user interfaces and technology choices pete challinger edifis media technologies [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
10 Years Ago at Montreux…..
• Dedicated hardware– Versus “standard platforms”
• Pros and cons of user interfaces
• Revisit and update
Still the same
• Confusion about “Real-time”
• Asking silly questions
– “Is it hardware or software?”
• Variety of UI methods in use
– Not always the best ones for the app.
What’s Changed?
• PCs are faster and cheaper
• Fast enough to edit on
• A lot more WIMP interfaces
• We’ve upped the ante – HD, 2K+
PCs Editing Everywhere
• Standard platforms proven for editing
• PC approach is effective and low cost
• Comparatively few effects in long form
• Cuts/fades not computationally intensive
• Tendency to assume same is true of other functions
Reality is Different
• Effects are computationally intensive - but less common
• Color Correction is just as intensive - and very common
• Runs for program duration
• May be less suited for standard CPUs
How Hard can it be?
• Single secondary needs:• Pick color space (key) – 12+ multiplies
• Minimum of a hue rotate – 9 multiplies
• 2.07 Mpixels a frame (HD)
• 43 M multiplies a frame
– Add a glow - about 47 M ops
– A little defocus (12x12) about 895 M ops
CPUs are Getting Faster but...
• Add them up at 24p that’s 23 G ops/s
• 3G CPU does not do 3G ops /s
– but lets assume it did
• Stacking CPUs does not scale linearly
– but lets assume it did
• Still need 7 PCs for a simple real-time color corrector
Back in the real world
• For client attended sessions you need many layers – all at once. (we have 28)
• 2K worse and 4K much worse!
• Anything close to real time needs lots of CPUs – big and not low cost
• Be cynical about “real-time” unless you see lots of CPUs!
What is real time?
• While rolling the video
• Manipulate any or all parameters live
– with instant visual feedback and storage
• Doing this fast needs lots of multipliers (we have about 400)
Question Convention
• Trend to thinking a Post product should:
– run on a “standard hardware platform”
– run under a general purpose OS
– use a WIMP based UI
Pros, Cons & Illusions
• Perception is a standard platform offers:
– Low cost to build
– Extensible/easy to expand
– Standard net connect
– Better/more flexible UI
Reality
– Not always cheap
• many CPUs, custom plug in cards
– Limited expansion
• Fixed architecture and bus speeds
– Net connect depends on the silicon
• Same chips available to both approaches
– UI is independent of architecture
Better Alternatives?
• Hardware designed for the task
• “Guts” in FPGAs
• As much speed as you like
• Easily extended
• Compact and cost effective
User Interfaces
• Not always selected for the right reasons
– WIMP interface because it’s a PC…
– Mice great for some things
• but lousy for others
– Most people have several fingers and often more than one hand
Audio Console Interfaces
• Big consoles moved to GUIs
• Now they’re back to big control surfaces
• Slower systems could not have kept up
• Not the first time an interface was adopted to hide limitations
Live Production Interfaces
• Large switcher have large panels
• Need to be fast and responsive
• Won’t be cutting Superbowl with a mouse
• (Unless the FCC gets really nasty!)
Knobs are Wonderful Things
• Great for interactive analog settings
• Feedback loop via eye brain and fingers
• Most people can control many of them
• But only as long as the underlying system is fast enough
Knobs not always the answer
• A widely adopted drawing interface you’ve all used…….
Interface Must Suit Function
• And be fast enough to feel live• Knobs/trackballs for analog adjust or scrub
• Real buttons for frequently used selected functions
• Pen and tablet for drawing
• WIMP for the timelines & GUI
The Bottom Line
• Box & UI themselves don’t matter• How much creative work can the operator
pump out in a given time?
• Are the box and the operator responsive enough for client attended sessions?
• What is the total cost of ownership of the box and surrounding peripherals?
– Which adds up to “can we make money”?
Questions/Follow [email protected]