval, then it’s handy to have the Sorenson 360 account built-in. This is Sorenson Media’s video hosting site running on Amazon servers, thus giving you a reliable backbone. You may set up player skins and access controls to use the site as an outward facing presence to clients – or embed the videos into your own site.

Aside from the improved speed and encoding quality of 8.5, the Pro version is a great front-end tool for video editors, too. For instance, if you don’t want to edit with the native media format, convert QuickTime files into Avid-compliant MXF media – or take Canon C300 MXF clips and convert them to ProRes for use in Final Cut. These new Pro features continue to enhance the Squeeze “brand” in the eyes of video editors as their top encoding solution.

Originally written for Digital Video magazine (NewBay Media, LLC).

©2012 Oliver Peters