Category Archives: Firmware/Software

Rife-App Creates Higher frame Rates 25x Faster!

A few months back we took a look at Dain app, and how it was able to use AI and machine learning to create in between frames from almost any source footage and create something that looked and felt like real footage taken with higher fps cameras.  The algorithm was so revolutionary that it took the world by storm, making older software that used re-timing from Adobe and others look antiquated and underpowered.  The Dain-App was great and it was a pay what you want App but had an Achilles heel. The software required a powerful Nvidia GPU with as much VRAM as you could muster to be able to convert footage and re-time it.  

The new Rife-App which is the direct successor of Dain App by the creator GRisk is up to 25x faster than the original, improves the algorithm, and by many examples betters it by creating more seamless transitions. The flow of frames is frankly jaw-droppingly beautiful, especially on low frame rate animation.   We estimate that Animation studios in 2D will eat this app up immediately, and even 3D animation studios could reduce their render times by calculating fewer frames and using Rife-App to increase them to 24p, 30p or 60p from a lower source like 20fps or 12fps.   → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Dain app GPU and why you should wait for 2021!

Dain app GPU

Probably no computer-related technology has received more attention on the PC side than GPUs.  NVidia launched the 3000 series of cards with aggressive pricing that completely obliterate the previous 2000 series GPUs for much less money. Things are great for PC gamers, machine learning coders, and 3D animators in 2020 with these levels of performance except for the fact that there is a complete scarcity of GPU cards in most lines including but not limited to the 2000 and 3000 series for a variety of reasons.

Dain app the machine learning frame rate interpolation software uses CUDA v5.0 as the minimum requirement or a GeForce GTX 750 as the minimum card to run it. But that does not mean it will be fast or be able to finish interpolating your high res footage. In fact, a 720p clip interpolated frame rate needs about 10-11GB of VRAM memory on the card as it runs the entirety of the calculation in video memory for predictive algorithms to work.

Dain app and the GPU Shortage:

Dain App will be able to run in any CUDA 5.0+ supported Nvidia card or the following:

  • GeForce GTX 750 Ti, GeForce GTX 750, GeForce GTX 960M, GeForce GTX 950M, GeForce 940M, GeForce 930M, GeForce GTX 860M, GeForce GTX 850M, GeForce 845M, GeForce 840M, GeForce 830M, GeForce GTX 870M
  • GeForce GTX Titan X, GeForce GTX 980 Ti, GeForce GTX 980, GeForce GTX 970, GeForce GTX 960, GeForce GTX 950, GeForce GTX 750 SE,
    GeForce GTX 980M, GeForce GTX 970M, GeForce GTX 965M
  • Nvidia TITAN Xp, Titan X,
    GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1070, GTX 1060,
    GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1050, GT 1030,
    MX350, MX330, MX250, MX230, MX150, MX130, MX110
  • NVIDIA TITAN RTX,
    GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2080, RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2070, RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2060,
    GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 Super, GTX 1660, GTX 1650 Super, GTX 1650, MX450
  • GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti

However, since the app runs on video memory or VRAM you need a card with a minimum of 4GB of it to have any sort of success at interpolating frames. Even then your card will have too little VRAM to do anything over VGA resolution. There is a workaround however by using the Split frames into sections feature which will render small pixel buckets of frames and re-align a merged final frame with all the parts when done. This allows you to literally render up to 4k footage at higher frame rates without getting higher video memory.

How to Create Slow Motion Videos with DAIN APP | AI Frame Interpolation by GreenBox:

This workaround is very slow and can take days for a few second 4k clip to render on a mid-range PC.  Your best bet is to get a faster GPU with tons of VRAM. In our view, a minimum of 10GB of VRAM or even better yet a minimum of 12GB is preferable to get the best performance.  In Dain app your card’s CUDA cores are the primary speed accelerator but without enough VRAM it becomes slow as molasses.

The good news is that new Nvidia GPUs have more and more VRAM than ever before.  The just-launched 3000 series toys with 24GB on the high end to 8GB on the low end 3060 Ti cards.  However, none of these cards are available at this time at their suggested retail prices. Scalpers literally bought the entire free supply of cards and are selling them on eBay and Amazon at ridiculously high prices approaching anywhere from 40% to 150% mark up. 

You would think that the 3060 Ti FE starting at $399 for an 8GB of VRAM card would be ideal for the Dain app, cheap, great performance, and close to the ideal 10GB of VRAM but there lies the problem.  8GB will force you to do segmented rendering for higher frame rates and that will limit your speed and video frame sizes. Your render time will increase exponentially with also some artifacts from conjoining segments showing up in some instances.

What to do?

If money is no object then we suggest you get a 3090 RTX card with 24GB of RAM. This will be the ideal card setup but we are talking at a hefty price increase as MSRP cards are nowhere to be found. Relying on scalpers will cost you dearly.  You could still get a 3080 with 10GB of VRAM or a 3070, 3060 Ti with 8GB for about 40% more money.

There is a better option in our view and that is, wait for next year. Nvidia is going to ramp up production of 3000 series cards by Q1 2021 offering better lower-priced options of current cards and also a new 3060 card launching with less CUDA and Raytracing tensor cores but with a whopping 12GB of VRAM option.

By having 12GB of VRAM the 3060 card will be ideal for DAIN app on a budget and be able to render footage directly without segmenting the frames. You will get a big cut on CUDA cores on these cards compared to the 3060 TI.  Rumors say that the 4864 CUDA cores of the 3060 Ti will drop down to  3840 on the regular 3060 card. That is a cut of 1000 cores.  It will still have more CUDA cores than most of the 2000 series so it will still be a very capable card for sure.  For example, a 2080 standard card only features 2944 CUDA Cores.  You will really be able to get better technology for a smaller price tag for gaming, graphics, and machine learning applications like Dain app.

Card Options Today?

1. Nvidia RTX 3000 Series

We first start with the RTX 3000 series. You can get them today at high prices but the links below should adjust in time to much lower levels as supply catches up to demand.

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "RTX Cards at Amazon";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "21a8fc1df62beea447f50d845d979617";
amzn_assoc_rows = "4";
amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B08HBQWBHH,B08HR9D2JS,B08HRBW6VB,B08HR7SV3M,B08L8L71SM";

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "RTX 3060 Ti";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "92700d93b889e22be18ea83ae388dd07";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B08L8L71SM,B08PW559LL,B08QZ5GJ52,B08P3V572B";
amzn_assoc_rows = "4";
amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";

2. Nvidia RTX 2000 Series:

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "RTX 2000 Series!";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "edcfa31c5523b1f515240d3301577dbe";
amzn_assoc_rows = "4";
amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B07VR2GZMB,B08FYRG8XP,B07Y2R5Y2G,B07W3P4PC2";

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "RTX 2070 Series!";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "edcfa31c5523b1f515240d3301577dbe";
amzn_assoc_rows = "4";
amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B0856BVRFL,B07Y2R5Y2G,B07YXPVBWW,B07VDC5FDJ";

3. Get in the EVGA Queue!

The company EVGA has developed a product queue at https://www.evga.com/ that allows you to place your name on a waiting list and will email you the right to buy a card for 8 hours. If you do not buy it it will go to the next in line and you will have to re-register a new slot.

We feel this is great for two reasons, you get a great product at the MSRP price and you also refrain from supporting the scalping market.  The downside is that you may have to wait weeks to months for a slot to become available.

4. Wait for next year!

If you wait until 2021, Nvidia will have a January announcement event for RTX with the rumored RTX 3060 card which will be the renamed 3050 ti card.  There will be an option with 12GB of VRAM which will be the best in price performance and should be under $350 USD when it ships in quantity.

Final note: 

We feel you should only buy a card now at inflated prices if you absolutely need it for mission-critical work.  If you can wait please do so to combat price gouging and scalpers who destroy the legitimate market for technology parts.

We have rarely seen such a blatant attack to the consumer. The RTX cards have been gone in mere seconds from online sources due to bots that continuously scan for new stock and snatch it automatically.   By not buying from them you support the community at large and save money in the process.

You can read our article on Dain App and the interpolation of footage that lets you create very convincing super slow motion from almost any frame rate. However, the app shines even more with high-speed footage. You can literally create a 4000fps video from a 1000fps source that looks almost as good as the real thing. Of course you will create frames and data from the ether so for mission-critical and lab studies, Dain app will not be an option.

If you get a new card and run it through Dain app, please share your results and footage below.  Merry Christmas -HSC

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "RTX 3000 Series!";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "edcfa31c5523b1f515240d3301577dbe";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B08KWLMZV4,B08HR7SV3M,B08P2D3JSG,B08J5F3G18";
amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true";

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12k Camera Setup 7 new Frame Rates!

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12k Camera Setup 7

Blackmagic Design has released Camera Setup 7.0 which upgrades the URSA Mini Pro 12k camera in several areas including improved frame rates at different resolutions.  At 12k the maximum frame rate has increased to 75fps from 60fps and at 4k we now have up to 240fps in BRAW format from 220fps on a Super 16mm crop of the sensor. We also get 8k at up to 160fps from a maximum before of 110fps which is improved by leveraging the fast pipeline in the camera and delivering usable frame rates with good multiples.

While the camera is not cheap at $9,995, it is certainly a bargain considering the resolution and frame rates you have access to in BRAW RAW-Like format.  It may be essentially the most powerful camera you can buy today for this price range and available with an F, EF, or PL mount the flexibility is there if needed.  Blackmagic Design are also the owners of DaVinci Resolve and usually bundled it with their cameras. It makes for a hard to beat all in one system for shooting, editing, and postproduction. Dig in for more details…

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12k – Full High Speed Frame Rates After Update:

12K 17:9 full sensor up to 60 fps
12K 2.4:1 up to 75 fps
8K DCI full sensor up to 120 fps
4K DCI full sensor up to 120 fps
8K 2.4:1 and 4K 2.4:1 up to 160 fps

6K Super 16 up to 120 fps
4K Super 16 up to 240 fps

Ursa Mini Pro 12K Unboxing & Footage by Epic Light Media: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Multiply Your Video Frame Rate with Dain-App !

Multiply Your Video Frame Rate

We got over 20 messages with essentially the same video sample in our inbox this week. They all touted the new interpolation from the DAIN experimental App or (Depth Aware Video Interpolation App)  which now analyses footage with a Neural network AI algorithm that crunches motion vectors and even what seemed impossible before “Object Occlusion” to generate higher frame rates from lower fps sources.  The technology is pretty fascinating and should be further improved by more training and samples over the coming years.

For stop motion animators, this is a complete game-changer as now you could animate with as little as 8fps and then interpolate to 30fps or 60fps with very little in the way of tearing and artifacting as long as the footage is well lit and objects clearly defined.  To make matters more interesting, it also analyses footage with shallow depth of field yielding impressive results.

Multiply Your Video Frame Rate with Interpolation or the “I” Word for Slow Motion Enthusiasts:

We visited the Interpolation topic in the past on our Fake Slow Motion article and concluded that then, the quality of interpolation while good was far from usable and you really could not compromise real high fps footage from interpolated versions except in very simple cases.

Now with DAIN technology, we have no choice but to re-visit the cases and analyze what it is capable of.  We looked at a few dozen examples and it is clear the technology has progressed forward so much that now stop motion animation, 2D Cell-based cartoon animation, and even 3D animated sequences rendered at 30p can easily be turned in higher fps increments yielding impressive and in some cases miraculous results.

We would like you to first watch the video below to understand what a depth map is and how the software in DAIN can create frames from nothing that look just like real ones.  A depth map will generate an approximated view of the world in a Lidar-Like vision representation to figure out to the best of the AI estimation where objects are in a scene according to their location close or far to the camera.

Depth-Aware Video Frame Interpolation by Wenbo Bao:

Even at 48fps from  12fps source, it is clear the technology in DAIN can yield impressive results even with heavy organic detail in the background including foliage. The software does an admirable job of estimating the relative position of objects in the video scenes.

AI使用フレーム補間アプリ DAIN APP byTALBOの実験室 Ch.: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Lumix Camera as a Webcam using USB for free!

Lumix Camera as a Webcam

Panasonic has released a Beta tethering software package for use in Windows 10 that allows you to control your Lumix camera from the computer to shoot images and video while at the same time use it to monitor the live view video signal with now the specific change that lets you remove the overlay display items from the camera to get a clean feed to your video conferencing software.

However, it is not that easy to get it to work and requires a couple of free pieces of software to let you extract the live view feed from the camera and redirect it to a video conferencing application of your choice.  We were able to get it to work well and it really makes a difference compared to the small sensor webcams you have been using.  Place a 1.4 lens in the camera and look at the beautiful feed that will result by using a professional camera and optics system to make you look better.

Lumix Camera as a Webcam what you need:

Cameras supported on the first release of the Beta.
(Note you will need to input your camera serial number to download the software)

  • DC-S1R
  • DC-S1
  • DC-S1H
  • DC-GH5S
  • DC-G9
  • DC-GH5

Official Computer Requirements:

  • OS: Windows 10 (32bit/64bit)
  • CPU: Intel CPU of 1 GHz or higher
  • Display: 1024 x 768 pixels or more
  • RAM: 1GB or more (32bit),2GB or more (64bit)
  • HDD: Free space of 200 MB or more for installation
  • Interface: USB 3.0/3.1

It is good to see the Lumix GH5 on the list as it is one of the best Lumix cameras for video recording ever released and many of our readers own it.

In order to get the video feed to get routed to your video conferencing software you are going to need to install these three programs in your Windows 10 PC:

  1. The Luimix Tethering Software Beta!
  2. OBS Free Open Source Video Capture Software!
  3. OBS Virtual Cam Plug In!

The excellent video below by Richard Wong will guide you through the steps to do this properly and activate the software for a variety of uses.  Support Richard by subscribing to his great channel here!

Setup your Panasonic Camera for Live Streaming / Webcam (GH5/G9/S1/S1H..etc) by Richard Wong:

Things to think about:

Make sure you have enough battery. On our test GH5 we needed to have battery power or AC connected for it to work as USB power is not available.  If other cameras can do it from the Linux Family it becomes easier as the PC can feed power essentially forever while you video chat.

There is some lag reported by users as the PC is taxed by capturing the video bypass and encoding can create a delay for webcam uses.  It is all a function of the speed of your computer here and the faster the better.  It would be ideal for Panasonic to allow for direct webcam pass-through from the Lumix cameras to video streaming software without requiring OBS. By using a driver the camera would show up as a webcam option without configuration steps. Lag should also be eliminated. This however is a workable solution and great first step.

The software as of now is only available for Windows 10, Mac OS and Linux support is not yet here and we hope it does in the future. Windows is being used as a testbed for bugs and once it is stable and solid enough we could see it being ported to at least Mac OS X.

Enjoy your new professional streaming solution and wow your boss, co-workers, friends or family with a beautiful image.  -HSC 

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";
amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true";
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hispeedcams-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_title = "Compatible cameras at Amazon!";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "a835c0fdaf5816a10922668e6db21e8c";
amzn_assoc_asins = "B01N3LU9O2,B07CKGZSVD,B07N87JS6Q,B07WSRHXPR";

Krontech Releases Chronos Software 0.4 with LAN support!

Chronos Software 0.4

Krontech.ca the makers of the Chronos affordable professional high speed camera have released the Software version 0.4.0 Beta of the camera platform.  The cameras will now be using an embedded build of the Debian operating system which was already the default OS for the Chronos 2.1 HD.  All Chronos 1.4c cameras can now be upgraded to the new Beta version free of charge Follow this link for the official thread.

We tested the software briefly and found it to be responsive and solid.  However as a Beta, you should be ready to find some glitches here and there, if you are doing mission-critical work you should wait for a full release before updating to be on the safe side, we recommend it for most users who are not shooting once in a lifetime events. If you do find bugs please contact them to help squash them out.

Chronos Software 0.4.0 Software Beta:

Official thread, installation instructions and download link here!

Notable Changes:
– Support for the LUX2100 image sensor.
– API for camera control via JSON/HTTP over the Ethernet port.
* Examples: https://github.com/krontech/chronos-examples
– Saving of media over network to an NFS and Samba share.
– Software updates can be downloaded over the internet.
– Real-time video stream from the camera using RTSP.
– New back-of-camera GUI is available via the software update screen.
* For more information: http://forum.krontech.ca/index.php?topic=498

The biggest change is the ability to control the camera via Ethernet which gets it into more professional settings that allow for a really long tethering solution or using a small portable LAN Wifi router like the ZyXel here which will allow wireless control from afar. As of now it allows the use of control scripts that will operate the camera remotely with a great deal of customizability.  For situations that require the camera to be sealed and controlled remotely and unattended, this is an ideal solution. We will revisit the feature once we have tested it.

Spice Slow motion test chronos camera 2.1 HD by LaSt Studio:

We love the new Dark GUI and we especially find it comforting to get more video preview space which was taken by the old interface scroll bar and buttons. Now the video preview takes center stage much like what you see in other professional cameras like the ones from RED and or Blackmagic design.   We will test the new software in our next shoot with the Chronos 1.4 and will get a 2.1 HD to review later this year. Stay tuned!

Chronos does space science:

Krontech also shared this article in IEEE Spectrum magazine that details the work by Masten Space Systems on creating instant landing pads for future space exploration vehicles. The technology uses the rocket exhaust and composite materials to create a kind of lilypad array on planetary surfaces to create a stable base for exploration modules.

The Chronos cameras were used extensively for testing the different materials and exhaust plumes of rockets on their research. The footage below shows part of the Chronos camera imagery analyzing different test cases of the technology. We estimate the Chronos 1.4c was used for this project.

It is exciting to see Krontech catering to many labs now and creating a name for itself in the Aerospace industry by showing affordability does not necessarily mean unprofessional.  The fact that rocket scientists are using the cameras with great success should make it an easy purchase for many other labs.

For more information on these cameras go to www.krontech.ca !

Thanks for reading and remember to mention HSC Code “HISPEEDCAMS5”  to Krontech at Chronos store for a possible discount on your order if you are a new customer! -HSC