MediaLooks Playout Studio was upgraded to version 1.1.0.4 and now supports streaming to Windows Media Services. We have also integrated the latest version of the Text & Graphics Overlay filter in this release.

Feedback about this application is very welcome.

A new, completely rewritten version of the Audio Mixer filter is now available for download.

We have released our MPEG-2 TS Splitter - a DirectShow filter for demultiplexing a transport stream, read either from file, or received via UDP.

Our DV Decoder is now out of beta. The DirectShow filter supports anything from DV to DVCPRO HD and is capable of using up to 8 CPUs for decoding.

The decoder will be part of the upcoming DV/DVCPRO HD SDK, featuring a DV Splitter, an MXF Demultiplexer and a DV Encoder.

The new SDK is already being deployed in ivsEdits, a new non-linear editing system by our partner IVS.

Gateway is giving away a $4,500 high-performance PC setup for the best user-submitted video. The rules are: 1) video should be no more than 3 minutes long; 2) a Holstein cow (real or fake) must be in the video. Oh, and you are not allowed to hurt any people or animals.

The videos need to be uploaded to a YouTube group. YouTube, given the correct approach and a bit of luck, can be a great marketing tool. For example, the Dove Evolution video was accessed over 5 million times.

For details on the contest please click here.

It seems that Silverlight, a new web streaming technology from Microsoft, will finally allow us to provide customers with video solutions for the web - something that was not really possible with just Windows Media.

Basically, with Silverlight we can build YouTube-like web sites hosted both on Linux and Windows, and viewable on both Windows and Mac.

Sean Alexander comments on this in the June/July edition of Streaming Media: “We’re admitting that we kind of screwed up. We didn’t have the true cross-platform support and interactivity. We’re now going after that very aggressively.” Sean also emphasizes Silverlight’s ability to do true streaming, as opposed to progressive download: “People sometimes only watch twenty seconds of a clip, but they end up downloading the whole thing. That’s not very efficient in terms of user experience and bandwidth usage. Users should be able to go to whatever part in the video they want to watch without having to wait for the entire thing to download.”

For more information please take a look at the wiki page and shoot us an email if you are interested.

We are now demoing our DeckLink SDK - a set of components for creating applications that are using DeckLink SD & HD boards from Blackmagic Design. The components that are part of the new SDK have been around for a while, their design is now pretty much settled, also the quality is pretty good - we are now looking for the best way to package them into an SDK so that the value is optimized.

Pricing for the SDK has not been set, we will be gathering feedback from customers to determine what that should be. So, if you are interested, please send in your feedback.

Our Playout component, previously in beta, has now been released. Basically, the Playout is the implementation of our MultiGraph Technology for seamless file playback. The component is now also available as a standard DirectShow filter (see Playlist Source).

The key feature of the technology is the ability to switch files without a delay or black flash. I.e. play back multiple files as if it were one file. It is also possible to seek through the playlist as if it were a single file.

The files can be of different resolution, file format, audio/video format and have different frame rate. Files can be added, removed or re-ordered in the playlist during playback. The playlist itself can be managed by a simple XML file.

It is possible to define cue in and cue out positions for each file in the playlist – i.e. play only segments of certain files, not full files.

The output from the component can be easily sent to a DeckLink board (see DeckLink Sink) or to an external video encoding application (such as Windows Media Encoder).

Text & Graphics Overlay can be used for overlays and our QuickTime Source – for support of MOV files.

Similarly to our Video Mixer Object, the Playout component can be used from any COM-enabled development environment such as .NET, Delphi, Borland or VB6. Samples will be provided by request.

Our QuickTime Source has improved playback performance for HD movies up to 35%. The average time for decoding a frame of an HD 1920×1080 30p dropped down from 46 ms to 29 ms. Download link is available on the wiki page.

NAT Expo to take place in Moscow on 19-22 November, 2007. I guess it is not as hot as IBC – but might be interesting if you are targeting the Russian market.

MediaLooks will be attending the IBC event this year in Amsterdam (6-11 September). If you would like to meet up, please call +7-903-734-1575, Andrew Okunev. Or email looks@medialooks.com.

Beta of our new DV Splitter DirectShow filter is now available for download.

In addition to DV25, the splitter supports DV50 and DV100 formats.

A new feature of the QuickTime DirectShow Source filter is support for multichannel 32-bit audio output. Other changes include minor fixes and a fixed bug with first sample time after seeking.

See also: previous updates.

Simply booting up a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop can tell people sniffing wireless network traffic a lot about your computer and about you. Soon after a computer powers up, it starts looking for wireless networks and network services. Even if the wireless hardware is then shut-off, a snoop may already have caught interesting data. Much more information can be plucked out of the air if the computer is connected to an access point, in particular an access point without security. There are many tools that let anyone listen in on wireless network traffic. These tools can capture information such as usernames and passwords for email accounts and instant-message tools as well as data entered into unsecured Web sites. At the annual Defcon hacker gathering, a ‘wall of sheep’ always lists captured login credentials.

Errata Security has developed another network sniffer that looks for traffic using 25 protocols, including those for the popular instant-message clients as well as DHCP, SMNP, DNS and HTTP. This means the sniffer will capture requests for network addresses, network management tools, Web sites queries, Web traffic and more. “You don’t realise how much you’re making public, so I wrote a tool that tells you,” said Robert Graham, Errata Security’s chief executive. The tool will soon be released publicly on the Black Hat Web site. Anyone with a wireless card will be able to run it, Graham said. Errata Security also plans to release the source code on its Web site.

He spent almost 7 days playing online games. A 26 year old man from China died after engaging in a 7 day online gaming marathon. The 330 pound 26 year old collapsed after spending almost all the seven days playing online games. China has 20 million Internet users, 2.6 million of them are considered addicts.