Avid DNxHD

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Avid DNxHD ("Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Definition") is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec developed by Avid for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE VC-3 standard. [1]

Contents

Overview

DNxHD is a video codec intended to be usable as both an intermediate format suitable for use while editing and as a presentation format. DNxHD data is typically stored in an MXF container, although it can also be stored in a QuickTime container.

On February 13, 2008, Avid reported that DNxHD was approved as compliant with the SMPTE VC-3 standard. [2]

DNxHD is intended to be an open standard, but as of March 2008, has remained effectively a proprietary Avid format. The source code for the Avid DNxHD codec is freely available from Avid for internal evaluation and review, although commercial use requires Avid licensing approval. It has been commercially licensed to a number of companies including Ikegami, FilmLight, Harris Corporation, JVC, Seachange, EVS Broadcast Equipment. [3]

On September 14, 2014, at the Avid Connect event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Avid announced the DNxHR codec to support resolutions greater than 1080p, such as 2K and 4K. [4]

On December 22, 2014, Avid Technology released an update for Media Composer that added support for 4K resolution, the Rec. 2020 color space, and a bit rate of up to 3,730 Mbit/s with the DNxHR codec. [5] [6]

Implementations

DNxHD was first supported in Avid DS Nitris (Sept 2004), then Avid Media Composer Adrenaline with the DNxcel option (Dec 2004) and finally by Avid Symphony Nitris (Dec 2005). Xpress Pro is limited to using DNxHD 8-bit compression, which is either imported from file or captured using a Media Composer with Adrenaline hardware. Media Composer 2.5 also allows editing of fully uncompressed HD material that was either imported or captured on a Symphony Nitris or DS Nitris system. Ikegami's Editcam camera system is unique in its support for DNxHD, and records directly to DNxHD encoded video. Such material is immediately accessible by editing platforms that directly support the DNxHD codec. The Arri Alexa supports DNxHD since November 2011. Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle 2 and HyperDeck Studio support DNxHD as of 2012. [7] AJA Video Systems has supported the DNxHD codec in its Ki Pro Mini and Ki Pro Rack recorders and players since 2012.

A standalone QuickTime codec for both Windows XP and Mac OS X is available to create and play QuickTime files containing DNxHD material.

Since September 2007, the open source FFmpeg project is providing 8-bit VC-3/DNxHD encoding and decoding features thanks to BBC Research who sponsored the project and Baptiste Coudurier who implemented it. In July 2011, FFmpeg added 10-bit encoding support. [8] DNxHD support is included in stable version 0.5 of FFmpeg, released on March 10, 2009. [9] [10] This allows Linux non-linear video editors Cinelerra and Kdenlive to use DNxHD.

At the April 2012 NAB show, Brevity introduced a customized algorithm for the accelerated transport and encoding of DNxHD files. [11]

Technical details

DNxHD is very similar to JPEG. Every frame is independent and consists of VLC-coded DCT coefficients.

The header consists of many parts and may include quantization tables and 2048 bits of user data. Each frame also has two GUIDs and timestamp. The frame header is packed into big-endian dwords. Actual frame data consists of packed macroblocks using a technique almost identical to JPEG: DC prediction and variable-length codes with run length encoding for other 63 coefficients. DC coefficient is not quantized.

The codec supports alpha channel information.

VC-3

The DNxHD codec was submitted to the SMPTE organization as the framework for the VC-3 family of standards. It was approved as SMPTE VC-3 after a two-year testing and validation process in 2008 and 2009: [1] [2] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

Material Exchange Format (MXF) is a container format for professional digital video and audio media defined by a set of SMPTE standards. A typical example of its use is for delivering advertisements to TV stations and tapeless archiving of broadcast TV programs. It is also used as part of the Digital Cinema Package for delivering movies to commercial theaters.

Dirac is an open and royalty-free video compression format, specification and system developed by BBC Research & Development. Schrödinger and dirac-research are open and royalty-free software implementations of Dirac. Dirac format aims to provide high-quality video compression for Ultra HDTV and beyond, and as such competes with existing formats such as H.264 and VC-1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FFmpeg</span> Multimedia framework

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Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other compression technologies, WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater for specialized content. After standardization by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), WMV version 9 was adapted for physical-delivery formats such as HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc and became known as VC-1. Microsoft also developed a digital container format called Advanced Systems Format to store video encoded by Windows Media Video.

SMPTE 421, informally known as VC-1, is a video coding format. Most of it was initially developed as Microsoft's proprietary video format Windows Media Video 9 in 2003. With some enhancements including the development of a new Advanced Profile, it was officially approved as a SMPTE standard on April 3, 2006. It was primarily marketed as a lower-complexity competitor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. After its development, several companies other than Microsoft asserted that they held patents that applied to the technology, including Panasonic, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xpress Pro</span>

Avid Xpress Pro was a non-linear video editing software aimed at professionals in the TV and movie industry. It was available for Microsoft Windows PCs and Apple Macintosh computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media Composer</span> Video editing software by Avid Technology

Avid Media Composer is a film and video editing software application or non-linear editing system (NLE) developed by Avid Technology. Initially released in 1989 on Macintosh II as an offline editing system, the application has since evolved to allow for both offline and online editing, including uncompressed standard definition (SD), high definition (HD), 2K and 4K editing and finishing. Since the 1990s, Media Composer has been the dominant non-linear editing system in the film and television industry, first on Macintosh and later on Windows. Avid NewsCutter, aimed at newsrooms, Avid Symphony, aimed at finishing, were all Avid products that were derived from Media Composer and share similar interfacing, as were Avid Xpress Pro and its predecessor Avid Xpress DV, which were aimed at the lower end of the market.

Avid Symphony is non-linear editing software aimed at professionals in the film and television industry. It is available for Microsoft Windows PCs and Apple Macintosh platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avid DS</span>

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x265 HEVC/H.265 encoder

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">CineAsset</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">CinePlayer</span>

CinePlayer is a software based media player used to review Digital Cinema Packages (DCP) without the need for a digital cinema server by Doremi Labs. CinePlayer can play back any DCP, not just those created by Doremi Mastering products. In addition to playing DCPs, CinePlayer can also playback JPEG2000 image sequences and many popular multimedia file types.

Avid DNxHR, which stands for "Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Resolution", is a lossy UHDTV post-production codec engineered for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. The codec was specifically developed for resolutions considered above FHD/1080p, including 2K, 4K and 8K resolution. DNxHD will continue to be used for HD resolutions.

References

  1. 1 2 Avid Technology, Inc. (2008-02-13). "Avid DNxHD is First Codec Compliant with SMPTE VC-3". Archived from the original on 2012-08-04. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  2. 1 2 "Avid DNxHD is First Codec Compliant with SMPTE VC-3". Archived from the original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  3. ↑ "Avid DNxHD Licensees". Archived from the original on August 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  4. ↑ "Avid Introduces DNxHR Codec for 2K, 4K, and UHD Editing". Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Wim Van den Broeck (2014-12-22). "Editing 4K and Beyond in Media Composer Now Available with Avid Resolution Independence Update". Avid Technology . Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  6. ↑ Bryant Frazer (2014-12-22). "Starting Today, You Can Finally Edit 4K Natively in the Avid". studiodaily. Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  7. ↑ Design, Blackmagic. "HyperDeck Shuttle - Blackmagic Design". blackmagic-design.com.
  8. ↑ "Commit message for dnxhd 10-bit support in FFmpeg git repository" . Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  9. ↑ FFmpeg version 0.5 [ permanent dead link ], Retrieved on 2009-08-09
  10. ↑ FFmpeg General documentation - Video codecs, Retrieved on 2009-08-09
  11. ↑ "NAB 2012: Brevity Emerges From Stealth Mode". Sports Video Group. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  12. ↑ SMPTE, Standards development and the SMPTE role (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-09, retrieved 2010-08-18
  13. ↑ "Numerical SMPTE Standards List" . Retrieved 2010-08-18.
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