TotalCode Studio User Guide

Rovi TotalCode Studio User Manual

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Rovi TotalCode Studio v2.5

Rovi TotalCode Studio v2.5 ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................5

Congratulations! ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

Getting Started .................................................................................................................................................. 10

System Requirements .................................................................................................................................................. 10

Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Unlocking a TotalCode Studio Plug-In ......................................................................................................................... 15

Quickstart Tutorial ....................................................................................................................................................... 16

The TotalCode Studio Interface ........................................................................................................................ 20

The Menus ................................................................................................................................................................... 20

The File Menu ................................................................................................................................................ 20

The Transcode Menu..................................................................................................................................... 22

The View Menu ............................................................................................................................................. 22

The Tools Menu ............................................................................................................................................. 23

The Help Menu .............................................................................................................................................. 23

The Tools Dialogs ......................................................................................................................................................... 24

The Modules Dialog....................................................................................................................................... 24

The Show Batch Job Dialog ........................................................................................................................... 26

The Log Dialog ............................................................................................................................................... 27

The Preset Manager Dialog ........................................................................................................................... 28

The Preferences Dialog ................................................................................................................................. 29

The Buttons Bar ............................................................................................................................................. 32

The Main Interface ...................................................................................................................................................... 33

The Input Pane .............................................................................................................................................. 33

The Output Pane ........................................................................................................................................... 35

The Video Tab................................................................................................................................................ 38

The Multiplexer Tab ...................................................................................................................................... 40

The Post Process Tab ..................................................................................................................................... 41

The PID Tab ................................................................................................................................................... 42

The Subtitle Tab ............................................................................................................................................ 42

The Audio Tab ............................................................................................................................................... 43

The Filters Tab ............................................................................................................................................... 45

The Video Filters............................................................................................................................................ 46

The Audio Filters ........................................................................................................................................... 50

The Watch Folder Feature ........................................................................................................................................... 58


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How to work with the Batch List .................................................................................................................................. 60

The Advanced Video Codec Interfaces ......................................................................................................................... 63

The Advanced MPEG Encoder Settings ......................................................................................................... 65

The Advanced H.264/AVC Encoder Settings ................................................................................................. 74

The Advanced VC-1 Encoder Settings ........................................................................................................... 82

The Advanced MPEG-4 Part 2/H.263 Encoder Settings ................................................................................ 87

The DVCPRO 25/50/100 Encoder Settings .................................................................................................... 91

The Advanced JPEG2000 Encoder Settings ................................................................................................... 92

The Advanced CUDA H.264/AVC Encoder Interfaces .................................................................................... 96

The Advanced OpenCL H.264/AVC Encoder Interfaces ............................................................................... 103

The Advanced MVC Encoder Interfaces ...................................................................................................... 109

The Advanced DivX Encoder Settings .......................................................................................................... 118

The Advanced Audio Codec Interfaces ....................................................................................................................... 122

The MPEG Audio Encoder Settings Window ............................................................................................... 122

The LPCM Audio Encoder Settings Window ................................................................................................ 124

The AAC Encoder Settings Window ............................................................................................................. 126

The Dolby Digital Professional Encoder Settings Window .......................................................................... 128

The Dolby Digital Plus Pro Encoder Settings Window ................................................................................. 132

The Advanced Multiplexer Interfaces ........................................................................................................................ 136

The MPEG Multiplexer Settings Window .................................................................................................... 136

The MP4 Multiplexer Settings Window ...................................................................................................... 139

The Elementary Stream Settings Window .................................................................................................. 140

Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................... 141

Raw File Import.......................................................................................................................................................... 141

HE-AAC Usage ............................................................................................................................................................ 143

The TotalCode Studio Import Modules ...................................................................................................................... 146

QuickTime Import Module .......................................................................................................................... 146

MPEG Import Module ................................................................................................................................. 147

XDCAM Import Module ............................................................................................................................... 148

Technical Support ........................................................................................................................................... 149

TotalCode Studio Support .......................................................................................................................................... 149


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Copyright 2012 MainConcept GmbH - Now part of Rovi. All rights reserved.

Trademarks are used for informational purposes, and remain the property of their owners. Depending on the

software version, screenshots may vary in this manual.

Adobe and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the

United States and/or other countries.

Dolby Digital codec manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories.

Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.

Portions of this software are copyright (c) 2008 The FreeType Project (www.freetype.org). All rights reserved.

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd and Clark Cooper

Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Expat maintainers.

Edition: May 22, 2012


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Introduction

Congratulations!

For years, storing digital video footage has been a big challenge because of the large amount of

disk space required. Various compression methods have been created to reduce the space

requirements, but often at the expense of quality. But what is the most useful format in video,

production and broadcast business? H.264/AVC? JPEG2000 or DVCPRO? The new VC-1 or the

approved MPEG standard? Now Rovi presents Rovi TotalCode Studio: the new encoder application

which combines all popular codecs and renowned formats. And the user decides which formats or

codecs he really needs!

The demo version of TotalCode Studio is a kind of basic application which includes the most

important MainConcept codecs as a demo. You can test the power of the codecs the way you

already know from the popular MainConcept Codec SDK or applications, i.e. only a watermark is

added to the converted clips. Furthermore, the TotalCode Studio demo version has an import

limitation of 30 seconds for files which include Dolby Digital Professional, Dolby Digital Plus Pro or

AAC audio, i.e. after this period of time audio is muted and only video is transcoded correctly.

The new application is available in the following packages:

TotalCode Studio containing the following codecs:

MPEG-2 (incl. MPEG-1)

H.264/AVC Professional Version (incl. CUDA H.264/AVC and OpenCL H.264/AVC )

VC-1 Professional Version

MPEG-4 Part 2

DivX / DivX Plus

TotalCode Studio Broadcast Pack containing the following codecs:

H.264/AVC Broadcast Version (incl. AVC-Intra, CUDA and OpenCL H.264/AVC )

DVCPRO HD

JPEG2000


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TotalCode Studio Advanced Codec Pack containing the following codecs:

MVC / Blu-ray 3D

TotalCode Studio Audio Pack containing the following codecs:

Dolby Digital Professional

Dolby Digital Plus Pro

When you are interested in obtaining the full version of the codec, you have to purchase the

appropriate plug-in for TotalCode Studio. After you have installed e.g. TotalCode Studio H.264/AVC

for the application, you can then convert your clips into H.264 files without any restrictions. And if

you need additional format, you simply obtain the desired codec plug-in for the new TotalCode

Studio application, and you can start transcoding.

Here are some brief information on the formats, the new TotalCode Studio software offers:

The MPEG format (developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group) offers an excellent method of

compressing video and audio data, because it can achieve significant reductions in file sizes while

retaining quality.

The two most popular variations are MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. MPEG-1 generally offers lower (but

good) quality with extremely small file sizes. MPEG-1 is the format used in Video CDs (VCDs)

compact discs containing video material that can be played in VCD players, computers and many

standalone DVD players. MPEG-1 is also used to create ultra-compact video clips for e-mailing and

posting on the web, and for creating reasonably-sized clips to include in multimedia presentations or

on standard CDs. MPEG-2 can offer much higher quality, suitable for Super Video CDs (SVCDs),

DVDs and broadcasting.

Now there is also H.264 - the next generation in video compression which offers highest

compression in best quality! H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) - also known as MPEG-4 Part 10

- is poised to be a major video standard because it can replace several popular formats while

offering significant advantages over them. It contains advanced compression, i.e. it includes a high

rate-distortion efficiency which can result in significant bitrate savings over MPEG-2. The network

friendliness is based on a network abstraction layer designed for highly efficient transmission of

header data. The available H.264 profiles for a wide variety of applications are ranging from video

telephony to high-end broadcasting and storage.

TotalCode Studio H.264/AVC Pro and Broadcast now also offer CUDA and OpenCL H.264/AVC

transcoding support, offering amazing performance by making use of NVIDIAs and ATIs

Hardware Acceleration, while providing excellent quality.

CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing architecture that is used on

many graphics boards from NVidia, such as Quadro, Tesla and GeForce.


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OpenCL is a parallel computing architecture that is used on many graphics board from ATI and

AMD resp., such as Radeon HD and FirePro. It allows a significant increase in encoding

performance by off-loading most of the resource-intensive encoding features to the GPUs (Graphics

Processing Units). In this case, the systems CPU utilization is dramatically reduced and can be

used for other tasks, while the GPUs do the decoding, scaling and encoding work. In contrast to

CPUs, the graphics boards' GPUs provide a parallel architecture that consists of a large number of

cores, that are able to run thousands of threads simultaneously.

CUDA and OpenCL allow a significant increase in encoding performance by offloading most of the

resource-intensive encoding features to the GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). In this case, the

systems CPU utilization is dramatically reduced and can be used for other tasks, while the GPUs

do the decoding, scaling and encoding work. In contrast to CPUs, the graphics boards' GPUs

provide a parallel architecture that consists of a large number of cores, that are able to run

thousands of threads simultaneously. With the rapid progress in GPU technology development and

the large number of GPU based graphics boards in the market, taking advantage of the GPUs

power for video encoding and transcoding makes sense for both consumer users as well as

professional markets and industries, such as simulations in science and research, content creation,

medical imaging scans, etc. In the end-user segment, CUDA and OpenCL transcoding speeds-up

the time consuming task of converting your home movies into the H.264/AVC format and also

reduces CPU utilization so that the computer can be used for other purposes while encoding.

SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers) VC-1 has been adopted as a mandatory

video format for HD DVD and Blu-ray. The TotalCode Studio VC-1 plug-in offers fast encoding and

decoding speeds in the Simple, Main and Advanced profiles and all levels supported by the

standard. In addition, it features MainConcept's extraordinary encoding and decoding quality.

The DVCPRO 25/50 plug-in is the perfect solution for amateurs and professionals working with high

end video. It can be used to decode and encode DVCPRO 25 and 50 frames. DVCPRO 50 delivers

considerably higher picture quality since it allows video data rates at 50 Mb/s. It supports all major

YUV and RGB color spaces.

The DVCPRO HD (also known as DVCPRO 100) plug-in can be used to decode and encode

DVCPRO HD frames (SMPTE 370M - 2002). It supports all major YUV and RGB color spaces.

DVCPRO HD delivers considerably higher picture quality since it allows video data rates at 100

Mb/s and also supports the YUV 4:2:2 color space.

The JPEG2000 standard provides a set of features that are of importance to many high-end and

emerging applications in the digital imaging market, everything from digital cameras, pre-press,

remote sensing, medical imaging, e-commerce and other key sectors by taking advantage of new

technologies. It addresses areas where current standards fail to produce the best quality or

performance and provides capabilities to markets that currently do not use compression. Due to its

advanced features, JPEG2000 is interesting especially for the professional market, where superior

image quality and editing features are of highest importance.

DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) adopted JPEG2000 for video encoding of motion pictures

(http://www.dcimovies.com). Current movie distribution and presentation from movie rolls is


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expected to be replaced by digital projectors that will play high-res mj2 streams with superior image

and sound quality.

The MPEG-4 Part 2 standard (ISO/IEC 14496-2) is widely used for encoding and streaming. It

offers a Simple Profile (SP) that is used for environments where low bit rates and low resolutions

are needed, and an Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) that allows higher bit rates and resolutions.

Many mobile devices, such as mobile phones require these video streams as 3GPP or MP4 for

playback. MPEG-4 Part 2 is also supported by Apple iPod and Sony PSP.

MVC (Multiview Video Coding) is a new amendment to the H.264/AVC standard that allows you to

generate stereoscopic and multi-view 3D video streams. It is also an essential part of Free

Viewpoint Video (FVV), the interactive selection of viewpoints as well as direction within an

operating range (a virtual view, not an available camera view). MVC makes use of some interfaces

and approaches that have been initiated with the Scalable Video Coding (SVC) extension of

H.264/AVC standard.

After the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) approved and released the new Blu-ray 3D specification,

multiview video coding has generated a lot of interest in the content and content delivery markets.

Right now more and more movies are produced in 3D for enhanced entertainment. There is also a

steadily increasing number of cinemas that are able to present movies in 3D. In the near future,

users will also want to watch these 3D films in their living-room or on a PC. Many companies have

recently announced plans to release TVs, monitors and Blu-ray players with 3D playback

capabilities. Now it is up to the content community to deliver larger amounts of compelling 3D

content to satisfy the needs of the home entertainment market.

For years, storing digital video footage has been a big challenge because of the large amount of

disk space required. Various compression methods have been created to reduce the space

requirements, but often at the expense of quality. TotalCode Studio DivX / DivX Plus now

combines two of the most popular codecs into a single transcoding solution: DivX and the new DivX

Plus HD.

The renowned DivX codec is based on the MPEG-4 ASP profile which is part of the MPEG-4 Part 2

(ISO/IEC 14496-2) standard. DivX video offers a better quality than both MPEG-1 (e.g. as for VCD)

and MPEG-2 (e.g. as for SVCD or standard DVD video) for low bitrates. It is still one of the most

popular encoding formats for movies on the PC.

The new DivX Plus HD is based on H.264/AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) video and AAC (MPEG-2

(ISO/IEC 13818-7) and MPEG-4 (ISO/IEC 14496-3)) audio standard. This codec allows generating

and playing back full HD H.264 videos in the Matroska (MKV) file format.

In the recent past, more and more standalone DVD players get the DivX Certified logo, i.e. they are

able to play back DivX encoded movie discs. Nowadays DivX is one of the most widespread home

entertainment formats available on the market. DivX Plus HD will be the next major step for

customers in the long lasting history of DivX certified devices.

TotalCode Studio DivX offers several presets ranging from videos for mobile devices up to high-

definition video to encode your video footage into DivX and DivX Plus HD compliant streams. It


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comes with the below profiles offering a simple choice that matches best the device you expect to

play back a DivX video:

DivX Plus HD (new DivX standard based on H.264/AAC)

Home Theater (e.g. DVD players, recorders)

720p (e.g. High Definition DVD players)

1080p (e.g. High Definition DVD players)

Mobile (e.g. Smartphones, personal multimedia players, personal digital assistants, and in car

navigation devices with video playback)

The DivX format offers significantly better quality than VCD, SVCD and DVD when using low

bitrates. TotalCode Studio DivX comes with an MPEG-1/2 Layer 3 (MP3) Audio Encoder that can

exclusively be used in combination with the DivX video encoder.

With DivX Plus customers will enter the next generation in quality and performance. Due to its

extraordinary versatility and quality, H.264/AAC is expected to be the next major standard for the

professional broadcast industry as well as television transmission and content delivery worldwide.

TotalCode Studio offers exceptional rendering speed and quality. On modern PC systems, it can

achieve near-realtime performance in many cases - rivaling expensive hardware encoders. The program is easy to use, yet it still gives power users the ability to tweak a wide variety of settings.

And now we wish you a lot of fun working with our TotalCode Studio application, and of course,

reading this manual.


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Getting Started

System Requirements

Encoding is very resource-intensive. To achieve acceptable speeds, we recommend at least these

minimum specifications:

Operating system:

Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 (we recommend to install always the current

Service Pack for the used operating system), Microsoft DirectX 9.0.

Mac OS X 10.5 or higher (Intel).

Graphics Board (for CUDA H.264/AVC Transcoding):

NVIDIA video card with CUDA support:

- Professional: Tesla, Quadro 4000-series and higher, FX, CX, NVS, QuadroPlex

- Consumer: GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200, 400-series and higher GPUs

with a minimum of 256 MB of local graphics memory card or 512 MB for 1920x1080p encoding.

CUDA compute capability 1.1 and higher is strongly recommended (excludes certain GeForce 8800

models - GTS, Ultra. Compute capability 1.0 works in general for encoding, but has known issues.

We have used the following drivers for our tests, although other drivers might work with the CUDA

H.264/AVC Encoder as well: Minimum NVIDIA Driver version v260.XX

There is a useful tool called CUDA-Z that quickly analyzes whether your graphics board supports

CUDA encoding or not. Please download here: http://cuda-z.sourceforge.net.

Before registering our CUDA H.264/AVC Encoder you should run this small tool to get the

necessary information about CUDA support on your system.

Graphics Board (for OpenCL H.264/AVC Encoding):

OpenCL Encoding is only available for Microsoft Windows OS.

AMD Radeon HD Graphics:

- 6900 Series (6970, 6950)*, 6800 Series (6870, 6850)*


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ATI Radeon HD Graphics_

- 5900 Series (5970)**

- 5800 Series (5870, 5850, 5830)*

- 5700 Series (5770, 5750), 5600 Series (5670), 5500 Series (5570)

- ATI FirePro Graphics

V8800*, V7800

Processor:

1 GHz or faster

RAM:

1 GB or more

TotalCode Studio will work on many systems not meeting these specifications, although rendering

speed will be slower. So it also depends on the actual codec plug-in you use, whether you system

can achieve acceptable results and speed or not.


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Installation

The installation of TotalCode Studio takes part in two steps: the installation of the base application

which includes all codecs as a demo version, and the unlocking of the actual codecs package

(encoders & decoders), such as TotalCode Studio (base package), TotalCode Broadcast Pack or

TotalCode Studio Audio Pack. We start with a short description, how to install the TotalCode Studio

base application.

If you downloaded the base application, please follow the steps below:

Double-click the Setup file. A splash screen and progress indicator will appear. It may take a few

moments until the installation process begins. In the Welcome dialog, click Next to proceed.

When the license agreement appears on the screen, review it carefully, then click Yes if you agree

to the terms and you want to continue the installation.


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If you do not click Yes, the installation process will be aborted.

If you re ready to Install, click Install to start the installation-

Now the installation starts. An indicator will show the installation process.


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When the following dialog box appears, click Finish to complete the setup.

After the installation you will be prompted to restart your computer:

Please restart your system in order to assue the proper functioning of TotalCode Studio and the

activation system.

The TotalCode Studio application with all codecs as demo versions is now installed on your

computer. You can launch it from your Windows start menu or from the shortcut on your Windows

desktop.

If you ever need to uninstall the program, you can launch the uninstaller from the Add or Remove

Programs option in the Windows Control Panel.

Or, you can launch the uninstaller by running the Setup program again.


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Unlocking a TotalCode Studio Plug-In

If the PC where TotalCode Studio is installed has internet connectivity the activation can be

performed instantly. The only requirement is a Ticket ID that was provided by your sales contact

person. The Ticket ID is a link and will look like the example below:

http://licensecentral.mainconcept.com/ticket/C2TLS-5RRVK-AALNP-P59QE-36NDV

To activate a license, please proceed with the following steps:

Click or copy&paste the provided link into your browser.

The browser will access the License Central where the product will be automatically shown. The only required action is to confirm by pressing Activate Now.

Please confirm the dialog with the Activate button.

After some seconds the status will change to Activated.

The license is now activated and can be used.

For more information about the activation procedure and the

license management, please refer to the How to Unlock

TotalCode Studio which can be opened from the Help

dialog.


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Quickstart Tutorial

TotalCode Studio is designed for easy, efficient operation. Many encoding jobs can be controlled

entirely from the user-friendly main window, with no need to access any of the advanced controls.

We use TotalCode Studio H.264/AVC as an example for this tutorial. The following steps show how

easy it is.

Launch the TotalCode Studio application if it is not already running. When you start the software for

the first time, a dialog appears where you can specify the Preferred output mode (PAL or NTSC)

you are working with, After confirmation, the main window will appear.

Click the Open Media button in the button bar at the top left of the window.


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In the dialog box that appears, select any video file.

TotalCode Studio will scan the file and display its attributes in the main window, along with

suggested settings for the output filename and format. In this case we have loaded an MPEG file

containing video and audio. A summary of the source files video and audio settings can be find in

the Input field. A preview of the file appears on the right side of the window.

Now you need to assign the imported source to the Output section for specifying the transcoding

settings. This can be done easily: Simply select the name of the source, and drag it into Target of

the Output pane. As you can see, the elementary streams of the input file are added as video #0

source and audio #0 source there.


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Now choose under Preset e.g. the option Blu-ray > H.264, high resolution. If necessary, you can

also adjust the rest of the settings by changing some parameters among the Video, Audio, and

Multiplexer tabs. This depends on what you want to do with the output file and the format you have

chosen. But please keep in mind that some settings might result in incompatible files.

Press the Browse for output file button to search for a desired location for the media you want to

encode. Moreover, you can specify a file name here. Simply follow the instructions in the Output

file name dialog.


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Click the Start transcoding button in the button bar at the top of the main interface. The status

indicator will show the encoding progress.

You can pause or stop the transcoding process any time by clicking the corresponding button next

to the progress bar in the Transcode field. It is only visible during the conversion process.

Your encoded file has now been saved to the location and filename that was specified in the

Browse for output file portion of the main window.

If you want to encode another file, repeat steps 2 to 8. Otherwise, exit the program by clicking the X

icon at the upper right of the main window, or by choosing Exit in the File menu.

Now we will take a tour of the TotalCode Studios interface and show you how to use the various

components in detail.


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The TotalCode Studio Interface

The Menus

In the top part of the window are the File, Transcode, View, Windows and Help menus.

The File Menu

Open Media... loads a video and/or audio file for

encoding. You can also load subtitle streams that way.

Open Media Using... allows you to load audio and/or

video streams, MVC streams, as well as subtitles by

using a specific importer, decoder, etc.

Please note, that the import of source streams for Blu-

ray 3D transcoding works differently in the TotalCode

Studio MVC version. Due to the fact that the software

requires two input streams, e.g. one stream for each

view for Blu-ray 3D (base and dependent), you have to

go to File > Open Media Using... > Create multi-view

Input. In the following window, you can select the

corresponding streams. During file import, TotalCode

Studio creates a metafile (*.mmf) with the information

about the first and second view, and you can use it as

regular input file afterwards.

NOTE: Please note that the selected input files must have the same dimensions, frame

rate as well as duration.

Open recent gives you list of recently video and/or audio files you have worked with in previous

sessions, so you do not need to search for them again. The Clear recent files option deletes the

file list.

Close closes the current file in the Input pane of the encoder.

Close All closes the all files in the Input pane of the encoder.

Select output file specifies location and file name of the stream(s) you want to encode.


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Set output size opens the following window, where you can try to specify a desired file size for the

output file with regard to the video/audio bitrate.

In the Size input prompt you enter the desired file size in kb or MB for the output stream. The

effects on the audio and video bitrate can be seen in the statistics below.

Copy format copies source files settings into the Output settings pane, so that it uses these

parameters for encoding.

Open batch loads a batch list which is stored on your computer, or brings it to the front if it is

already open but hidden behind other windows.

Save batch saves the current batch list.

Add to batch offers two options: Add current adds the

contents of the main window (file names and

parameters) to the batch list for encoding later. Attach

source adds the current file to the batch list project, so

that the entire list will be encoded to one file.

Open project enables you to load a previously saved

project file.

Recent Projects gives you list of projects you have

worked with in previous sessions, so you do not need to

search for them again.

Close Project closes the previously saved and/or

loaded project.

Save project (Ctrl+S) enables you to save the current

settings, including all file names and parameters in the

main window and batch list. The settings are saved as

project file with *.xml extension, which is added

automatically when you name a project file.


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Save Project as... stores the current project under another name and/or location.

Export > Target Settings generates an *.ini file with current transcoder settings.

Exit (Ctrl+Q) quits the program.

NOTE: You cannot use this option while encoding is in progress. In that case it is

necessary to click the Abort button on the main window, then click Exit.

The Transcode Menu

Start transcoding starts the actual encoding process

of the current file or batch list.

Stop transcoding stops the actual encoding process of

the current file or batch list.

Enable smart render if possible allows you to

transcode a file using smart rendering. In this case the

source files settings need to match the export settings as close as possible.

The View Menu

Zoom in maximizes the preview area.

Zoom out minimizes the preview area.

The option Preview while transcoding activates the

preview during encoding.

Show encoded frames displays the actual converted

frames during the encoding process, enabling you to

see how the current settings will affect quality. When

the option is enabled, the upper part of the preview

shows the source video and the lower part the

transcoded video.

When you choose the Go to option, a small window

appears where you can enter the fame number or

timecode (hh:mm:ss:ms) you want to seek to.

Play input opens the Windows Media Player and plays back the source file with it.


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Play output opens the Windows Media Player and plays back the transcoded file with it.

Take Screenshot allows you to take a still image from the current frame. The screenshot is created

in the resolution, you have specified under Width and Height in the Video output pane. The still

image is saved in the PNG format.

The Tools Menu

The Tools menu offers several options which

appear all in a separate window: Modules, Show

Batch jobs, Log, Preset Manage, Preferences

and Arrange. We will explain the different windows

in the chapter The Windows Dialogs.

The Arrange option automatically arranges all open

Tools on the screen.

The Help Menu

User Guide... (F1) opens this manual as a PDF file.

How to Unlock TotalCode Studio opens the

activation guide as a PDF file.

The Check for Update option requires that you

are connected to the internet. If the option is

enabled, TotalCode Studio will automatically connect to the MainConcept website to find out if there

is a newer version available. That happens once a day you run the application.

About... opens a window showing the current program version and copyright information. Click OK

to close it.


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The Tools Dialogs

The Modules Dialog

The Modules dialog gives you an overview of the available plug-ins for import, encoding, muxing

and filters. It also shows you which of them are installed as full versions. Moreover, you find some

options here to modify the modules.

Under View you specify which installed plug-ins should be displayed in the list: All, Import

Modules, Video Encoders, Audio Encoders, Muxers/Demuxers, Filters and Misc. In the

modules tree you get access to the different plug-ins which have been installed with the encoder

application.

NOTE: Sony has changed the specifications of the XDCAM MXF format, in order to

make it more compliant with the SMPTE MXF specs. All Sony XDCAM hardware

shipped from April 2008 onwards will produce streams that include these changes. Older

hardware shall get a firmware update. These changes affect the MXF Muxer and

Demuxer.

The new MXF Muxer now additionally supports XDCAM 422P@HL and 24 bit audio.

Moreover, it has been changed to use 'Frame wrapped MPEG ES Label' of the new

specs. Please note that streams produced by this MXF Muxer cannot be opened by the

old MXF Demuxer!!

The old version of the MXF Demuxer was not able to detect video streams, because

Sony changed the 'Frame wrapped MPEG ES Label'. This has been fixed with the new

version. The updated MXF Demuxer can now deal with both old and new specification

files.


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The dialog give you information on the installed modules/plug-ins, their type (import, video/audio

encoders, muxers/demuxers etc.), the status (enabled(/disabled) as well as priority of Import

Modules and the supported file extensions.

NOTE: If you want to import MOV files using the QuickTime import module, the

QuickTime Player must be installed on your system.

If you want to import WMV streams using QuickTime under Mac OS X, a 3rd party

QuickTime component must be installed. It can be downloaded on the Microsoft website

at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx.

If there is a checkbox in the disable column, you have the opportunity to disable the corresponding

import module, so that this in not used for importing files any more.

The Configure button enables you to change some of the modules parameters if necessary:

The Priority spinbox enables you to change

the priority of the import modules if necessary.

Under File extensions the supported file

extensions for the chosen import module are

displayed. Some modules, e.g. AVI and

DirectShow, are not determined by particular

file extensions. Others, e.g. the MPEG

module, are chosen by file extension. In this

case the list of file extensions can be changed

by the user. However, you can change them if

required, e.g. if you are using a DVD

authoring program which prefers a certain

extension.


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The Show Batch Job Dialog

One of the TotalCode Studio applications most powerful features is batch processing the ability

to encode multiple files unattended. Multiple videos can even be combined into one file. The Show

Batch Job dialog offers several options for working with a batch list and its corresponding content.

Add job adds a new file and its settings for transcoding as project to the batch list.

Update job enables you to update the selected job with the current settings from the main window.

The Clear button removes all entries from the batch list.

The Save button saves the current batch list as an XML file (file extension: *.mbl).

The Load button opens a batch list which is stored on your system.

The Start button launches the conversion process of the batch list. The button text changes to

Pause, and you can pause the encoding of the entire list by clicking it. Click the Resume button to

continue encoding.

The button Stop aborts the encoding of the entire batch list.

There are some buttons on the right of the Batch Jobs window:

The two arrow up/down buttons allow you to change the order of the streams for an encoding job,

i.e. convert several clips into one file. It also enables you to change the order of several jobs.

The button lets you remove the selected entry from the batch list. Alternatively, you remove and

entry by selecting it and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard.


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A cogwheel icon and a percentage display in the batch list indicates that the item is currently being

processed.

The progress of each item is shown in the percent display in the corresponding batch list entry, and

you can click the Stop button to quit encoding a single entry without stopping the rest of the list.

The entries in the batch list which are supposed to be encoded are marked with a checkmark. You

can disable the entries, so that they are not encoded when starting the batch list encoding by

clicking them. Then the checkmark turns into a small cross.

Successfully encoded items are indicated by a green button. Those which were aborted or had

errors are indicated by a red button.

The Log Dialog

The Log dialog shows lots of technical

information on the settings and the encoding

process. Moreover, it gives an overview on

previously made conversions since you have

started the application.

The Clear button deletes all information in the

log window.


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The Preset Manager Dialog

In the Preset Manager... dialog you have the opportunity to manage your own presets, you can

create in the main window by adjusting the necessary settings for a video/audio source and save

them as a *.mps file (it is structured like an XML file).

NOTE: Please keep in mind that one preset file can contain more than one preset.

However, the various presets in a single preset file have different names.

Next to Preset file the application displays the path of the currently selected preset file.

The option saves all or the currently selected presets into a new preset file container.

Opens a preset file container, if you want to adapt settings from another location.

The buttons at the bottom of the dialog perform the following functions:

Remove deletes the selected preset.

Import... allows you to load a preset as an XML structured file (*.mps). The included presets are

added to the already existing presets of the encoder application, so that you can use them for your

encoding purposes. This option also enables you to import presets from TotalCode Studio 1.x into

the new version.

Export... generates the selected preset as XML structured file (*.mps). These preset files can be

shared or uploaded for TotalCode Enterprise, so that they can be used there.


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The Close button closes the window again.

The Export Filter Presets Dialog

In the Export Filter Presets... dialog you have the opportunity to manage your filter presets, you

can create in the main window by adjusting the necessary settings on the video/audio Filters

panes. They are saved as *.mfs files. These MFS files can be uploaded to TotalCode Enterprise for

automated usage in high volume delivery transcoding jobs.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that one filter preset file can contain more than one filter.

The various filters in a single filter preset file have different names. However, you cannot

enable or disable particular filters within a filter preset file, i.e. all of them are applied.

The Preferences Dialog

In the Preferences dialog is divided in two tabs, where you can adjust some global and file open

options for TotalCode Studio. The Settings tab offers the following:

Preferred Output Mode specifies whether you want to use PAL or NTSC as your default mode at

startup of the software.


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Default Output File Name offers two options for specifying how TotalCode Studio should handle

the output file name. When selecting Append _out to input file name in the same folder,

TotalCode Studio simply adds the previously mentioned suffix to the file name in the same folder

where the input file is located. When choosing Keep input name, and put out file in /out

subfolder, TotalCode Studio creates a new folder called out and writes the exported file into it

without changing the actual source file name.

When matching output format to input offers several checkboxes. When you enable one or more

of them the corresponding parameter of the input stream is automatically used for the output as

well, i.e. this specific export setting will match the source files parameter.

Check for updates on start lets TotalCode Studio connect to the MainConcept website, in order to

find our if newer versions are available for instant download. When you prefer to work offline, we

recommend disabling the checkbox. TotalCode Studio will connect once to the internet a day when

it is started.

Play sound on Finish (finished.wav) plays a short jingle when the transcoding process has

successfully been finished.

Write Logfile (.log) writes a log file with several information on the encoding next to the

output file.

Disable presets using demo codecs hides all transcoding presets of codec plug-ins that are still

in demo mode.

Disable CBR bitrate adjust for MPEG Transport Stream muxing: The default bitrate type for

most of the TotalCode Studio presets is VBR (Variable Bit Rate). But VBR muxing is often not the

best solution for transport stream muxing. So if this option is enabled, the bitrate changes from VBR

to CBR (Constant Bit Rate) when you switch the muxer to transport stream.

The Checks and Warnings tab offers several options where you can define how TotalCode Studio

should behave when such a file is imported:


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Under Alternative File Open you find these options:

Open the P2 clip when video or audio essence file that is a part of the clip selected: Yes will

allow TotalCode Studio to do this; click No if you deny doing this. If you select Ask, TotalCode

Studio will ask you what to do every time it encounters such a streams.

Open the corresponding .IFO when .VOB DVD is selected: Yes will allow TotalCode Studio to

do this; click No if you deny doing this. If you select Ask, TotalCode Studio will ask you what to do

every time it encounters such a streams.

Enable closing of referenced input files: Yes will allow TotalCode Studio to do this; click No if

you deny doing this. If you select Ask, TotalCode Studio will ask you what to do every time it

encounters such a streams.


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The Buttons Bar

The Buttons bar at the top of the application gives you quick access to the most important

functions of the TotalCode Studio application. They perform the following actions from left to right:

The first button enables you to load a video and/or audio stream for encoding. You also have

the opportunity to import subtitle streams that way. It is even possible to import an unlimited number

of JPEG2000 still images as J2C or PNG files that way. The only prerequisite is that they need to

be labelled with numbers (e.g. image_#0000.j2c, image_#0001.j2c, image_#0002.j2c, etc.). They

imported as a single clip then.

This button allows you to close the selected stream in the Input field.

Clicking the third button enables you to specify the location and name for the output file.

Click this button to start the encoding process. It turns into a Pause button then that you can

press to stop the conversion process. Clicking the button again resumes it.

Use this option to stop the current encoding session. You can also press the Esc key on your

keyboard.

The following button allows you to load a batch list which is stored on your system.

This option shows the current batch list on the monitor.

Adds a new file and its settings for transcoding as project to the batch list.

Adds the selected source file to an existing project in the batch list, so that it results in a single

file. This can only be done, when the current source files settings in the main window match the

ones in the batch list project.

Using this button enables you to specify the size for the output file.

This option tries to match the output format as close as possible to the format of the selected input

file.

Enables the Whats this? mode. When you move the mouse pointer over a certain area and click it,

the option describes the corresponding function.

The Add/Remove Shortcut option enables you to create transcoding preset

buttons for quick access. Simply choose the desired preset you often need from the list, and Add it

as a shortcut. You also have the opportunity to Delete All Shortcuts again.


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The Main Interface

The TotalCode Studio main window consists of three components: the Input, Output and Preview

pane. They offer many information on the source file as well as a lot of options and settings for

optimizing your output files. Furthermore, the preview area enables you not only to have a look at

the streams you want to encode, but you have also the opportunity to define In/Out point and define

chapter points. In the following, we want to describe the various components in more detail.

The Input Pane

In the Input pane displays the most important parameters of the video and/or audio streams, you

have loaded into TotalCode Studio, such as format, resolution, frame rate, bitrate etc. Moreover,

you can specify whether you want to encode the audio or video stream only, or both streams at the

same time.

You have the opportunity to import video, audio and/or subtitle streams by using the menu options

or buttons as well as via drag-and-drop from the Windows Explorer.

Right-clicking the Input area, opens a list of options that enable you to open a new media file,

watch folder, batch list and a project. Moreover, you have the opportunity to close the current or all

media files in the Input area. These options are the same as in the File menu, we have already

described earlier.

TotalCode Studio allows you to adjust some stream parameters of the input file if necessary.

FourCC opens an additional dialog where you can select the appropriate colorspace.


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Framerate opens an additional dialog where you can select the appropriate frame rate and field

order.

Frame Aspect opens an additional dialog where you can select the appropriate aspect ratio.

When the video # checkbox is enabled, the video stream will be encoded. Disabling the option,

does not encode the corresponding stream.

When the audio # checkbox is enabled, the audio stream will be encoded. Disabling the option,

does not encode the corresponding stream.

When one or more subtitle # checkboxes are enabled, these subtitle streams will be used for the

output file. Disabling the option, does not use the corresponding stream(s).

You can have different video and audio source files. For example, lets say that you have an AVI file

that you want to convert to MPEG. But you want to replace the audio stream in the AVI file with your

favorite song, which you have as a sound file. With TotalCode Studio, you could accomplish this

easily by loading the AVI file as the video source, and the sound file as the audio source. The result

would be a video clip with your favorite song in it. Simply enable the corresponding checkbox for the

desired video and audio stream in the Input section.

You can also use a video clip containing sound as your audio source. For example, you can create

an MPEG clip that includes the video from one AVI clip and the audio from another.


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The Output Pane

In the Output pane, you can choose one of the predefined settings for everyday use. Furthermore,

you adjust the desired settings and parameters for encoding your streams here. Due to the selected

target stream, different tabs are available which include numerous Video, Audio, Multiplexer, PID,

Filters and Subtitle options. The usage of TotalCode Studio has changed to distinguish between

the video and audio streams as well as the container format in a more subtle way.

When you want to transcode an input file, you need to add the complete file or its elementary

streams (video/audio) from the Input section to the appropriate position in the Output area. So for a

complete file transcoding job, select the file name of the file in the Input section you want to

convert, and drag it to the output section. As you can see, the corresponding elementary streams

are added under e.g. video #0 and audio #0. You can also add the elementary streams separately.

Simply drag e.g. the video #0 stream of the Input area to the video #0 section of the Output

section. Repeat the same for audio by dragging e.g. the audio #0 stream of the Input area to the

audio #0 section of the Output section (depending of the number of audio streams you have added

before). Depending on the preset and container format, you have the opportunity to add more audio

streams to one file. Simply drag another audio elementary stream from the Input section below the

last audio stream in the Output section and it is automatically added. Now you can choose a preset

for the input you want to transcode.


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Even individual subtitle streams can be imported and added to the output Section this way. After

you have imported one and chosen an appropriate input stream and profile, drag the subtitle stream

to the corresponding video # source in the Output > Target section. TotalCode Studio can open

*.srt and *.sub subtitle streams (*.sub is a Micro DVD format).

It is even possible to change the Muxer, Video and Audio format directly in the Output pane after

you have chosen a Preset. When you double-click Target, video# or audio# this turns into a drop-

down menu that allows you to change the format that is currently possible to choose in the existing

combination.

Depending on the installed TotalCode Studio codec plug-ins the drop-down menu Preset offers

predefined and ready-to-use settings for encoding. The presets in the list are sorted by the available

formats: Blu-ray, MVC Blu-ray 3D, Flash, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD, iPod, PSP, Digital Cinema,

AVCHD, Panasonic P2 DVCPRO, Panasonic P2 AVC-Intra, DivX, DivX Plus, Uncompressed

and many more. If you want to do some quick conversions, these presets already offer good quality

results without the need to change more settings. Of course, you have the opportunity to finetune

the settings. When you choose a preset here, all other settings are automatically adapted. Due to

the specifications of these presets, some options are not available or are disabled. TotalCode

Studio also offers a Custom preset here, that allows you to select one of the included codecs and

do the rest of the settings yourself. Here you can select codecs for transcoding such as H264


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Baseline, H264 Main, H264 High, VC-1 Baseline, VC-1 Main, etc. Own, user-defined presets can

be found under My Presets.

If your system includes a GPU accelerated graphics board for encoding, such as NVIDIAs CUDA or

ATIs OpenCL, you find Custom > H.264 @ GPU under Preset. Choose one of the options to make

use of the hardware encoders within TotalCode Studio.

NOTE: If you do not have a graphics board with CUDA or OpenCL support installed, the

H.264 @ GPU will not be available. If the OpenCL or CUDA preset is not available

although your graphics board should support ATIs or NVIDIAs GPU hardware

acceleration, we recommend doing a driver update, and restart TotalCode Studio

afterwards.

After you have changed the necessary parameters, you can create your own preset(s) by clicking

the Create new preset with current setting as base button. In the following dialog you can give

the new preset a desired name. Then you can select it from the Preset drop-down menu for future

usage.

The Delete button on the right removes the selected preset from the Preset drop-down menu. You

can only remove user-defined presets from the list.

The four tabs Video, Audio, Muxer, Filters and Subtitle offer numerous options for specifying the

video and audio format, resolution, bitrate, sample rate and many more for encoding. We will

describe the various settings and their parameters later on. You need to select the corresponding

target stream to get access to the specific tab options. So when you select a video stream (e.g.

video #0) in the output area, you have access to the options of the Video and Filters tab. When

you select a audio stream (e.g. audio #0) in the output area, you have access to the options of the

Audio and Filters tab. When you select Target, i.e. the container format, you have access to the

Stream tab and you can choose the desired muxing format.

Click the Browse for output file button to search for a location and enter a name for the output file.

TotalCode Studio displays the approximate size of the output file with the current settings at the end

of the line.


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The Video Tab

Due to the installed TotalCode Studio codec plug-ins, you can select the desired codecs and adjust

some general video settings. You have access to the tabs options, when video # stream is

selected in the Output section. The Video section offers the following options as drop-down menus:

The drop-down menu Codec offers a list of available codecs, which are installed as plug-ins for the

TotalCode Studio application. Possible codecs are e.g. MPEG-1/2, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4 Part 2,

DVCPRO, DVCPRO HD 100, JPEG2000, MPEG-4 Part 2, and VC-1. For H.264/AVC and VC-1

also professional (so called: Pro) versions are available. Depending on the preset you have

chosen, this option might be disabled.

If you have an NVIDIA or ATI graphics board installed using CUDA or OpenCL, you can select the

GPU H.264/AVC Encoder for the graphics board you want to use for conversion, i.e. H.264/AVC

CUDA or H.264/AVC OpenCL:

Depending on the installed codec plug-ins, the Profile option offers different format settings such as

H.264 Baseline, H.264 Main and H.264 High for H.264/AVC, DVCPRO 25, DVCPRO 50 and

DVCPRO 100 for DV, MPEG HD1 (720p), MPEG HD2 (1080i), MPEG ATSC, MPEG DVD, as well

as generic MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 for MPEG, etc. TotalCode Studio now also supports Sony

XDCAM HD and XDCAM EX profiles for the latest generation of Sony camcorders and decks. Of

course, you find even more profiles here. When you choose a profile, the appropriate settings are

loaded and displayed in the field under Show details. Depending on the preset you have chosen,

this option might be disabled.

Use the Mode drop-down menu to choose between the NTSC and PAL video standards.

Under Frame rate you specify the desired frame rate for the video you want to encode.

The Width and Height options enable you to set the desired resolution for your video. When you

right-click on of the spinboxes you get a list of predefined resolutions that are possible for the

current profile. Simply select the appropriate one from the list.

Aspect enables you to change the aspect ratio of the clip, such as 4:3, 16:9 and Square pixels.

The P/Q option offers some predefined settings that aim at quality in relation to speed. The value

range is from 1 to 15. If you choose Fastest/Poor (1), this parameter offers fastest encoding speed,


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but at the expense of quality, i.e. it will not be very good. The parameter Slowest/Best (up to 31 for

MPEG-2) provides highest quality, but the encoding performance would be rather slow. The default

setting is Balanced (8 or 15, depending on the codec), it offers good quality while offering an

acceptable performance. The parameters in between are all offering better quality at the expense of

speed or vice versa.

You find the Bitrate option here, too. Depending on the codec you have chosen, you can specify

here whether you want to use CBR (Constant Bitrate), VBR (Variable Bitrate), and CQT (Constant

Quantization) and kips. For some codecs this option is disabled.

Depending on the Bitrate parameter you have selected the following spinbox and drop-down

menus differ. When you choose VBR, you can specify the Target as well as the Max bitrate in kips.

Selecting CBR allows you to define the Rate in kips as well. Choosing CQT enables various quality

modes. The better the Mode, the slower the performance. In contract the lower the quality, the

higher will be the transcoding speed. For some codecs this option is disabled.

Ticking the checkbox 2-Pass allows you to choose whether you want to use 1-pass or 2-pass

encoding. When using 2-pass the encoder analyzes the video during the first pass, and uses these

information to optimize the video during the second (encoding) pass. This will improve the quality

but will also take about the double of time. 2-pass encoding is not available for all codecs.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that 2-pass encoding is only available when using VBR

(Variable Bit Rate).

The button with the wrench opens another window, which offers numerous additional settings.

These options are predominantly for professional users, because you need a detailed and

competent knowledge for them. Some changes might result in incompatible files. But we will explain

the settings later on.


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The Multiplexer Tab

Depending on the selection in the Output section, the Stream tab offers different options for

specifying the desired mux as well as stream type, and also the TS PID. Moreover, you have

access to the advanced MPEG and MP4 Muxer settings.

When you have selected the Target item in the Output section, you can choose the desired muxing

Type, i.e. the adequate container format for the output file.

The drop-down menu Type enables you to pick the type of stream, including the option to create

separate video and audio files (known as Elementary streams). Various DVD authoring software

works more efficiently with certain types of streams, so we recommend checking the programs

documentation for information on which stream type will give the best results. When you specify an

H.264 preset with AAC, you can choose the MP4 File Format here, too. Additional stream types

are for DVCPRO stream, DVCPRO HD stream (DV DIF), DV-AVI stream, ASF File Writer (for

VC-1), MJ2 File Format (for JPEG2000), MXF File Format (for Sony XDCAM HD, Panasonic P2

DVCPRO/AVC-Intra or JPEG2000), MPEG Program Stream and Multi-program MPEG TS

(Transport Stream) etc. However, this depends on the installed TotalCode Studio plug-ins.

NOTE: Sony has changed the specifications of the XDCAM MXF format, in order to make it more

compliant with the SMPTE MXF specs. All Sony XDCAM hardware shipped from April 2008

onwards will produce streams which include these changes. Older hardware shall get a firmware

update. The changes affect both the MainConcept MXF Muxer as well as the MXF Demuxer.

The new MXF Muxer now additionally supports XDCAM 422P@HL and 24 bit audio. Moreover, it

has been changed to use 'Frame wrapped MPEG ES Label' of the new specs. Please note that

streams produced by this MXF Muxer cannot be opened by the old MXF Demuxer!

The old version of the MXF Demuxer was not able to detect video streams, because Sony changed

the 'Frame wrapped MPEG ES Label'. This has been fixed with the new version. The updated MXF

Demuxer can now deal with both old and new specification files.

When you select and Panasonic P2 DVCPRO or AVC-Intra presets, the option Create P2 folder

structure is enabled. Ticking the checkbox additionally creates the appropriate folde strcutre that is

common for Panasonic P2 camcorders.

The button with the wrench opens the advanced muxer settings if available.


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The Post Process Tab

The Post Process tab allows you to run a command after the transcoding process has been

finished. You can add here all commands that can be executed under Windows and Mac OS X via

command line. So you can directly start a DRM tool to protect the output file, directly upload the

transcoded and source stream to an ftp server, etc.

The command is executed after output file processing finishes.

Use %o as placeholder for output file name, and %i for input file name.

If multiple input files are used, e.g. one for video and one for audio input, %i1, %i2,... can be used

for those input file names. In this case %i will be substituted for all input file names separated by

spaces.

If multiple output files will be produced, e.g. in case of multiple output elementary streams %o1,

%o2,... can be used for those output file names. In this case %o will be substituted for all output file

names separated by spaces.

%op will be substituted for output file folder, and %ob for output file name.

If the output file name is /out/path/file.mpg, %op will be substituted with /out/path, and %ob with file.


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The PID Tab

When you have specified Multi-program MPEG TS as muxing type, you have the opportunity to

define the TS PID (= Transport Stream Program ID). When you have selected the video # or audio

# item in the Output section, the Stream tab shows different options. Here you can choose the TS

PID for the output file.

If the Auto checkbox next to TS PID is enabled, TotalCode Studio automatically uses the correct

value. When you disabled it, an input prompt is displayed where you can enter a TS PID value

manually.

The Subtitle Tab

Depending on the source file and the output format, you have the opportunity to add and edit

subtitle streams to your output. These subtitle streams normally found on DVDs or Blu-rays, and

contain a translation of the dialogs in a movie. TotalCode Studio can open *.srt and *.sub subtitle

streams.

The drop-down menu Palette allows you to specify whether you want to use all subtitle streams of

the imported IFO source (IFO palette) or only the Default one.

When you have added an individual or separate subtitle stream to your project in the Output

section that is not connected to your current source, the options in the Subtitle tab differ.

Under Font file you can load the desired font you want to display your subtitle in.

Font size specifies the size of the subtitles in the video stream later on.


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The drop-down menu Encoding specifies the character coding set. This is important when

encoding subtitles from Chinese, Japanese, Kyrillic, the German umlaut, etc.

The Delay input prompt allows you to specify when TotalCode Studio should start displaying the

subtitles.

The Relative speed input prompt allows you to speedup or slowdown subtitles relatively to the

video stream on which it is rendered. If the value is 1.0, it remains at the same speed. If you specify

a greater value the subtitles should speed up, e.g. if set to 2.0 the subtitle which would normally

render at 60 seconds speed, will now render at 30 seconds.

The Color input prompt allows you to specify the color of the subtitles in the video stream.

The drop-down menu Effect specifies the effect type applied to the subtitles.

The Audio Tab

Due to the installed TotalCode Studio codec plug-ins, you can select the desired codecs and adjust

some corresponding audio settings. You have access to the tabs options, when audio # stream is

selected in the Output section. The Audio section offers the following options as drop-down

menus:

The Codec drop-down menu selector enables you to specify MPEG (Layer 1 or Layer 2) audio, the

LPCM format, the AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format (for H.264 and MPEG-2 profiles), Raw

Audio or DV Audio. Certain DVD authoring software works more efficiently with certain audio

types, so we recommend checking the programs documentation for more information on which

mode to choose. Furthermore, the application offers WMA audio for VC-1. However, this depends

on the installed TotalCode Studio plug-ins.

NOTE: The demo version of TotalCode Studio has an audio import limitation of 30

seconds, i.e. after this period of time audio is muted and only video can be transcoded

correctly.

Channels lets you choose between Stereo or Mono. Depending on the audio format, the

application offers additional multi-channel audio options for up to six channels.


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NOTE: When you select one of the Dolby Digital formats, a Configure... button appears

under Channels. Clicking it, opens up the Dolby Digital Professional or Dolby Digital

Plus Pro advanced settings dialog. They enable you to specify the channel mapping if

necessary. The corresponding settings are explained in more detail in the Appendix

chapter of the documentation.

The drop-down menu Bitrate specifies the bitrate of the audio stream. Depending on the MPEG

type selected, some values may not be available. Increasing the bitrate will yield better sound

quality and result in larger files, or if the total bitrate is limited it will mean less of the total bitrate is

available for the video.

The Sample rate option enables you to specify the desired frequency for the output file.

The VBR checkbox is only enabled when you have selected AAC under Codec. It enables you to

use variable bitrate for AAC encoding.

When AAC is selected, the Type drop-down menu is available. Here you can choose whether you

want to use Low Complexity, High Efficiency v1 or High Efficiency v2 as AAC type.

The wrench button opens another window, which offers numerous advanced audio settings. These

options are predominantly for the professional user, because you need a detailed and competent

knowledge for them. We will explain them in detail later on. When you have chosen e.g. AAC

(Advanced Audio Coding) for H.264 under Codec, a different dialog appears on the screen, we will

also describe in more detail later on.

TotalCode Studio also supports multi-channel audio.

The Open audio channel configuration button with

the loudspeaker opens the corresponding dialog

where you can edit the input and output channels

configuration for transcoding. Here you distribute the

different input channels to the desired output channel,

or resample a multi-channel audio to a mono or

stereo track.

The drop-down menu on the top right defines the

Number of output channels.

In the right column Output channels you see the

destination, i.e. the channels of the stream you like to

export. In the left column you see the Input channels

of your source file. Here you can change the input

channels for the output file by disabling and/or

enabling the desired input channels. You have also

the opportunity to downsample various input channels or mix them. Here is an example to give you

an idea how it works: You have a 5.1 AAC stream, you want to downsample to a stereo track. By

ticking the corresponding checkboxes, you can define that channels 1, 4, and 5 of the input will be

downsampled to the left stereo output channel, and channels 2, 3 and 6 to right output channel.


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Under the Input channel and Output channel columns you find a summary of the current multi-

channel audio distribution.

Set default resets all channel configurations to their original settings.

The Filters Tab

The Filter dialog offers different sections, in order to crop a clip, to scale it again to the desired size

afterwards, to deinterlace a video etc. To access the Video Filters, you need to select the

corresponding Video Stream in the Output > Target section. When selecting the Audio Stream,

then you have also access to several Audio Filters.

The individual filters can be chosen by clicking the Add filter

drop-down menu market with the plus icon. Of course, it is

possible to apply more than one filter to a clip.

Here are the icons and their functionality in more detail:

The drop-down menu allows you to choose the desired

filter. After selecting a filter it is moved in the area above.

The two arrow up/down buttons allow you to change

the order of the filters, i.e. they define in which order the filters

are applied to a clip.

Deletes the selected filter.

Deletes all filters that are currently selected for a video or

audio stream.

You can save your own filter presets for future use. After you have adjusted all necessary filter

parameters, click the Create new filter preset button, so it is stored and added to the filter Preset

drop-down menu next to it. To remove a preset again, select it in the drop-down menu and click the

Delete filter preset on the right.

NOTE: You can even export filters later on using the Tools > Epxort Filter Presets... option. This

allows you to export a whole set of presets that can be used in TotalCode Enterprise then, in order

to apply video and audio filters for high volume content delivery.

After you have selected a filter, it is displayed in the area over the buttons bar. You can now access

the features on the right of the Filters pane or you can click the wrench button, in order to open an


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additional dialog that offers some more options and a preview where you can directly see the effect

of the chosen filter and its values.

The Video Filters

In the following we want to describe the various Video Filters that come with TotalCode Studio.

The Flip image pane

The filter Flip image turns the picture vertically, i.e. upside down, if needed.

The Cropping pane

The Cropping option offers settings for cropping the frames margins. This function enables you to

remove interferences or noise from the videos margins, and scale it again to full screen resolution.

If the option is disabled the fame is encoded as it is.

The Reset button resets all settings to their original state.

The Top spinbox moves the cropping frame up and down.

The Width spinbox enables you to change the distance between the cropping frame in the preview

and the right margin of the video.

The Left spinbox moves the cropping frame to the left or right.

The Height spinbox enables you to change the distance between the cropping frame in the preview

and the bottom margin of the video.

Use the controls to define the region you like to crop. The Reset button restores all settings to their

original value.


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Aspect specifies how the aspect ratio will behave during cropping. The available options are: Keep,

4:3, 16:9 and Free. Keep leaves the aspect ratio as it is while cropping. When choosing Free the

aspect ratio changes freely during the cropping process.


The Deinterlacing pane

The Deinterlacing filter enables you to choose a deinterlacing method.

The drop-down menu allows you to specify the deinterlacing method. Here you tell the application

only to show one frame instead of two fields. This is sometimes useful during video playback to

remove stripes in the preview. The available options are Keep Top Field, Keep Bottom Field and

Reverse fields. The latter interchanges the upper and the lower field. The new deinterlacing option

Bob offers line doubling. It takes the lines of each interlaced frame and doubles them, i.e. each field

is turned into an individual frame.

The Logo pane

Logo enables you to load a PNG still image, in order to blend it into the transcoded stream.

The Browse... button enables you to search for the desired PNG file on your system, you want to

use as an overlay. The filename is displayed in the field next to it.

The Reset button deletes the chosen PNG file from the selection, that is currently used.

Logo x position specifies the position of the logo on the x-axis (in pixels).


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The drop-down menu From defines the starting point from where the position on the x-axis will be

calculated: left or right.

Logo y position specifies the position of the logo on the y-axis (in pixels).

The drop-down menu From defines the starting point from where the position on the y-axis will be

calculated: top or bottom.

The Timecode inserter pane

The Timecode inserter enables you add a timecode to the transcoded video, so that it is displayed

when playing it back later on. This can sometimes be useful for checking the lip synch of a video.

In the Filter configuration section you find the Timecode inserter option. Clicking the button on

the right opens the Video Filter configuration dialog. In the Timecode drop-down menu, you can

specify whether the timecode is imprinted as Timecode or as Frame number.

The Timecode start drop-down specifies whether the timecode display should start on the First

Input Frame or the a specified In Point.


The Brightness/Contrast pane

The Brightness/Contrast dialog allows you to change the values for these parameters in the video.

There are three different sliders to control them.

Brightness allows you to change brightness of the video.


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Contrast enables you to modify the contrast of the stream.

Gamma allows you to change the gamma value of the video.


The Animated Logo pane

Animated Logo enables you to load a video clip, in order to blend and play it back in the

transcoded stream.

The Browse... button enables you to search for the desired PNG file on your system, you want to

use as an overlay. The filename is displayed in the field next to it.

Loop logo on finish starts the animated video over and over again after it has been finished. When

the checkbox is disabled, the playback stops after the first time.

Logo opacity specifies the visibility of the logo. The higher the value, the clearer you can see the

animated logo in the stream.

x offset specifies the position of the logo on the x-axis (in pixels).

The drop-down menu From defines the starting point from where the position on the x-axis will be

calculated: left or right.

y offset specifies the position of the logo on the y-axis (in pixels).



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The Audio Filters

In the following we want to describe the various Audio Filters that come with TotalCode Studio.

The Audio Volume pane

The Audio Volume dialog enables you to control the overall volume as well as the volume of the

individual audio channels of the stream you want to convert.

The Master volume slider controls the audio of the entire clip with all channels at the same time.

The checkbox Mute all mutes the audio of the whole clip, i.e. the volume of all channels is set to

zero.

Channel 1 volume to Channel 8 volume controls the audio of the individual channel.


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Channel 1 mute to Channel 8 mute sets the audio of the individual channels to zero, so that it is

muted.


The Normalize Sound Level pane

The Normalize Sound Level to [%] slider enables you to set the audio volume to the same value

throughout the whole clip (in percent). This is very useful for clips where there volume is sometimes

louder and lower all the time. Using the normalization feature you can set the volume to a fixed level

throughout the whole stream.



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The Dynamics Processing pane

The Dynamics Processing filter enables you to modify the audio dynamics, in order to generate

limiting, compression, expansion, and noise gating effects.

The Limiter option offers control over the high peaks in audio streams. In parallel, it o

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