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Creating Custom Wipes for Streamstar SW replay system
UNDERSTANDING LEAD IN / LEAD OUT WIPES:
Streamstar replay System uses short animations - we call them Replay Wipes - to cover the switch to and from a replay.
When a replay playback is triggered a Lead In Wipe is played to lead in the replay. The cut to a replay is performed 1 sec. after the replay playback was triggered. The lead in wipe animation is playing on top of the live camera for 1 sec. - than the cut to the replay is executed. The lead in wipe continues to play on top of the replay for the rest of it's duration. It is good practise to make the part after the cut as short as possible not to cover the replay. But this is something that is up to the user.
On Exit of the replay another animation is played to lead out the replay - Lead Out wipe.
The lead out wipe behaves the same - the cut from a replay to a live camera happens at 1sec. before the end of the replay - than the cut happens and after the Lead Out wipe play for the rest of its duration. Again it is advisable to make the animation in the 1st second of the Lead Out Wipe as short as possible (close to the cut at 1 sec.) so it does not cover too much of the replay.
WIPE CONSTRUCTION:
When constructing the wipe, you have 1 sec. (50/60 frames) to make the IN-animation part of the wipe before the cut to a replay is performed.
To be sure the cut is covered by the wipe it is advisable to construct the wipe so that at least 2 frames before and 3 frames after the cut (red striped area in diagram bellow) are fully covered (non transparent).
Note: Of course if you don’t wish to cover the cut, all this is not required. Its up to you.
After the cut point at 1 sec. you can make the OUT-animation part of the wipe.
It can be as long as you wish but keep in mind that whatever graphics you make after the cut, it will be superimposed over the replay playback!
We suggest to keep the IN and OUT parts of the Wipes as short as possible not to obstruct the view too much. If you have a creative use for it, it is possible of course.
You can be as creative with the Wipes as you wish and use whatever your preferred animation application for the creation of the wipes but always keep in mind that the cut is performed at 1 sec. into the wipe and all your animations need to be made around it. I personally use Adobe After Effects for creating all the wipes and I would highly recommend it.
DOWNLOAD the accompanying demo files. (After Effects CS6 project files for 50 and 60 fps)
They demonstrate the construction of a wipe precisely.
WIPE FILES SPECIFICATIONS:
- 2 seconds duration (minimum)
- QT ProRes 4444 .MOV with transparency channel, legacy transparent .FLV
- MOV files rendered @ low bandwidth as possible, RGB+Alpha, ProRes 4444 format
- FLV file encoded @ 5-10 Mbps with Alpha channel - 1080p or 720p @ 50/60 FPS framerate
to be placed in the WIPES folder within Streamstar SW app
UNDERSTANDING WIPES DIAGRAM:
Please study the diagram to fully understand the Wipes construction.
It will help you to achieve great professional looking results.
NOTE:
The Lead In and Lead Out wipes are usually the same file, however you can make separate files for each as described bellow.
REPLAY PLAYBACK WITH WIPES TIMELINE:
This example shows the timeline of the replay playback as used in the demo files you downloaded above.
TIPS FOR ADVANCED USERS:
Usually you will be fine using just one kind of wipe for both Lead In and Lead Out wipes for all replays but advanced users can be more sophisticated and create a different type of wipe for each.
1. LEAD IN WIPE - with a SHORT OUT ANIMATION PART
- not to cover the beginning of the replay too much.
2. LEAD OUT WIPE - with a SHORT IN ANIMATION PART
- not to cover the end of the replay playback too much.
Sort the order of wipes in the Wipes list / ACTIVE WIPES ...so they alternate (In - Out - In - Out) and use the SEQUENCE wipes playback mode so they alternate as intended.
This way the LEAD IN wipe will be played at the beginning of the replay and a LEAD OUT wipe at the end - thus creating a very professional look for your replays.
VIDEO: Using 2 different wipes for Lead IN and Lead OUT wipes demo:
EXPORTING / RENDERING WIPE ANIMATIONS FROM ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS
Streamstar SW now supports .MOV file playback since FLV support has been unfortunately abandoned by Adobe.
To utilise the .MOV files in the Streamstar SW successfully, the animations need to be rendered from Adobe After Effects in the Apple ProRes 4444 format and at the lowest possible bitrate - preferably under 100mbps.
PLEASE NOTE:
Full frame animations in Apple Pro Res 4444 can make it difficult to keep the final bandwidth low.
Therefore it is advisable to keep the wipe animations simple and reduce the number of colours to a reasonable minimum.
WATCH REPLAYS RELATED VIDEOS:
Streamstar Replays Tutorial video