What’s new in cineSync

Getting color right is a core part of any visual media. The new color features in cineSync 5.2.1 will help to work faster and smarter to achieve the perfect look for your creations. The new eyedropper color picker, color meter, and the ability to apply color settings to other shots are just another step in providing you with intuitive creative tools. And it doesn’t end there. You can also customize keyboard shortcuts to streamline your workflow further.

Find the perfect color for your annotations with the ability to define a drawing color on screen by picking an existing color with the new eyedropper tool. This will speed up annotations, and make it easier to sketch the exact modifications needed for the image you are working on.

The digital color meter tool allows you to instantly find the exact value of any color on your screen, making it easier than ever to accurately match different colors in images. It also includes a dropdown to choose how to display the color values.

We eliminated yet another repetitive task with the ability to easily apply similar color settings to multiple shots. Once you’ve achieved the color settings you desire, you can effortlessly apply those settings to any number of specific shots within a sequence or playlist.

Now you can set your own shortcuts and hotkeys for cineSync. The ability to customize your workflows this way will pave the way to more intuitive and efficient work. Custom keyboard shortcuts will make it easier to seamlessly jump between different platforms and allow for more flexibility to make changes quickly when in a review. 

cineSync 5.2 is a comprehensive media review tool that allows users to quickly and interactively review their work in real-time with other team members, no matter where they are. Perfect for media projects working on tight deadlines or with remote teams. It allows for full-scale, synchronized reviews of edits, previs and postvis, ensuring delivery meets the Director’s vision before it goes live. With cineSync 5.2, you get the convenience of real-time media review of original, uncompressed media without the hassle of having to be in the same room.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology can bring a richer and more vibrant color palette to your media projects, allowing for a higher level of detail and contrast, particularly in dark or light sections of the image. The ability to review in HDR is becoming increasingly important for creators to accurately assess how content will look in final delivery. New HDR support in cineSync 5.2 provides that confidence that everyone is accurately seeing the images how they’re meant to be seen.

This release supports Blackmagic SDI video output to an external monitor, offering the convenience of being able to review high-quality video content, including HDR, reliably. SDI ensures high picture quality and allows the system to manage tasks like syncing frame rate with the refresh rate of the monitor so playback is flawless.

Users can now load LUTs in addition or separately to overall color settings and OCIO profiles. The new feature allows users to add a specific LUT to an individual piece of media, either before or after the application of an overall OCIO profile, which gives additional control over the colorspace of the image.

You can collaborate and use time more effectively with cineSync 5.2 because. sequences can now be created from any clips in the playlist.  

With this feature, reviewers can easily re-order the sequence or adjust the length of clips in the sequence so that they can audition simple edits in a live, interactive review.

This enables reviewers to create quick context cuts, making it much easier for everyone in the review to see how a single shot works within the context of a sequence. These can then be exported as an OTIO if needed.

We’ve also added folders in playlists for larger group sessions. Managing multiple shots in a playlist takes valuable time in review sessions. The ability to group and easily locate shots and sequences in a playlist keeps the flow of feedback, iteration and review uninterrupted.

Any files distributed for review via one of cineSync’s integrations – including ftrack Studio, Shotgrid, Amazon S3 and AliCloud – can be encrypted throughout, and remain encrypted on all participant’s machines, so the files are unreadable outside of cineSync.  You can review your projects and dailies with cineSync without compromising file security or collaboration.

In addition to encryption, content owners can now use watermarking. This allows you to enforce a visual watermark displayed in the corners of the image to visually identify the machine name, Host ID/Mac address, date/time and session key/ID for each participant. An additional customisable watermark text can be added in the center of the image if required.

Additionally, any encrypted/watermarked review content is also automatically deleted from participants’ machines at the end of the review session.

With its robust file encryption, watermarking, and auto-deletion, cineSync provides the perfect secure platform for VFX review and approval of high-quality original media files.

Larger sessions have a higher risk of distractions from unexpected audio playback. Now, the review owner can mute all audio playback for participants to prevent this from happening.

Presentation mode allows the host to control the guest’s ability to play or draw without permission. It also removes the risk of guests inadvertently skipping ahead or accidentally disrupting reviews. 

We’ve also enhanced the experience for those reviewing in screening rooms or theaters with an updated full-screen mode that auto-hides the transport controls. An optional sidebar playlist is also available in full screen. Reviewing and playing media without the UI means any projector artifacts are minimized, and participants can view without distraction.

cineSync 5.2 provides secure cloud transfer via integrations with AWS and AliCloud so all review assets can be securely distributed to review participants. When guests join, media is automatically transferred to them without them needing to initiate the transfer or knowing where the files are coming from. This removes all of the barriers to reviewing high-quality, original, uncompressed media since the transfers are automatic and protected with cineSync’s file encryption and optional watermarking. Transferred files are also automatically deleted from machines after review.

What’s Improved

• New fullscreen UI
• cineSync will now default to dedicated GPU if available

Other minor changes

•  Version numbers changed to 5.x format
•  Added a ‘check for updates’ 
•  Added some locate and un-locate menu options
•  Fixed timeline not rendering cuts correctly
•  Fixed crash joining a review with an audio offset applied
•  Fixed dragging text boxes
•  Added option to read timecode from the file
•  Thumbnails are now cleaned up correctly
•  Negative timecode offsets can now be specified
•  When downloading original file for ftrack. .mov’s are no longer named incorrectly as .mp4’s

Introducing cineSync 5, the next generation of media review. cineSync 5 is built on the legacy of industry-leading cineSync, now rebuilt from the ground up to meet the evolving demands of creative review and approval. With cineSync 5, we’re streamlining the media review process and supporting more collaborative reviews—both local and remote—while still meeting the highest requirements across security and performance that cineSync users have come to expect over the last 17 years.

With cineSync 5, we wanted to build the foundations for an exciting new future for cineSync. As such, cineSync 5 is an entirely new, completely redesigned version of cineSync, featuring a new infrastructure designed from the ground up.

Work more intuitively via a modern UI and faster, more responsive review. Enjoy improved playback performance when working with large files.

cineSync 5’s new player, cineSync Play, can run locally without a license, so you can just dive in and perform local reviews for free.

Go in-depth on media with OTIO and OCIO v2 support.

Support for high-resolution original media, including frame/image sequence playback and OpenEXR support.

Experience enhanced production tracking integrations with ftrack Studio and ShotGrid.

Find more ways to compare media, with new features like wipe, A/B, top/bottom, side-by-side, and overlay with transparency.

Work in your language—localization is now supported, with the first release of cineSync 5 translated into Chinese.

Access tons of new features: view image layers, access a new text annotation tool, support for separate audio tracks, and more.