Video Replay enhancement - Slow (& Fast) Motion

[Rafal Oramus]

I resubmit this feature request. Many of us, specially those who broadcast sports, would like to have option to run replay in slow motion.

My suggestion is to place 6 buttons there to control playback speed: 25%, 33%, 50%, 75%, 100% and 200%.

[Mike]

Please describe how you think this should work as obviously I cannot continuously replay in slow motion. What controls are needed, and what do you expect to see.

[Rafal Oramus]

I hope, You'll understand my english ;)

I don't think I need something more then controls I mentioned - six buttons switching from 25 to 200%.

I know what You mean - there is some critical situation, when playing in slow motion "meet" the end of replay buffer or when fast motion "meets" the start of replay buffer. Then replay should automaticly go to 100% speed.

While slow/fast motion the replay slider should move to the right position.

[pashcre]

I think something similar to the current configuration, but with the ability to "save" the current portion of the replay. The replay module(s) would continue to function, but a new video file would be created for playback. This would allow us to play it back immediately, or at some point later in the broadcast. Having a "pause" function (or perhaps the ability to set a cue point, which we could automatically go back to) would allow us to cue the replay to where we need it. I'd also like to be able to tie an overlay to the replace, but I believe this has been accomplished (with an effect module) with a forthcoming version.

Variable speed for the replays would also be great, whether it was preset speeds as suggested above, or a "floating" speed, which could be manually selected.

[Sinc747]

To piggy back on Rafal and Joseph's suggestions...

How about a module similar to the Replay module that has the ability to save a predetermined amount of Camera module input (say maybe the last 30 seconds) and have it immediately available in a special player module that could be 1) saved for future use and 2) replayed at a preselected fps.

This new module would be a one-time-use module in the same way the current Recorder module can only be used once (until a Save choice has been made). The new module would have the 30 second video clip cued up ready for slow-mo replay.

If the replay video has been saved (to a predetermined location and a predetemeind name - for speed sake), the new module can be used again.

- Tom

[Rafal Oramus]

Joseph, Tom: great ideas.

But I'm affraid, that if we will ask for too many options here, this request will share the fate of this one: http://forum.vidblaster.com/showthread.php?t=1194 ....

After reading Joseph post I would like to add also a "pause button" to my request.

[kricher]

Another option that some may find desirable is the ability to mark an "in" and "out" point during a broadcast. As soon as the "out" point is marked, the clip becomes available in a playlist on the slo-mo module. From there you can play cliips back at the predetermined speed or allow the speed to be changed on the fly.

[EdEstes]

I agree with Tom - it would be more flexible to have two modules:

1) The first would be a enhancement to the "Replay" module. A configuration to determine how many seconds of footage to keep would be nice instead of the default 30 seconds. The destination folder and file prefix would also be configured. A "save" button would be added which dumps the footage into a permanent file archive with an incremented counter added to the end of the file prefix so many replays can be archived.

2) The second module would be an enhancement to the "Player" module, with the ability to run a video at a predetermine speed. There would just be another setting where you set the playback speed. (similar to volume, where there's a finite list of 6 or so settings)

With the enhancements to the "Replay" module, you can set up a Playlist with "Sync To Folder" pointing to your save folder for easy access to the instant replays you've captured.

--Ed

[otbntv]

I agree with Tom - it would be more flexible to have two modules:

1) The first would be a enhancement to the "Replay" module. A configuration to determine how many seconds of footage to keep would be nice instead of the default 30 seconds. The destination folder and file prefix would also be configured. A "save" button would be added which dumps the footage into a permanent file archive with an incremented counter added to the end of the file prefix so many replays can be archived.

2) The second module would be an enhancement to the "Player" module, with the ability to run a video at a predetermine speed. There would just be another setting where you set the playback speed. (similar to volume, where there's a finite list of 6 or so settings)

With the enhancements to the "Replay" module, you can set up a Playlist with "Sync To Folder" pointing to your save folder for easy access to the instant replays you've captured.

--Ed

I agree with Ed since it would be nice to have the ability to either have a longer replay timeframe so that an official might have the option to review a play in question for example. If we could record the replay module and be able to review it, that would be great. We stream live pool tournaments and there is always a shot that comes into question as to whether it is legal or not. This would give the ref or TD the ability to watch the shot and make a determination based on the replay. Recording with a longer replay option would also help.

[zenvideo]

I don't know whether I should start a new thread or tag onto this one, but some of my suggestions overlap with what's in this thread so I'll start here.

Having a replay module is clearly very useful, and whilst slo-mo and archiving would be very useful too, I would like to see some improvements to the user interface that I think might be easier to implement whilst improving functionality in many usage scenarios.

The issue I have with the existing module is that you cannot easily cue up a replay and have it ready for use, to be played when required. I would like to see a version which works a little more like a traditional (VTR) "instant-replay" system. Here's how it would work:-

1) Normal "record" mode would work exactly like the existing module, with continuous recording (to a ring buffer in RAM?), and the ability to wind back and have continuous delayed playback (via the slider to set the delay).

2) When something of interest occurs, it would be possible to wind back with the slider to a suitable point preceding the action, and switch to "replay" mode. This action would pause playback at the specified point, and also set a "record limit" to stop recording when the buffer wrapped around to this point and became full. The Replay module would then temporarily become more like a player, where the stored video could be played on command (via a Play or Take option) whenever, and as many times as required, until Record mode was re-engaged and it would resume recording.

Of course you would miss recording any fresh video whilst in Replay mode, as indeed was the case with VTR replay recorders, but the answer to that is simply to run more simultaneous Replay Modules so that at least one is always recording. And if you wanted to run it like the existing module and not switch to replay mode, that would still be an option.

There's other bells and whistles which would be nice but are less important than the basic Record/Replay mode swap function. Being able to mark an In & Out, to play as an endless loop, or to be archived or transfered into a playlist, would all be good, but I sense that there might be resource restrictions in transferring sections of what is uncompressed video in RAM into some other form, whilst everything else is going on.

One possibility, which would save on RAM and maybe allow more Replay modules to be open, with locked-in clips in replay mode, ready to be used at the end of the program, would be if an In & Out could be marked and the rest of the RAM buffer deallocated or made available to other modules, but that might require some sort of segmented RAM allocation in the first place and all get a bit too complicated - I don't know.

I've not mentioned slo-mo (the title of this thread), which of course would be nice, and might be slightly easier to implement in replay mode whilst not not having the complication of simultaneous recording. So should I have started a fresh thread, Mike?

[Rafal Oramus]

Great post, Martin.

There was an old one about replay module (http://forum.vidblaster.com/showthread.php?t=1194) and it was closed because of too many requests in one request :) And unfortunately this thread becomes similar.

So, I suggest to start a new topic, I'm not even sure it should be in feature requests. There are so many ideas and functions that should be implemented in replay module. I think we should work for a new consistent concept of replay module, that we could request for later.

[zenvideo]

So, I suggest to start a new topic, I'm not even sure it should be in feature requests. There are so many ideas and functions that should be implemented in replay module. I think we should work for a new consistent concept of replay module, that we could request for later.

Yes, I was wondering about starting a new thread for a revised (or type 2) Replay module, since what I was suggesting wasn't really anything to do with the title of "Slow and Fast Motion".

What ideas do you have for how you'd like a replay module to work?

[Monoscopio]

Martin, you have the spot-on solution for what I had in mind for the replay module! Open up a new thread in General discussion and we can work out the best and easiest way to implement this before posting a request. We can also help Mike out by mocking up an example GUI.

I think we all agree on that the replay module is in need of major improvements to keep up with the overall Vidblaster quality. This is probably why every feature request on this subject gets messy...

The fact that its so limited in memory usage ,and that you have to have perfect timing to use it, renders it pretty much unusable for those needing the module the most.

[zenvideo]

I've started a new discussion thread in After Hours, as it didn't seem like a "support" topic. All comments and ideas welcome :)

[kiwispin]

My intention wasn't to bump what is now an older thread necessarily, but seings as we're brand-new to the Vidblaster family as of a couple of weeks ago, and noticing this Feature Request was still open, was to add our voice to the original poster and vote for some form of slow-motion replay implemented in VB.

Why? Our need in the first instance, and our story...
Coming later this year, New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup, and we've been given a decent amount of funding to put together a 'chroma-key score-a-try' experience for the hordes of public visiting during that time.
We've made the purchase of Vidblaster Broadcast obviously knowing what it can & can't do now, and as it stands it will do everything we need it to do for this experience.
The icing on the cake, and the last thing we'd 'like' it to be able to do, would be when a little 5 year old is frantically sprinting to avoid the chasing team closing in, (shown on a large screen for the watching audience), who then dives onto our green crash-mat to score the points that win the game for their team, is for us to be able to take that moment & replay it in slow-motion, in all it's glory & then incorporate it in the finished product for them to watch over & over again ad infinitum. Thus our need to be able to tell Vidblaster, from this point to this point, we need to play this video back at a slower speed & then obviously have incorporated it into the final product.

(TL;DR ... +1)

[Sinc747]

Carl, Thanks for bumping. It reminded me that I wanted to add a note about the replay.

Watching baseball today and replay I noticed that the Tv replay includes sound. Is that a possibility for VidBlaster?

[Mike Stanger]

This thread seemed to have gone cold, and I was alarmed to read elsewhere that v2.07 'would not have any new features'... so, Mike, is the addition of slo-mo replay still on your menu, please... as this is without doubt at the top of my personal wish list.

In terms of how it might be achieved, I am attracted by the possibility of a one-click instant dumping of the desired replay video into a separate folder, the files from which would be replayable at will through a dedicated slo-mo player module. The speed of playback needs to be variable - this is achieved in Serif's possibly old-fashioned but easy-to-use MoviePlus software with a slider choice from 1.0 to 0.1 of normal speed. And an instant freeze button would also be useful for sports coverage.

Mike Stanger
www.quipu.tv

[Mike]

Thank you for your vote Mike. When I have time to look into this feature I may come back to pick your mind as you offer an interesting alternative.

PS1: Feature requests don't "go cold", they are an archive.
PS2: You should read all information before making a conclusion: the ban on new features is only temporary until I can do an official release of v2 (http://forum.vidblaster.com/showthread.php?t=2601).

[Icersman]

Now that I have a laptop that can handle the replay module, I'll add my vote for slo-mo.

We used the replay (http://youtu.be/IEpUoPRT5Y8) this past weekend and our fans loved it. Thanks Mike!

[pianokeys8807]

I am dying for this feature...slow motion instant replay

10+

[strateg2711]

+1 I do not want to buy 3Play.