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MillimeterTest Drive: Telestream Episode Pro, Part 1
Mar 9, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Figure 5. Episode Pro’s watch folders.
Watch Folders
The Windows version of Episode Pro debuted with watch folders, which also appeared in the 5.1 Mac version, and I really like how Telestream implemented these. Basically, you identify a folder as a watch folder in the Watch Folder window, then drag settings onto the watch folder. As you can see in Figure 5, I have three watch folders set up—the first two with three settings, the last with one setting.
Any file that gets dropped into the folder gets encoded to all selected settings, which is a great way to share encoding functionality on a network—especially with users who don’t know a lot about compression. The only significant feature gap is the inability to deliver a file back to a specified folder or via FTP, which are both features offered by competitor Sorenson Media Squeeze.
With this workflow description as background, let’s discuss the types of files that Episode Pro can input.
File Input/Output
Generally, the encoding workflow varies by producer and often by the project. For example, in some instances you might just want to dump raw footage from a shoot into Episode Pro for encoding and sending off for review; other times, you’ll edit the footage, create an intermediate file from your editor, and produce your final files for distribution in Episode Pro. In either scenario, Episode Pro has some issues.
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On the camera input side, Episode Pro input DV and HDV without a problem, but it couldn’t load the AVCHD in the MTS container format or Red footage. Episode Pro can import MXF container files, but the initial Windows version didn’t support DVCPRO HD. Telestream does have a codec upgrade it will ship with the next version of Windows that will import DVCPRO HD. Note that Episode Pro does support D-10/IMX and XDCAM HD (both input/output) and DNxHD and Omneon (input only).
If you’re creating intermediate files from your editor in AVI format, note that Episode Pro supports very few Video for Windows codecs. My favorite intermediate codec when working solely in Windows is the freely downloadable Logarith lossless codec, which can operate in multiple color spaces including RGB24, RGB32, RGBA, YUY2, and YV12. That has largely replaced Intel iYUV, which isn’t as flexible but comes standard on all Windows computers so you don’t need to download or install the codec. No matter, however, if you’re working with Episode, because it won’t recognize either one of them. I discussed these issues with a Telestream representative, who commented that Telestream plans to offer complete AVI file compatibility at a later date.
Fortunately, I had better luck with QuickTime files—not surprising given Episode’s heritage. Episode Pro successfully loaded .mov files encoded with both the Apple Animation codec and Apple ProRes 422, though a file produced with the Apple PNG codec wouldn’t preview.
Note that Episode was not wonderfully fault-tolerant when it came to file input. Specifically, the program inserted AVI files produced with the Logarith and iYUV codecs, but crashed when I tried to preview them. Ditto for the MXF file I imported that contained DVCPRO HD content, though the QuickTime PNG file that wouldn’t load didn’t crash the system—it just wouldn’t encode. I'm still waiting to hear back as to whether Telestream could duplicate these problems in its facilities. I’ll report on that in the next—er—episode.
That’s it for now. Next time, I’ll let you know how Episode fared in performance, quality, and compatibility testing.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.