Smoke on Mac OSX

Earlier this month (Nov 2009) word filtered out at various sites on the 'net of an upcoming Autodesk Smoke for Mac OSX. I first heard it in a podcast. Then fxguide.com came out with it as a news item.

My sources in Autodesk, initially were hesitant to confirm it (NDAs and all that), but as it became public, they did acknowledge it. A few days ago it was out in the open with Autodesk sources here in Mumbai telling us about how it will be in India. More on that, a bit later.

Now, substantial details are available, and fxguide.com has actually posted a video on fxguide.tv that even has interviews with Autodesk representatives, even a developer who described the port to Mac OSX.

A link to the video is here
Watch FXguide TV Epi 072

From that, and other sources, here's a picture of the new Autodesk Smoke on MacOSX.

First off, Smoke on Mac will look and feel pretty much like Smoke on Linux or even Irix. The same interface, buttons, timelines and windows. No Mac Integration as such and you probably won't see Mac menus. So its not a new application, just a 'port' or a transfer to a new platform.

Second, Smoke on Mac OSX will be sold as a software for US$ 15,000 (Rs 7 lakhs)
And annual subscriptions will be US$ 2000 (Rs 94,000 to be paid every year)

It will need a system like this to run on…
MacPro 2007 or later
8 core Xeon
8 GB RAM, 12 Gb preferred
Aja Kona 3 card
Quadro FX 4800 or FX 5600 display card
Single display 1920x1200 resolution (multiple displays won't be supported)
A seriously fast Fibre Channel SATA RAID or SAS RAID that can deliver 500 MBytes/sec

The Nvidia Quadro FX 5600 card costs US$ 2700 (Rs 1.27 lakhs) and the SDI version costs US$ 6000 (Rs 2.8 lakhs)
The Nvidia Quadro FX 4800 card costs US$ 1600 (Rs 75,000) and looks like there's no SDI version

So, if you want to get a new Smoke on a Mac with MacPro, Kona and Nvidia as per Autodesk's recommendations, you're looking at about
Rs 5,00,000 for the MacPro
Rs 1,70,000 for the Kona
Rs 90,000 for the Nvidia FX 4800
Rs 7,00,000 for Smoke software
Rs 8,00,000 for the ultra-fast storage

So. for under Rs 23 lakhs, you'll have a Smoke system. (If my maths is holding up)

I don't know what exactly the current Linux Smoke costs, but its much more than this. Probably in the Rs 60-70 lakhs zone.

What will the Smoke on Mac not have that the Linux Smoke does? Or, if I'm looking to buy a Smoke now, should I buy a Mac Smoke or a Linux Smoke.

From indications available now, the Mac Smoke will not have…
1. Linux
2. Batch, which if you use heavily, you'll miss badly
3. Real time deliverables
4. Sparks and probably other plug-ins won't work too.

What you will have is greater integration with Quicktime. You can now soft-import Quicktime, even ProRes and DNxHD. Sort of like how FCP handles media without actually importing it into a proprietary format.

Since the Mac Smoke does not support a card like the Quadro FX 5800 SDI that the Linux Smoke supports, you won't have live HD-SDI output which is what real-time deliverables means. So some rendering may be needed. But the MacPro is as fast as the Linux Smoke's HP z800 Workstation, so there won't be much difference there.

From what I've heard, Autodesk in India will not sell Smoke as software only. They will sell a turnkey system just like they do now (with Linux Smoke). Probably in partnership with an Apple reseller. As these systems become available, it remains to be seen if the market actually favors a turnkey system, or they'll just go out and buy the software and make it work on a system they've put together.

Also, what remains to be seen if the policy of annual subscriptions is compulsory or can users get that also online. People who aren't used to the 'Discreet tax' aren't accustomed to owning a system and yet not owning it which is how a Smoke traditionally felt like.

As the first few Mac Smokes get installed here in Mumbai, will there be a differentiation in rental costs between Mac Smoke and Linux Smoke? Like will you be able to rent Mac Smoke for, say Rs 2500 per hour vs. Rs 3000 per hour that Linux Smoke now commands? Or, will people not make the distinction and crash all rentals to Rs 2000 per hour or less for a Smoke.

Let's wait and see how this Smoke on a Mac (or Smac) thing turns out in Mumbai.

24fps film or HD out to SD PAL

24fps film sources mastered on Digital Intermediate systems like iQ or Resolve can be transferred to HDCam-SR or D-5 masters as 1080p24. These are recorded at, and playback at 24fps. 


When going out to SD PAL to a DigiBeta/Beta or even to a DVD recorder, these film/HD systems behave differently. Systems including but not restricted to - Quantel iQ, DaVinci Resolve, Sony HDCAM-SR VTR SRW-5500, Panasonic D-5 VTR AJ-HD3700.  All these play out 24 fps as 25 fps to be compatible with SD-PAL. That is, they play the source, at 104% speed, or 4% faster. 


Is there a way to prevent this? I haven't found it yet - with any of the above machines.  The method we use (of transferring a 24fps source to a 25fps tape master) without changing speed is to capture the HD 24fps into an Avid or FCP system and then playing it back at what is called 24+1 OR 24@25 repeat. Both Avid and FCP systems have the capability of playing a 24fps timeline to a 25fps tape or monitor. 


This transfer incurs no losses as Avid and FCP systems are now capable of doing uncompressed video. SDI in SDI out. HD or SD. So these are lossless as far as video and audio quality goes. With Avid/FCP systems and this method makes audio sound right but includes an ever-so-slight once per sec freeze in the video. Those who know can see it but most people cannot see this video motion artifact. 


Incidentally, 24fps to NTSC playback or layoff to tape is NOT affected by this anomaly. Because there is a age-old method of making 24fps into 30 fps by way of pulldown frames. PAL has NO such method. (That I know of). In fact editors and post professionals in NTSC countries are often not even aware that this issue exists in the PAL world.


Here in India, we make 24fps film into 25fps DigiBeta for Indian Television as 24+1 using Avid or FCP systems. Or, for film sources, via telecine which also has the capability of transferring 24fps to 25fps without changing speed. These systems repeat one frame each second so 24 frames per second plays out as 25 frames per second. Actually they operate on the field level by repeating one field every 12 frames. 


In India, our song and music professionals do not accept the 104% faster sound. They don't seem to be bothered by the small video motion artifact. So even Indian TV accepts the slight freeze in video that 24+1 creates. Look at any Hindi movie on Indian TV and you'll see it in long pan or moving scenes. 


On the other hand our 24+1 tapes have not been accepted by UK and German (amongst others) telecast authorities. They insist on clean video and couldn't care less about our songs playing faster. The one per sec video freeze doesn't go down well with them. So for telecast in UK/EU we do the '24 as 25' method as provided by iQ/Resolve or HDCam-SR/D-5 systems. 4% faster sound. 


So two different methods with two different results. 24+1 has a slight motion artifact but correct audio and 24 as 25 has clean video but fast sound. For one feature, two years back, I used Apple Compressor to do a smooth 24 to 25 conversion. That looked good and the freeze was gone. The new Apple Compressor does an even better job. 


But this conversion takes time. And with a 3 hour feature to master on an unreal schedule, time is the last thing on has. So I wonder, is there some other method of converting 24fps HD to 25fps DigiBeta without introducing imperceptible video motion artifacts and still holding sound speed and doing it all in real time?. 


Update Sep 2011. 
When I first posted this, we had Dual and Quad G5 Mac systems which took 10 or more times real time to do this smooth conversion.
Today, with the newer i7 MacBook Pro and iMac systems and 8-core and 12-core Macpro systems, its now fast enough that the 24-25 smooth motion interpolated correction is now only slightly over real time. A 2.5 hr feature in SD can be corrected in about 3-4 hours.
What about HD? You may not need the conversion in HD. HD can play 24fps from tape.
Unless you are delivering a HD file for telecast on HD channels in India. They accept 25fps even for HD.