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Release Notes

Thank you for downloading the CatDV Worker Node software.

To use this software you will need a valid Worker Node activation code. Please contact sales@squarebox.com if you haven’t received your code or need an evaluation license.

Important: Please note that it is possible to configure the worker node to automatically delete files after they have been processed (as this may form a valid part of the workflow). Take great care therefore when configuring such workflows: make sure the root of the watch folder is set correctly and test all your scripts carefully before relying on them for critical data!

Requirements

The requirements to run the worker node software are very similar to those for running the CatDV client application. Under Mac OS X no additional software is needed, under Windows you need to install QuickTime (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download). Please consult the CatDV release notes for further details.

The worker is designed for use with CatDV Server 6.9 or later.

New Features in Worker 6.0

Please note that CatDV Worker Node 6 is a major upgrade and if you have a Worker 5 license or earlier you will need to purchase an upgrade or be under a current maintenance agreement. (If you purchase the Worker Node on or after 10 January 2015 you will have a Worker 6 license.)

Worker 6.0 adds the following main features:

  • The main change architecturally is that Worker 6 has been updated to work the same way as CatDV 11. The application now runs 64-bit for improved performance and memory handling and uses the new native helper process for import and transcoding of files (instead of the older QuickTime for Java technology). It also comes bundled with Java. These changes ensure compatibility with newer system software such as Mac OS X Yosemite.
  • Worker 6 provides access to the new Native QT and FFmpeg transcoders of CatDV 11 (replacing the old 32-bit Xuggle, DSJ, and QTJava technologies which are now obsolete)
  • There is a new CatDV XML v2 file format for importing and exporting clips which provides full access to the CatDV data model, including sequences, metaclips, event markers, metadata fields, thumbnails, and more. It is possible to update selected fields of existing clips via XML, as well as inserting new clips (both online and offline), and to automatically delete existing clips if required. The old CatDV XML batch file format continues to be supported.
  • The ‘Conversions’ tab has a new panel where any number of processing steps can be added, replacing the fixed command execution and XML export fields. This provides a lot of additional flexibility and allows related files to be copied or moved, multiple commands to be executed, etc. Movie Conversions (proxy generation, and exporting stills and standalone movies) use this mechanism too, allowing conversions and other types of processing steps to be intermingled as required. Existing Worker 5 scripts are automatically converted to use the new processing steps (and a backup copy of the old worker script is kept).
  • Similarly, there is a new batch export panel to export all the clips returned by a server query in different formats including AAF, ALE, EDL, CDV catalogs, and FCP7, FCPX or CatDV XML formats, and also to execute an external command on the exported clips.
  • Improvements to Quick Folder Sync and the ability to test whether files original media or proxy files exist make it easier to keep catalogs and disk folders in sync and perform conditional actions if certain files are present or missing.
  • There is a new ‘scheduled job’ trigger type for performing actions such as a database backup at specified times. The user interface for defining watch actions has been updated to expand the description of different trigger types.
  • Metadata extraction rules can be applied to automatically populate metadata fields based on file naming conventions when importing a media file.
  • The task list viewer in the main window has various options to filter the tasks based on their status or by searching for text in the file path or task summary
  • It is possible to hide watch actions which are no longer being used but which you don’t want to delete yet.
  • ‘Allow polling’ has been changed to ‘remember completed tasks’ and the sense of this flag has been inverted. Wherever possible you should write watch actions so they remove the trigger condition once the task has been completed (change the status of a clip so it isn’t returned by the server query again, move a file out of the watch folder once it has been processed, etc.) and you don’t rely on the worker remembering completed tasks as this is much more efficient.
  • It is possible to import and export individual watch actions and conversion presets, making it easier for systems integrators to provide and install customised scripts for particular tasks. These are saved as an XML file with extension .catdv which can be dragged into the worker node window to install it.
  • There is a new job description field for adding optional notes about what a watch action does, and an optional worker name field to help identify which worker is which if you have multiple instances.
  • There is a new field chooser when building server queries and setting metadata fields which allows you to type in the id of an arbitrary “blue” metadata field that might not appear in the list, eg. @ExifVersion.
  • There is a new wizard to help you configure the destination path for a file export or move operation, including a regular expression previewer that will evaluate and display the value of an expression as you make changes.

These are in addition to the following features which were added in Worker 4.0:

  • Support for unlimited server query terms
  • Improved management of watch definitions, including a new ‘test’ button for watch folders and server queries and the ability to ‘solo’ individual actions by shift-clicking the Enabled button
  • Support for media path mapping
  • Improved handling of jobs submitted via XML batch files
  • New options to use time of day timecode, add watermarks, and perform two-pass transcoding to add a second audio track with different settings
  • Support for loading user-defined field names from the server
  • Ability to specify separate emails for success and failure notifications
  • Ability to perform processing on completion of an xml or server triggered batch
  • Support for regular expressions to modify variable values
  • A major new command line interface to generate reports or perform updates on the database for use within external scripts.

New Features in Worker 5.1 and earlier

 CatDV Worker 5.1 builds on Worker 5.0 and provides additional flexibilty in terms of the types of work action that are supported, in particular for dealing with large numbers of clips in one operation:

  • If you don’t need to perform slow operations like transcoding or thumbnail extraction on each file it is now possible to do batch operations such as a bulk server query and update or importing an entire folder of files in one operation
  • A new ‘re-analyse media’ action allows basic stub clips to be created in the database first and then the detailed media file analysis and thumbnail extraction to be performed later (either once the file is available, or based on a server query)
  • Ability to batch import clips from a CatDV XML Batch File even if the media files are not available, providing an easy way for external systems to insert clips into the database
  • Other new features such as RED metaclips, automatic calculation of MD5 checksums, support for preserving P2 and XDCAM folder structures when copying and moving files, and improved handling of Unicode characters have also been added since Worker 5.0. See the Release History below for a detailed list of changes.

The following features were added in CatDV Worker 5.0:

  • New framework for working with additional media libraries (such as JMF or Xuggle, rather than just QuickTime) for both importing and transcoding media files
  • Improved QuickTime exporter and rewritten settings dialog, including ability to set QuickTime annotations, burn in text using complex variable expressions, override the reel name when adding a QT timecode track, better control over specifying the frame size, and set the background colour when burning in text or timecode.
  • New Xuggle exporter, giving access to additional import and export formats, including the ability to deinterlace the video by line doubling and burn in text or timecode
  • New DSJ exporter (Windows only) giving access to Windows Media and DirectShow codecs. (Note: on Windows 2008 Server it may be necessary to enable the “Desktop Experience” feature via Manage Computer to provide access to the DirectShow/Windows Media libraries.)
  • Update the processing engine from CatDV 8 to CatDV 9/10 code base, so that changes made since CatDV 8.1.12 are now included (and ensure they continue to stay up to date in future). This includes changes such as being able to select the Xuggle or JMF importers (if installed), support for reading IPTC metadata, and improved metaclip support.
  • Ability to run the task processor in a separate process, protecting against the possibility of crashes on particular media files. (Note that running in a separate process is not supported under Windows XP and requires Vista or later.)
  • Support for exporting all the clips that match a server query to HTML or XML as a single batch, rather than separately for each clip.
  • Simplify the worker by removing the ability to define more than one work set.
  • Instead, allow for multiple worker processes to run concurrently for increased throughput (note that each worker will require its own license). Tasks can be assigned a timeout value and will be terminated after that time or if the external processor stops responding.
  • Allow scheduling of tasks so they only run on certain days of the week or certain times of the day. This affects both when new jobs are created (via a watch folder or by running a server query) and when previously queued jobs are permitted to run.
  • Incorporate the task list in the main window
  • Remove the “pending” task state. Clips are published to the server immediately rather than being batched up. Additionally, appending to an existing catalog is more efficient as the worker no longer opens the catalog by loading existing clips from the server simply in order to append to the catalog.
  • More logical arrangement of the user interface for defining a watch action, with changes to the post-processing and trigger tabs
  • Increased number of extra fields that can be set on a clip
  • The Windows version now comes with an .exe installer
  • Ability to restrict watch folder actions to known file types such as common media files or P2 folder structures, based on the file name and extension
  • New development mode to speed up testing by reducing poll and settle periods to 10s and prompting for confirmation before starting each task
  • New “Slate” look and feel (this can be turned off if necessary on the General config page)
  • The worker.xml file and default workset location (though you can change the latter if required) have moved from your home directory to the application data directory. After migrating to Worker 5 you can remove the old worker files to avoid cluttering your home directory.

These are in addition to the following features which were added in Worker 4.0:

  • Support for unlimited server query terms
  • Improved management of watch definitions, including a new ‘test’ button for watch folders and server queries and the ability to ‘solo’ individual actions by shift-clicking the Enabled button
  • Support for media path mapping
  • Improved handling of jobs submitted via XML batch files
  • New options to use time of day timecode, add watermarks, and perform two-pass transcoding to add a second audio track with different settings
  • Support for loading user-defined field names from the server
  • Ability to specify separate emails for success and failure notifications
  • Ability to perform processing on completion of an xml or server triggered batch
  • Support for regular expressions to modify variable values
  • A major new command line interface to generate reports or perform updates on the database for use within external scripts.