This page provides information on downloading and installing VFSource 9.0 and provides a review of the new features.
The latest version of the VFSource 9.0 installer can be downloaded from the following page.
Save the download executable to a convenient location on your computer and when the download is complete run the executable to unpack the installer and automatically start the install process. The download file is an offline installer and can also be used to install VFSource on a machine other than the machine on which it was downloaded.
If your machine has an Internet connection you should be able to install VFSource 9.0 alongside older versions of VFSource and run either but not both simultaneously (i.e. close VFSource 9.0 before opening older version and vice versa).
Note that VFSource 9.0 changes case data elements and as such will not be be able to open cases created with previous versions. The appropriate version to use to open older cases can be determmined by attempting to open the case in VFSource 9.0. The message dialog that is presented will provide the details. If you wish to work on a case created by a version of VFSource that is not supported by VFSource 9.0 then obtain and install the appropriate version of VFSource from support.salientsciences.com
VideoFOCUS dongles can only store one product activation at a time. For those users with a dongle and without an Internet connection on your computer please contact Salient Sciences for further information about upgrading. For those users with an Internet connection the dongle will be upgraded to a 9.0 code when VFSource 9.0 is first run. (The dongle can be downgraded back to prior version code by running the older VFSource while the Internet is connected.)
Running VFSource 9.0 requires an activation update from our license server and you will be prompted for your Installation ID when VFSource 9.0 is first run. Please use your existing Installation ID which can be found under the Help->About menu of your existing installed version of VFSource. If you wish to try VFSource 9.0 on a different computer please contact us.
VFSource 9.0 is only available for Windows platforms. Detailed support levels are given in the following table.
| Windows Platform | Support Level |
| Windows 7 (x64) | Untested |
| Windows 8.1 (x64) | Unsupported |
| Windows 10 (x64) | Fully Supported |
The focus of version 9.0 is performance. We have upgraded the media handling architecture to support interactive performance for the larger media frame sizes that are now encountered in surveillance video. In addition to using GPU resources to accelerate filtering, in systems with a suitable NVidia GPU VFSource will use the GPU to accelerate h264 and hevc encode, providing for a better general export experience especially on larger frame size video.
An updated media architecture in Version 9 enables the possibility of interactive processing of high resolution video on a reasonable spec contemporary computer system. By automatically working with scaled versions of the video media right up to the point of the final export render the computing resource requirements when interactively processing high resolution video are substantially lower and hence interactive performance is improved. This behavior is automatic and requires no action on the part of the user.
We were concerned that the existing VideoFOCUS export process does not make it easy to properly review the export product and fully leverage the value of VideoFOCUS's automatic report generation.
To address this we have split the export into two steps. The first step is the generation of the export media item and the second step is the copy of the export item to an external location. As such the export dialog now contains a "Render" and a "Export" option as a drop down button in the export dialog. The render option renders a version of the selected audio, video or images with the chosen formats etc, and adds those items to the VideoFOCUS case as part of the processing chain. This allows the user the opportunity to review the rendered media with actions like 'open in system' prior to saving them to an external location. It also allows for report notes to be added to the export item and the option to refine the report prior to a final save without the need to re-render the media.
For those who are satisfied with the existing export experience the export option provides a one step action very similar to previous export experience. The only difference being that the rendered items are also added to the case but that action can be disabled by deselecting the checkbox option in the export dialog.
Version 9 can now also make use of suitable NVIDIA GPU resources to perform h264 and hevc encoding. This option is on by default when producing MP4 but can be disabled on a case by case basis using the checkbox in the export dialog.
It may be necessary to fall back on software encoding for systems where instability or quality issues are observed when using the hardware encoding option. This can be achieved in export by deselecting the use GPU option and in capture by deselecting the hardware capture encoding option in the Edit->Preferences dialog.
By default H264 encoding now uses the "Main" profile. If quality issues are observed in the MP4 then the Edit->Preferences panel offers a checkbox to revert to using the "Baseline" profile of previous versions. This setting effects the encoding for both MP4/H264 capture and MP4/H264 export.
We have introduced a pause capability in the screen capture to support the creation of single capture files that include non time contiguous sections of video.
The preferences dialog allows the user to control how the pause period is represented in the capture file. The preferences allows specification of the number of black frames that are inserted (between zero and 100) and the duration of each frame (expressed as a frame rate)
One possible use of pause is to append multiple DVR player time segments that are in different source files into one single capture file. Note however that if the capture target is selected in VF as a specific player window (via source selection) then that window cannot close between sections separated by a pause since that would cause VF to lose track of the source window.
Also note that in the current version the subsequent time setting or addition of a timestamp in the video is not likely to be meaningful for the whole video because of the non contiguous nature of the underlying real world time of each segment
Version 9 offers interactive controls to position the player to a specific frame or a specific relative or absolute time. The controls are spinners and in the case of the time controls parts of the value fields can be selected to allow for advance by seconds,minutes, hours etc using the spinner buttons.
We are planning to revisit our filter tracking in a future release but for Version 9 we have adjusted the tracking to prevent distortion of the track region when the track location is being computed. We believe this will improved the tracking experience.
VideoFOCUS offers proprietary DVR media import however in some cases when a media file is unsupported the user typically resorts to the VideoFOCUS integrated screen capture. Prior to this VideoFOCUS version, screen capture has recorded the captured player as uncompressed video and audio. Now, because of the advent of HD cameras it is increasingly common for DVRs to record video at HD or larger frame sizes and it can be impractical to screen capture this into an uncompressed format due to the overwhelming storage requirements for large frame size uncompressed video.
To address this problem this version of VideoFOCUS introduces the option for MP4 compressed capture. The choice between uncompressed and MP4 can be selected directly in the capture dialog and can be changed between captures when capture is stopped.
The MP4 is encoded as H264 video and AAC audio with bit rates that correspond to typical high quality MP4 encoding. Although not lossless, for the vast majority of DVR media any adverse impact on quality or perceptibility of events in the original scene is associated with the original DVR recording processes (compression, frame rate reduction etc) rather than the additional MP4 encoding associated with the screen capture activity.
Although H264 encoding does require more contribution from the CPU, the benefits of the much reduced rate of data (~50-100 times less than uncompressed) act to compensate, with the net result that on contemporary machines overall performance appears to be improved in most situations. Furthermore, at the largest DVR media frame dimensions, compressed screen capture is the only practical solution due to the overwhelming rate of data that would be associated with an uncompressed recording.
VideoFOCUS stores captured and imported media data in a simple directory based data store. A number of customers make direct use of the data within this store as part of their workflow. Often they do this to avoid the time associated with an extra export operation when wishing to make use of media files externally that have had no processing beyond only capture or import.
Although it is practical to access the store directly, officially the store is under the management of the VideoFOCUS application, and therefore there is always a need to keep in mind the possibility of unexpected file naming, and automatic file additions and deletions. There is also the risk that a user performing an inadvertent move instead of copy of a file from the store will leave the store in an invalid state.
To better support these users, this version of VideoFOCUS introduces a direct media save action. The action is available on sessions that have associated media, so typically captured and imported sessions. The save action is performed by a copy at the OS level and is effectively instantaneous for most normal duration MP4 screen capture files and imported media files.
In prior versions of VideoFOCUS any mouse interaction with the frame view (e.g. clicking on a frame or a right click mouse action) would typically lead to the loss of the current frame selection, which can be undesired, especially if the selection is a complicated multi-select and difficult to construct. In this version of VideoFOCUS changes in the frame selection in the frame view when clicking with the mouse happen only when the shift or control key is selected. The behavior of the shift and control key is designed to be as close as possible to that experienced in the player view and consistent with normal text editor selection conventions associated with these keys.
To avoid confusion when labeling individual frames if a selection is present, the right click popup introduces the new menu action "Label Current Frame". This action offers the same options as "Label Selected Frames" but acts only on the focused frame. In the player view the focused frame is the visible frame, and in the frames view it is the one identified by the dashed border.
When a project is opened by a newer version of VideoFOCUS than the VideoFOCUS version that last saved the project, the project file is copied to a backup and recovery instructions are included in the project folder. (note recovery is only generally possible if no media items have been deleted using the newer VideoFOCUS version). In conjunction with this change the naming of the project data file in the project store now offers a more direct indication of the VideoFOCUS version used in its creation.
If the F8 key is pressed when starting VideoFOCUS, the user will be offered the option of starting without opening any projects. This can be used to avoid problems in a specific previously open project that prevent the proper startup of VideoFOCUS.
To aid in the process of establishing the proper time relationship between related videos we have introduced the concept of copying time from a video and and setting time in a videos. In such situations an 'interesting event' would be located in the main player of the first video and followed by a right-click copy action. Among other things this will copy the current time into the clipboard. Then the second video can be opened in the Adjust Time dialog, the same event located in the second video, and finally the right-click set time performed. Doing so will adjust the time of the second video such that the event now occurs at the same time in both videos. This can repeated for further videos that are to be brought into a common time sync.
The majority of VideoFOCUS is now DPI aware, which means that the interface and text should no longer appear unduly small on screens that are high DPI (small and medium sized monitors with a high resolution). No user action is required, and dialogs and windows will be sized appropriately depending upon the specifics of the monitor on which they appear.
Unfortunately due to limitations in the Windows OS support for high DPI, we cannot currently offer DPI aware behavior for the parts of the windows associated with the Minilab and QuickEnhance audio interface. This means these parts of the filter interfaces will continue to appear smaller than desirable. This situation may change as Microsoft improves developer support for high DPI
In addition to pdf, exported reports are now available in html and a doc format that can be opened in Microsoft Word. The choice of format is made via a dropdown in the export dialog.
As part of advancing VideoFOCUS functionality it is often necessary to make changes to the data format for cases. Sometimes VideoFOCUS improvements add additional items to the data, which means that cases created with a new VideoFOCUS cannot be opened with older VideoFOCUS's and occasionaly VideoFOCUS improvements make changes to existing items in the data, which means that the new VideoFOCUS cannot open older cases.
In order to make this as easy as possible to manage for the user we have updated the behavior of the open case dialog. Firstly the open case file browser provides further visual hints as to the situation. It does so by coloring cases with a red icon if they can be opened by the version of videofocus being run or by a grey icon if they cannot. In either situation it annotates the case file name in the file view with the version of videofocus that last opened the case. Furthermore if an attempt to open a grey case is made VideoFOCUS will inform the user which version of VideoFOCUS is required to open the case.
Older versions of VideoFOCUS are available from our website and can be installed alongside newer versions to support simple access to older case work.
VideoFOCUS 7.0 can now generate pdf report documents describing video and image items in a project.
A report can be created by selecting the desired media items and choosing the 'view report' item in the view menu. Alternatively individual image or video items can be reported on by using the 'view report' menu action from the session or still list popup menus. A report can also be created by selecting the option in the export media dialog. In this situation a report will be created that includes sections for each media item that is being exported.
VideoFOCUS will automatically generate a full 'steps to reproduce' section for each item in the report and will provide a basic summary of the properties of each item that is being reported. In addition to the automatically generated sections the user can also add item specific notes to each media item using the session or still property dialog and these notes will be included in the report. The VideoFOCUS cases now offer properties than can be set, including agency and examiner names, case number and title and an overall notes section and these properties will also be used in the composition of the report.
VideoFOCUS now has a single export dialog that supports the simultaneous export of images, video and audio. The items that are export depends on which export menu is used and what is selected. When the export is invoked from the session list popup the export is restricted to selected items in that list. Similarly when the export is invoked from the stills area popup the export is limited to selected items in that list.
If however the export is invoked from the main file menu the export will included all selected items in both the session and stills areas. When combined with the report option, this allows for a production of a single report including all items that a user may wish to export from VideoFOCUS. When there is a mixed set of media types in the export dialog the video, images and audio tabs provide for control over any configurable aspects of each specific type.
VideoFOCUS has been updated to provide a more consistent methodology for the labeling of media items created by filters, modification, edits etc. There is now also a tooltip associated with each media item offering a short description of the process step that was used to create the item. The tooltip includes the label name of the item's source to aid in locating the source item
Projects can now use timezone that is distinct from the system or default VideoFOCUS time zone. The time zone choice is available via the File menu item 'project properties'. The timezone choice controls the presentation of times in both the interface and in and reports associated with items in the project
When the information is available VideoFocus will detect and display a "key frame" label identifying the frames that the video reader has identified as key frames (I frames). This label is shown in the player and also available in the "thumbnail display" drop-down and can be used to view all the key frames in a video.
We have significantly revised the video list view to make for easier understanding of the origins and relationships between video in a case.
Items that represent the original capture or import are identified by a small disk drive icon. This indicates that they represent the original contents of a media file or proprietary DVR file. Items identified this way will have additional properties in their property panel describing details of the file such as size, hash codes etc.
Items in the list that represent the result of processing will have one or more arrows above them indicating the source of the item. If the item immediately above is the source then there will be an arrow in the center. If another item higher in the list is the source then there will be an arrow on the left. If both the immediately above and an other are sources then both arrows will show. In the case where the item has more than two sources a third arrow will appear on the right.
The zoom controlling the extent and therefore sensitivity of the primary time slider has been made logarithmic to provide for better precision in selecting an appropriately zoomed timescale for the task at hand. The behavior when sliding the overview slider (the lower slider that becomes active when the time is zoomed) has also been refined so that there is a smooth centering of the primary slider when the overview position is moved. We believe these changes will help the user who is working with the longer videos produced from view combinations that may contain 10's of thousands of frames.
Tracking within the filters, in particular to apply a blur or highlight, has been a popular capability but the interaction required to define tracks has been somewhat involved. In particular the interface has required that the region be redrawn entirely if the track goes astray and the region can become significantly distorted even if it does not depart from its intended target. A further complication involved the need to specifically select or deselect tracks for correction.
This update resolves all of these problems. Tracks that have departed from the intended target can simply be dragged back onto the target. Distortion is now much less likely as the region will retain its general shape, however if adjustment is required the regions can be resized by moving to their edge to display the appropriate resize cursor and dragging the edge or corner back to its proper location. There is also no need to explicitly select a shape as that happens automatically if a move or resize is performed, but the option to do so is there by simply clicking near the shape.
In addition, when a track has been moved or resized by the user the action can be undone by the newly added anchor control button.
All items that are associated with a file now have hashes automatically computed and displayed (MD5,SHA-1,SHA-256). For imported or captured items the hashes can be viewed in the item's property panel. For exports the hash is automatically computed and available in the export audit. The audit now also includes the hashes of all imported or captured items that were used as source material for the item being exported.
VFSource 6.0 now includes the Grayscale, Sharpen, Equalize and Blur video filters and the Quick Enhance, Noise Reduction, Voice Spectrum Equalization and Hum Reduction audio filters.
Issues that have been discovered, but not yet addressed are listed below:
VFSource 5.1 is now 64-bit, and will only work with a 64-bit OS. The 64-bit version will allow VFSource to utilize more of your computer's memory and improve performance within the application. This will especially help with larger HD (High Definition) videos.
VFSource 5.1 will now directly import many DVR formats, allowing you to import proprietary DVR formats into VFSource quickly without having to screen capture or convert the videos.
VideoFOCUS 5.0 includes a snapshot feature that allows the user to capture, as a still image, exactly what is being rendered to the screen. This is ideal for quickly zooming, panning and cropping an image detail into a stand-alone still image suitable for export or further processing.
VideoFOCUS 5.0 has been given a new interface theme to modernize the appearance of the application and align it with other Salient Sciences products.
VideoFOCUS 4.6 has eliminated the need for transcode for a wide variety of video media formats. As a consequence import time for long duration or large frame size video are substantially reduced (in certain cases two orders of magnitude). Furthermore the disk space use for the import of such media is reduced substantially.
VideoFOCUS import now consists of a copy phase to create a copy of the media within the project storage with time taken comparable to a regular file copy and if required an indexing phase to produce an accurate frame index for those media types lacking a native frame index. Indexing is typically needed only for the import of media originally produced for live streaming.
This version includes a revised architecture for media handling which supports a more efficient approach to playing video. This provides notable improvements in player performance particularly for imported media with temporal compression and HD (1366x768 line) and higher frame dimensions.
The new import facilities allow for the efficient import of HD and larger frame sizes however many processing operations are intensive and for HD sized video require considerable computation per frame. Although HD video player performance is greatly improved, depending on the processing operations applied, playing processed HD video may result frame skipping if computation cannot keep up. If necessary the "self contained" option in the modify dialog can be used to create a rendered copy of the processed video to improve player performance.
The export dialog has been upgraded to present a goal oriented approach to selecting export formats and codecs. The new dialog offers a set of default export profiles that represent appropriate choices of format and video and audio codecs for specific tasks such as full quality archive, email and high quality reduced space exports.
Facilities are included under an "Advanced" panel to allow users to define their own export profiles appropriate for their export needs. Profiles can be constructed from a number of different media formats and accompanying audio and video codecs. User created profiles become available exactly like predefined system profiles as selectable output types in the export dialog.
When creating a user defined export profile consideration should be given to the fact that not all combinations of formats and codecs will create valid files. It is therefore suggested that any new profile is tested with familiar media and the anticipated media player to confirm that output is as expected before using more generally for export.
Of the three common players, QuickTime, WMP and VLC, we have found the VLC player to be the most accommodating in handling different formats, codecs, media frame rates and dimensions etc.
The ability to demultiplex video containing video frames from multiple camera views is now available in VFSource. The processing dialog allows for demultiplexing where the number of cameras is unknown and does not rely on any special encoding provided by the multiplexing hardware so can be applied to any video.
VFSource 4.5 introduces support for audio manipulation and gain control for audio that is present in a video and for audio that is standalone.
The import capabilities of VFSource are extended to allow for the import of audio media files. When supported media files containing audio are selected in the import dialog the import review player can be used to play the file. When opened an audio item will be added into the captured and imported session area.
Audio only media that is part of a VFSource case is displayed in the captured and imported session area and depicted by a speaker icon. Audio items can be viewed in the player in the same way as video items. The player shows a visualization of the audio signal that follows the play head position and the zoom control can be used to view fine structure of the audio signal down to the individual sample values.
Video containing audio offers an additional "Extract Audio" action from the item popup menu or from the processing menu. The extract audio action will create an audio only project item containing all the audio tracks from the selected video.
When two or more audio items or a video item and one or more audio items are selected the combine popup or processing menu item will be available. In the case of an all audio selection the combine action will produce a new audio item containing all the tracks of the selected items, extending shorter duration audio items by silence where necessary. In the case of a combine with video the selected audio items will either be clipped or extended to match the duration of the video.
The modify panel now supports basic audio modifications on audio or video items. When modifying a video item containing audio the panel contains an additional "Audio Properties" tab containing the controls. Changes in audio properties are reflected in real time in the modify player.
The levels adjust filter can now be run on video in addition to still images.
Audio gain control is available for audio items and video items containing audio. The operation can be selected through the Filter->Audio menu. The interface is the same as the video filter, offering original and processed displays, with the processed display player providing a real time update to audio and signal visualization for changes made to any of the processing parameters.
"Loop Play" and "Play Selection" menu items are now in the player popup menu and the view menu of the undocked player window.
The play selection will make the player play only the selected section of the video or audio instead of the entire duration of the media.
Loop play will cause the player to loop continually over the section selected for play. If loop play is selected when a selection of more than one frame is present the play selection option will also turn on resulting in the looping play of the selected section of media.
A shortcut to the loop play menu item is provided by a loop button in the player to the right of the time selection slider.
The media player interface now provides a volume control and an audio mute button.
When the media player is used to view video containing audio the "Audio Signal" popup menu item will control the visualization of the audio signal as a waveform. Each channel is displayed with channel 0 being the closest to the bottom of the player window.
The signal visualization is limited to a maximum time window of 10 seconds centered around the current displayed frame. The specific position in the audio signal corresponding to the currently viewed frame is indicated by the vertical white bar. The visualized audio signal time window adjusts according to the time scale sensitivity selected by the timescale zoom slider control
The VFSource 4.1 install now includes the VideoFOCUS Video Format Converter plugin install. This plugin provides extensive support for a wide variety of media formats and codecs and provides VFSource with the ability to import video with accompanying audio from a wide range of media file types.
If the VideoFOCUS Video Format Converter installation is successfully completed during the VFSource install no further action is needed to use this capability. VFSource will use this plugin to transcode all non MOV files to an uncompressed MOV format for subsequent processing within the application.
VFSource now provides full support for the import of image sequences. Multiple images, typically representing a time sequence, can be imported directly and will be transcoded at a user specified frame rate into a video. This capability is available when using either the media import dialog or drag and drop import.
VFSource will automatically detect cases where multiple images could be considered as an image sequence and will order the images intelligently according to the filename name of each image in the sequence. An option to handle such sequences as a regular batch image import is also available.
The image and video import dialogs have been unified into a single new import dialog. This dialog allows for the individual and batch import of both images and video and the import of image sequences. To make selecting media to import simpler the dialog contains a visualization panel with a media player that allows for the instant review of video and images prior to their import.
If a set of images is selected all with a common file type the dialog will offer the option either to import them as individual images or as an image sequence.
VFSource now supports drag and drop for media import and image export.
VFSource will import media files that are dropped into the application. Individual or multiple video files can imported by dragging from the desktop or a file explorer and dropping them into the "Captured and Imported Sessions" area. Similarly individual or multiple image files can be imported by dropping them into the "Session Stills and Frames" area.
Collections of two or more image files of the same type can be also be dragged into the "Captured and Imported Sessions" area and they will be imported as an image sequence. When these items are dropped VFSource will prompt for the desired frame rate for the video.
VFSource can export video frames and images using drag and drop. When frames are selected from the video thumbnail view or images from the "Session Stills and Frames" area they can be dragged out of the application and dropped into a suitable location such as the desktop or a file explorer window. The images will be saved in the image file format specified in the Edit->Preference dialog.
In addition to import and export drag and drop, drag and drop can be used to copy individual or selections of frames from the thumbnail video view into "Session Stills and Frames" view. Frame thumbnails may also be dropped into "Captured and Imported Sessions" to produce a video.
VFSource no longer requires elevated privileges when running.
This change allows for more flexibility in user security configuration on systems where VFSource is installed and reduces the risk of inadvertent modification of protected material. It does however mean that permissions on the file system must be configured sufficiently to allow each VFSource user full control over areas designated for storage of their cases or for any cases that they wish to open. (VFSource does not yet support read only access to cases). In order to support per user configuration all settings established from within VFSource including open case lists are stored on a per user basis.
VFSource 4.0 introduces the concept of cases to allow for better organization and management of separate work efforts. Each case is displayed as a tab of the main window and the contents of each tab are the familiar 'Sessions' and 'Stills' windows of previous versions of VFSource.
The following case related actions can be found under the 'File' menu.
Video and image data may be freely copied between cases (using copy and paste). When pasting into a different project VFSource will create a copy of the media. This ensures that the data will be still be available in the destination project if the source project is deleted or relocated.
The same applies for imported media. VFSource 4.0 will create its own internal copy of imported images and video and will not require access to the source material after a successful import.
Images can now be imported into VFSource. Images are imported using the 'File'->'Import Image' action and will appear in the 'Session Stills and Frames' panel. Once imported the image is treated just like any other still and can be processed as such.
A rotation option has been added to the modify panel ('Processing'->'Modify'). This allows for the arbitrary rotation of both images and video by a specified number of degrees.
The WAV file type option has been added to movie export. This will be available if the session being exported (or any session in the case of a batch export) contains audio. It will produce a WAV format audio file.
The screen capture source selection dialog can now be resized to allow for more precise selection of the capture window area.
This table will be updated with information on fixes as new versions of VFSource products are made available for download.
Note that the changes listed cover all VideoFOCUS products and not all changes will affect VFSource
Revision: f3b980d011df
| Version | Comments |
|---|---|
| 9.0.10 |
Fix visualization quality of cropped video |
| 9.0.9 |
Protect against missing/corrupt media in project open |
| 9.0.8 |
Fix bug preventing layout of timestamp on certain videos |
| 9.0.7 |
Offer option to restrict h264 encoding to baseline Offer option to use hardware h264 encoding for capture |
| 9.0.6 |
Fix cache problem impacting still image performance Improve levels adjust performance on UHD images |
| 9.0.5 |
Add 9.0 user guide Add json meta data export as debugging aid Use microsoft gpu encoding Use h264 main profile Adjust h264 bitrate to typical hq streaming values Include app dir in process path |
| 9.0.4 |
Change long frame recodes to 100ms Open render in system on double click Add message about cuda decoder use Include effective date info in release notes Update to Minilab 2.5.10 dlls Fix refresh issues in super-resolution |
| 9.0.3 |
Avoid required dependency on CUDA driver Fix broken stabilization cache Add pause capture capability |
| 9.0.2 |
Fix issue preventing tracked blur as first filter Fix issue affecting filtering on images Fix color problems with equalize Prevent inadvertent duplication of sessions in session list |
| 9.0.1 |
Option to not save render during export Faster multiple image export and full size render Add super-resolution cache |
| 9.0.0 | Initial 9.0 release |
| 8.1.5 |
Fix accessibility support |
| 8.1.4 |
Fix problem opening popout multiview Use bicubic scaling in all important scaling Include MD5 hash values in report Default export size to full size Add image and audio demo data Include HD default size export option Fix missing non english language options |
| 8.1.3 |
Fix for incorrect image after annotation operation on extracted frames Fix for red-blue color error after levels adjust on snapshot images Fix for copy time problem in manage views Fix for unreliable track selection in multi view video |
| 8.1.2 |
More tolerance for stream errors in h264 based proprietary DVR media |
| 8.1.1 |
Fix performance issue with tracked filter Protect against situation causing open project dialog to error |
| 8.1.0 |
Initial 8.1 release (see release notes for details) MP4 screen capture Media save Version recovery Current frame labeling Previous version recovery |
| 8.0.4 | Offer export option to avoid title frames being skipped in certain players |
| 8.0.3 | Fix missing timestamps in image export |
| 8.0.2 | Display track names in multiview views Fix AudioEQ not saving properly Fix timing errors with multi-file import Fix audio waveform display issue |
| 8.0.1 | Attempted fix for missing modify crop rectangle Fix problem with annotation on multivideo view Ensure absolute time appears in all cases |
| 8.0.0 | Initial 8.0 release |
| 7.0.11 | Fix bug in persistence of marked frames |
| 7.0.10 | Avoid window problems when dragging between monitors |
| 7.0.9 | Performance improvements for play & scrub Export directory remembered per project Much faster indexing Update to ffmpeg 3 series Don't overwrite report if single file export has different ext |
| 7.0.8 | Support unicode in item label names German language refresh Offer new session menu item in VFSource Include additional DVR import formats Make dialog sizes and location persistent Make popout view maximizable and persistent Restore location of main window on reopen |
| 7.0.7 | Offer open in system in export Direct DnD of frame in thumbnail Allow frame still labels to be edited Fix crash opening vst processing in different version Avoid interface hangup with dongle license Fix strange chars in capture drop down |
| 7.0.6 | Improve performance of joined video Fix missing VFSource user guide Make sure levels UI is updated with player scrub Restore CTRL+A in manage views Fix issue with certain sized mp4 export Fix problem with reporting on audio channel sel and sync |
| 7.0.5 | Include paste in session list Fix aspect of dnd and aspect correct for image export Fix problem with filter on snapshot Update installer signature Fix broken demux report entry Fix empty capture label Preparing support for high DPI displays (not yet active) Restore export image in player/thumb popup Fix quality of snapshot and size change scaling Fix audio only time change exception Don't automatically capture focus in multiview player Enable reporting from menu bar when player is selected Fix problem with single frame videos on import etc |
| 7.0.4 | Fix occasional exception playing audio Fix problem saving filtered audio in audio only media Restore save after join/split in manage views |
| 7.0.3 | Fix audio filter crash after minilab preset use Include lang de updates Fix problem in filter still image Fix problem in edit insert still image Support for multiple dongles Support driverless dongles Time adjust for single track video Various report improvements |
| 7.0.2 | Fix exception on scrub at end of audio |
| 7.0.1 | Add version 7.0 manual Fix new session exception Fix distorted audio/crash for certain formats |
| 7.0.0 | Initial Release |
| 6.1.6 | Add driverless dongle support (licensing 1.2.7) Fix interface slowdown dongle issue (licensing 1.2.7) Update to licensing 1.2.7 |
| 6.1.5 | Fix bug causing incorrect image decode in VF for certain sized RGB captured video. | 6.1.4 | Option to capture in RGB instead of 24BG Additional uncompressed MOV export formats (RGB and 24BG) Fix bug that could cause settings change to default language to German |
| 6.1.3 | Instruct VM to use system network proxies if available Fix dvr import failure after audio preset load Fix problem with delete in German version |
| 6.1.2 | Fix audio quality visualization update after render Preserve zoom level during audio sync adjust Fix problem with masked & time bounded grayscale Attempt to fix occasional exception on session delete Allow audio media DnD into session list Restore window printing for video window (for single track sessions) Icons for capture and example movies Make label and snapshot actions preserve zoom/pan Fix for media with audio header but no audio |
| 6.1.1 |
Update Polish language strings. Add 24bit MOV export option for better compatability with Apple tools Include optional vc2010 redist install to avoid Minilab problem Update licensing for easier offline dongle use with multiple versions |
| 6.1.0 | Initial Release |
| 6.1.0b |
Beta 3 release. Fix possible exception when shift selecting sessions Fix problem with modify channel select signal display Make sure labels propagate through demux Update src change log Avoid empty sections in src player popup Fix frame filter missing labels after label add Spanish language updates German language updates Avoid resize problem for small track masks Defend against crash due to BlackMagic audio driver malfunctions Cleanup some possible exceptions in capture Include VC2015 re-dist in installer 1GB memory margin Fix for super-res exception Added key frame detection for non-native indexed media Fix for performance issues on larger view count multi-video Beta 1 release (see release notes above for new features) Various bug fixes and performance improvements |
| 6.0.12 | Update licensing for easier offline dongle use with multiple versions |
| 6.0.11 |
Add 24bit MOV export option for better compatability with Apple tools Defend against crash due to BlackMagic audio driver malfunctions Fix avoid zero duration frame in export after speed change Fix avoid repeated title insert splitting previous title |
| 6.0.10 |
Fix mark in mark out behavior Fix refresh on filter track changes |
| 6.0.9 |
Fix for open filter on audio only sessions |
| 6.0.8 |
Fix problem with -ve speed change in modify Update Spanish language translations |
| 6.0.7 |
Restore key shortcuts Fix performance of modify still Improved frame labeling for export Suppress red X on SSL handshake errors Fix for missing de translations Remove references to Salient Stills in licensing help |
| 6.0.6 |
Fix CTRL +/- zoom in and out Fix for select all in player scrubber Fix incorrect state when saving filter result more than once Fix issue preventing import of DVR files that seem like images Fix aspect ratio for filter on still images Avoid extreme slowdown in multichannel join Add additional DVR formats Fix detection of previous version open project list Out of memory improvement .. let system decide memory max |
| 6.0.5 |
Fix for UAVTech DVR format Consolidate open and create case into one dialog Support nested filter chain in Minilab audio filter (VFPro) DnD processing consistent with import dialog video/image strategy Support for "open with" and drop onto shortcut Single instance activation |
| 6.0.4 |
Fix selection in frame view when view marked or focus frames Avoid re-layout in player when playing Fix filter dialog layout error. Fix missing processing options in Minilab audio filter Show full version# and remove bit depth in shortcut name Remove unused make self contained option Audio only imports now have file date as start time Fix lack of display refresh after deleting track in filter display (VFPro,VFSrc) Fix for inactive mono mix in modify Updated address in EULA |
| 6.0.3 |
Add no-recode support for h264 and mpeg4 raw stream import Fix download link in release notes Include MiniLab 2.5.4 (VFPro) |
| 6.0.2 |
Fix DnD export crash (VFPro,VFSrc) Fix color format in DnD export(VFPro,VFSrc) Reduce memory use |
| 6.0.1 |
Fix wrong frame still export Improve snapshot image quality (VFSrc,VFPro) |
| 6.0.0 |
Added Demultiplex processing to VFCapture (VFCap)
Added MultiView support (VFPro) Added Grayscale, Sharpen, Equalize and Blur video filters and Quick Enhance, Noise Reduction, Voice Spectrum Equalization and Hum Reduction audio filters (VFSrc) |
| 5.1.4 |
Added support for DPI scaling in Windows Added ability for Super-Resolution filter to also perform frame averaging (VFPro) Added feature to export audit along with media exports Updated sample videos |
| 5.1.3 |
Add ability to Extract Audio from a Video (VFCap) Added ability to Combine Audio and Video sessions(VFCap) Added a new version of Super-resolution feature (VFPro) Added Audit capability Added contract details in About Menu Updated Polish language Minor bug fixes |
| 5.1.2 |
Updated Polish language Updated German language Minor bug fixes |
| 5.1.1 |
Fixed bug with Dongle Minor bug fixes |
| 5.1.0 |
First shipping release of VFCapture (VFCap)
First release as 64-bit application, and will only work with a 64-bit OS Directly imports many proprietary DVR formats multiple bug fixes |
| 5.0.1 |
Updated memory management to improve stability Minor bug fixes |
| 5.0.0 |
First release of 5.0 features CARDINAL MiniLab included (VFPro) QuickEnhance included (VFPro) Added snapshot feature New look and feel |
| 4.6.2 |
Updated to use private JRE to avoid Java installation issues Included HASP driver installer |
| 4.6.1 |
Export of MP4 using MPEG4 Codec quality has been greatly improved Exporting using WMV now uses FFMPEG, which will allow saving of larger files Added Audio Tutorial Fixed bug with blank Titles when going to Title->Go Fixed various Ctrl keyboard shortcuts while in Browser Video Player Updated Polish language Various other bug fixes |
| 4.6.0 |
Direct import of supported types Further improvement in HD play performance Simplified export dialog using export profiles Polish language added Fix PNG open in system problem FFmpeg upgrade to 2.X Demux available in VF Source. |
| 4.5.2 | First release of VFSource containing 4.5 changes (VFSrc) Support for levels adjust on video (VFSrc) Support for agc on audio and video with audio (VFSrc) | 4.5.1 |
Improved HD play and thumbnail performance Audio filtering now outputs only processed channels Added drag and drop from desktop for audio files Restore operation of self-contained option in modify Various minor interface bug fixes |
| 4.5.0 |
First release of VideoFOCUS 4.5 features Restore direct import of QuickTime supported media Updated tutorial videos Revised audit |
| 4.1.02 |
Updated user guide Use alternative QT writer for transcode |
| 4.1.01 |
First public version |
| 4.1.00.4 |
Fix for broken still image filter and modify |
| 4.1.00.3 |
Shortcut for view size now in order Rotate now does not shrink movie Allow any file type import to be attempted Fix for broken filter region play Update German language strings |
| 4.1.00.2 |
Fix for missing rotation on mov/mp4 Fix bug preventing WMV export of sessions with no audio Fix for import of ts/mts and vob Fix incorrect blur region Fix view movie on stills Update German language strings |
| 4.1.00.1 | Fix bug preventing installs on machines not previously running VideoFOCUS (VFPro) |
| 4.1.00 | 4.1 beta release |
| 4.0.12 | Added documentation (VFSrc) |
| 4.0.11 | Added Spanish language support (VFPro) Fixed bug preventing capturing opening on xp (VFPro) |
| 4.0.10.1 | Fixed bug preventing title creation (VFPro) |
| 4.0.10 |
Re-sizable screen capture source window selection (VFPro) Change speed allows for negative speeds to reverse play (VFPro) New case creation provide file chooser to pick case location (VFPro) Support for alternative languages (VFPro) Added German language support (VFPro) |
| 4.0.03 |
Improvements to performance and stability when processing larger format video Support for rotated video on import (e.g iPhone video) |
| 4.0.02 | Shipping release (VFPro) |
| 4.0.01 | 4.0 beta release (VFPro) |
Effective dates for the initial version of each VideoFOCUS Pro and VFSource product series:
| Version | Release Date |
|---|---|
| 9.0 | 2019-11-01 |
| 8.1 | 2018-12-01 |
| 8.0 | 2018-07-01 |
| 7.0 | 2017-07-01 |
| 6.1 | 2017-02-01 |
| 6.0 | 2016-07-01 |
| 5.1 | 2015-10-01 |
| 5.0 | 2015-05-01 |
| 4.6 | 2014-11-01 |
| 4.5 | 2014-05-01 |
| 4.1 | 2013-07-01 |
| 4.0 | 2012-04-01 |
| 3.1 | 2010-06-01 |
| 3.0 | 2008-10-01 |
| 1.X 2.X | 2003-01-01 |
VideoFOCUS attempts to contact the SalientSciences licensing server when necessary to update the product activation code to match the version of VideoFOCUS being used. When the machine running VideoFOCUS does not have an internet connection the activation code update requires the manual approach as described below
Dongles can only contain an activation code for one version of VideoFOCUS at a time.
The simplest way to update the dongle to the correct activation code is to find any computer with an internet connection (e.g. web/email machine). Install the desired version of VideoFOCUS on that machine, insert the dongle, make sure the dongle light is on and then open VideoFOCUS and close again once the application starts. At that point the dongle will be updated to contain an activation suitable for use on any machine with that version of VideoFOCUS irrespective of network connectivity (e.g. an offline office workstation)
Alternatively you can install VideoFOCUS on your workstation, insert the dongle, make sure the light is on, then start VideoFOCUS. Because your workstation does not have an internet connection you will be prompted through a set of steps to complete the activation (and therefore the update of the dongle). These steps will involve saving a small html file and transferring it to an internet connected machine so as to open it and obtain an activation code from our license server. This code should be saved and returned to your offline workstation and then copied and pasted into the activation dialog.
To avoid a need to update dongle activations every time you switch between VideoFOCUS versions on the same machine VideoFOCUS stores a copy of the dongle activation data for its version in a local cache on the machine. By relying on the cached activation data, that version of VideoFOCUS can work on that machine as long as the dongle is present, even if the dongle contains an activation for a different version.
Install VideoFOCUS on the workstation you intent to use it on, then start VideoFOCUS. Because your workstation does not have an internet connection you will be prompted through a set of steps to obtain an activation code and complete the activation. These steps will involve saving a small html file and transferring it to an internet connected machine so as to open it and obtain an activation code from our license server. This code should be saved and returned to your offline workstation and then copied and pasted into the activation dialog.
VideoFOCUS log files can be found in the following locations. In each case there may be more than one log file each with a different integer value for [n]. If providing logs to help resolve a problem it is generally useful to provide all files matching the patterns described below.
%USERPROFILE%\java[n].log
and
%LOCALAPPDATA%\SalientSciences\VideoFocus\Logs\videofocus[n].log
or
%APPDATA%\SalientSciences\VideoFocus\Logs\videofocus[n].log
In a standard windows installation these will resolve to the following paths
C:\Users\[username]\java[n].log
and
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\SalientSciences\VideoFocus\Logs\videofocus[n].log
or
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\SalientSciences\VideoFocus\Logs\videofocus[n].log
Note that the text %USERPROFILE% and %LOCALAPPDATA% or %APPDATA% can be used in the path bar of a windows file explorer to facilitate easy access to the actual locations (especially if their values are not standard)