Input a File
- Convert it to the chosen output format,
- Convert it to the chosen image format,
- Store the uncompressed video sequence on the file system or in memory, and
- Update the catalog information about this file.
ClearView not only imports video sequences; it also imports a list of video sequences, loads Objective Metric parameters, and creates a playlist of files already loaded into ClearView. 2 ways exist to import files – you can open them using the file import controls or you can drop a file directly onto the desktop (drag & drop).
If audio is turned on using the Configuration Settings pane and audio is included within the program wrapper, then ClearView will import the audio as well. Supported program wrappers include:
- MPEG-2 TS – with MPEG-2 Video and MPEG-1 Audio
- AVI
- WMV
- QuickTime
- MPEG-2 PS – with MPEG-2 Video and MPEG-1 Audio
Note: ClearView deciphers the file based on the file extension. You must use the correct extension. ClearView supports the extensions listed below.
Supported File Extensions
| Extension | File |
| .264, .h4v | MPEG-4/AVC, H.264 video file |
| .avi | Video for Windows – any CODEC loaded |
| .bmp | Bitmap |
| .cin | Cineon |
| .cvp | ClearView auto play list |
| .dib | Device Independent Bitmap – MS Windows |
| .dif | DIF Stream |
| .dps | DPS Velocity Video Editing Files |
| .dpx | DPX |
| .gen | AvidDS |
| .icb | TGA Still Image Variant |
| .jpg | JPEG Still Image |
| .jnd | Sarnoff's JND parameters |
| .js | Jaleo – SGI editor |
| .mpg. mpeg, .vob, .m1v, .m2v, .m2p, .m2t, .mpv | MPEG-2 |
| .mpg, .mpeg, .m1v | MPEG-1 |
| .m4v, .dat | MPEG-4 video part 2 |
| .mov | QuickTime Video – any CODEC loaded |
| .mp4 | MPEG-4 part 2 file; then H.264 file |
| .omf, .omfi | AVID file – any CODEC loaded |
| .pbm | Portable Bitmap |
| .pcx | Paintbrush Image |
| .pgm | Portable Gray map |
| .pic, .pct | Picture Still Image File |
| .pnm | Portable Any map Still Image |
| .ppm | Portable Pixel map Still Format |
| .psd | Photoshop |
| .psnr | ClearView PSNR parameters |
| .ras | Sun Microsystems Raster |
| .rgb | Raw RGB image file |
| .rgba | Raw RGB image with Alpha |
| .rtv | Video Toaster |
| .sgi | SGI still image |
| .spatial | ClearView SPATIAL parameters |
| .sun | Sun Raster Image |
| .temporal | ClearView TEMPORAL parameters |
| .tga | Targa Still |
| .tiff | Tagged Image Format |
| .txt | ClearView auto load list |
| .vda | TGA Image Variant |
| .vst | Targa Vista Image Format |
| .xmb, .xpm | X Windows |
| .yuv | Raw YUV image |
| .yuv10 | Raw YUV 10-bit format |
To import a file, either
- Browse to the file location using the Browse button in the File Import Pane
- Drag and Drop a file onto the ClearView GUI
File Import Pane
File Import Descriptions
| Filename | You can drop a file from the desktop, type in the full path and filename, or select Browse to find the file |
| Frames | Total number of still files found in folder or the total number of frames found in a streaming media file. This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Width | Width of the image (X-axis). This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Height | Height of the image (Y-axis). This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Bit depth | Depth of the image in bits (ex: BMP files are RGBA, but stored without the A so 24-bit depth). This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Codec | CODEC used to decipher this video sequence. Listed below under Color Format. This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Frame Rate | This is the frame rate of the video sequence if known (ex: if the frame rate is unknown, 0 is displayed). This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Bit Rate | This is the bit rate of the video sequence if known (ex: in the football sequence shown, the bit rate recorded was 1,194,393,600 / uncompressed HD). This is automatically filled in after reading the header of the selected file. |
| Sequence Name | This is the name of the video sequence that will appear in Play Mode and if a .CVO (ClearView Overlay) file does not already exist, it will be created with this text. |
| To Disk | When checked, import to the File System. When unchecked, import to Memory. |
| Fld Flip | Flip the top and bottom fields during import. |
| First | The first frame to be loaded from a sequence of files. You can use this to import part of the video sequence. |
| Last | The last frame to be loaded from a sequence of files. You can use this to import part of the video sequence. |
| Load | Initiates the load process. This converts the video sequence, and loads it to the file system or memory. |
| Abort | Aborts a load in process. You must re-browse after an abort. You cannot change parameters and then click Load again. |
The procedure to import a file differs slightly depending on the source. The following are possible scenarios.
Auto Load a sequence of files from an external source
When ClearView sees .TXT, it knows that this is a tab-delimitated file which tells it to load many video sequences. Otherwise, it tries to figure out what type of video sequence is in the file. In this case the user is batch loading many video clips. The video clips may be stored in one or many directories, and this one file will go out and bring them all into ClearView. Each video clip might be MPEG, BMP, RAW, etc.Note: There are many examples under www.videoclarity.com/support.html (Miscellaneous Support Files).
The fields in the .TXT file are as follows.
Auto Load Descriptions (.txt file)
| Filename | You can drop a file from the desktop, type in the full path and filename, or select Browse to find the file |
| Sequence Name | This is the name of the sequence that will appear in Play Mode (up to 35 characters) |
| Image Type | Unused, but must be present |
| First | The first frame to be loaded from a sequence of files or the first frame to be loaded from a streaming media file. (-1: means first) |
| Last | The last frame to be loaded from a sequence of files or the last frame to be loaded from a streaming media file. (-1: means last) |
| To Disk | When 1, import to the File System. When 0, import to Memory. |
Play a list of files for subjective testing
When ClearView sees the .CVP, it knows that this is a tab-delimitated file, which tells it how to playout many files.Note: Please remember that to play files you must already have loaded the video sequences into ClearView.
The fields in the .CVP file are as follows. Play List Descriptions (.cvp file)
| Sequence Name | This is the name of the sequence that will appear in Play Mode |
| First | The first frame to be loaded from a sequence of files or the first frame to be loaded from a streaming media file. (-1: means first) |
| Last | The last frame to be loaded from a sequence of files or the last frame to be loaded from a streaming media file. (-1: means last) |
| Repeat | Play this sequence X number of times. |
Import Objective Metric Log File
The objective metric log file includes:- Objective Metrics – JND, PSNR, SPATIAL, or TEMPORAL
- Clip Alignment Parameters
- Image and Video formats
- Video Sequence names and Library locations
If the library, video sequences, etc. exist, then
- the video sequences will be loaded,
- the clip alignment will be set, and
- the objective metrics will be restored (no need to recalculate).
Note: We store the JND, PSNR, SPATIAL, and TEMPORAL data in different files
The fields in the .JND, .PSNR, .SPATIAL, and .TEMPORAL files are as follows.
Objective Metric Log File Description
| Log File Type | This says whether the file has PSNR, SPATIAL or TEMPORAL data in it. |
| Library A Library B | These are the locations where the Video Sequences are stored
Note: if the Library does not exist, then an error message will be posted |
| Sequence A Sequence B | These are the Video Sequences to load.
Note: if they are not in the Library, then an error message will be posted |
| First Frame A, Last Frame A, Speed A, First Frame B, Last Frame B, Speed B |
These are the Clip Alignment Parameters for each sequence.
Note: if the first and last frame are not within the range, then an error message will be posted |
| Frame, Y, Chroma, Y Chroma | This is the header for the JND data. The data for each frame is recorded as Y values and the Chroma (CbCr combined) values. The last 2 columns are pass/fail against the threshold. |
| Frame, Y/G, Cb/B, Cr/R, Y/G, Cb/B, Cr/R, Y/G, Cb/B, Cr/R, Y/G, Cb/B, Cr/R | This is the header for everything that is not JND. It consists of the frame number and 12 more columns. The first set of 3 values are for Viewport A (if the data is No Reference), the second set of 3 values are for Viewport B (if the data is No Reference), the third set of 3 values are for the results (in No Reference this would be the subtraction; in PSNR, this would be the data), the fourth set of 3 values are pass/fail against a threshold. |
Load a series of files with the same extension.
Browse to the folder, select the first file, and click Open. ClearView will search the folder for all files with sequential file names.
Choose the first of a sequence of BMP files
Note: the File Import pane will display information about the file or files that have been selected. In this example, .bmp files are imported. However, this behavior is the same for any file type.
Load Headerless files
Load a Raw File
ClearView needs to know more about these files to load them correctly. Two header files have been defined to help ClearView to understand this data, in either case the description of the file is defined in Raw File Import Descriptions below
- .stills – this is used when the headerless data is 1 frame per file
- .hdr – this is used when all of the headerless data is in 1 file
Note 1: Many RAW formats can be loaded directly by ClearView. If ClearView cannot load the file properly, then you will need to create a .hdr or .stills.
Note 2: By definition, .YUV, .RAW, .RGB mean that no header was put on the file to describe its format. Examples of video sequences with headers include .AVI, .JPG, .MOV, .BMP, etc. There is a defined way to load these.
Note 3: If you have many .YUV files with the same header description, place them in 1 directory. Create a default.hdr, which will be used for all .YUV files in the directory. The Video Name should be omitted.
Note 4: You can either double click (or drag & drop) the headerless file, the .hdr or the .stills. In the case of default.hdr, you can only load the headerless file.
The .stills or .hdr file contains the following data. Some of the data is marked as Optional, and can be omitted. Regardless, you must start with % and the name.
Note: There are many examples under www.videoclarity.com/support.html (Miscellaneous Support Files).
Raw File Import Descriptions
| %Color Format |
YUV420 (Planar Y'CbCr in YV12/I420 order {MPEG} ), YUV411P (Planar Y'CbCr DV Order ), YUV422P (Planar Y'CbCr with 4:2:2 sub sampling {Sony}), YUV411 (Interleaved Y'CbCr {DV Order}), YUV422 (Interleaved 8 Bit {Y'CbCr UYVY format} ), YUV422_10 (Interleaved 10 Bit Y'CbCr v210 format {10 Bit Y'CbCr } ), YUVA444 (Interleaved 8 bit Y'CbCr Alpha {Adobe}), RGBA (32 Bit Interleaved RGB {Windows BMP/TGA} ), RGBAP (32 Bit Planar RGB {SGI/Sun Style}), ABGR (32 Bit Interleaved RGB {Tiff ordering}), ABGRP (32 Bit Planar RGB ), RGB (24 Bit Interleaved RGB {Windows BMP/TGA} ), RGBP (24 Bit Planar RGB {SGI/Sun Style}), BGR (24 Bit Interleaved RGB {Mac/SGI Ordering} ), BGRP (24 Bit Planar RGB ), RGB_10 (30 Bit DPX/Cineon), RGB_10LE (30 Bit little endian DPX/Cineon) |
| %Image Size | "Number of Rows" "Number of Columns" (ex: 486 720; note the 'x' cannot be used) |
| %Number of Fields per Image |
For 1080i data this is 2, for 720p, 1080p, this is 1, for NTSC/PAL this is always 2 regardless of telecine. (Optional) |
| %Number of Images | This number is calculated based on the number of video sequences within the folder. If you use a small number, then less will be read into memory, so set this number high. (Optional). |
| %Frames per second |
23 (23.98), 24 (Standard film ), 25 (PAL/25p/50i), 29 (29.97 -NTSC/29.97p/59.94i), 30 (NTSC NDF/30p/60i), 50 (50p), 59 (59.94p - for 720p), 60 (60p - for 720p) |
| %Header Size | If there is a header on the file, then place the size of it in bytes here. (Optional) |
| %Video Offset | If there is an additional offset before the start of the video that is not a header, then place the size of it in bytes here. (Optional) |
| %Video Alignment | To speed up disk access, the files are padded to the nearest block size. This is normally set to 512 for Windows. (Optional) |
| %Video Name | This is the name of the first still
image. The 000 must be present. If an extension is not named, then it will
search for .raw, .yuv, and .bin, in that order, before returning an error.
(Optional)
Note: The name of the first frame must contain "000" (e.g., VideoSequence000) and the second frame "001" (e.g., VideoSequence001), etc. This is because the software sorts the frames before loading them, and in Windows, the ordering would be 000, 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009, 010 (in other words "1" would actually be loaded as frame 100). Of course, you could use 0000 (4 zeros) if you have more than 999 frames. |
| %Timecode | This is the time code for the first video frame. It will run continuously from here. Given as hrs:min:sec;frames (Optional) |
| %Userbits | A query of the value of the user bits will return this value for all frames. (Optional; ClearView does< not currently extract the user bits.) |
| %Start Frame | This indicates the frame number of the
first frame in the video file. It is normally 0, unless you are using some
type of circular file as input. (Optional)
CAUTION: If you were writing the file when you asked ClearView to start importing it, then you may create a situation where the pointers formed a circle (used the same disk space over and over). This is very dangerous, as ClearView may read too fast or too slow, and it is asynchronous. |