Hippotizer is continuously being developed and improved; please read these notes carefully to understand the changes and limitations with each version.
Software Assurance Release Date: 2-Feb-2020.
Software Assurance is changing as of 4.6.0 to include the number of included feature releases. Please see the Software Assurance Policy section of this manual for more information.
All V4 and V4+ systems with Software Assurance valid as of 02-Feb-2020 can install 4.6.3.
Software Assurance determines what version of Hippotizer will install and run on a system. Once installed, software will continue to function indefinitely.
Building on the success of Hippotizer Version 4.6, Green Hippo proudly releases 4.6.3. Fixing many of the reported issues found in 4.6.2, this new version also adds key new features to TimelinePlus further strengthening Hippotizer’s Design -> Prepare -> Deliver workflow.
Features added in 4.6.3
- Keyframe Selection Types The timeline plus properties list now has grouped filtering by data type when multiple keyframes are selected.
- Improved speed performance of timeline plus interface
Functionality Changes In 4.6.3
- Added RGBX colour space to PixelMapperV4 component, where X is a user-defined channel.
- Introduced support for MK2 hardware
Fixes in 4.6.3
- Improved stability when importing 4.5.X and 4.6.X exports into timeline plus.
- Improved stability when using presets inside timeline plus.
- Fixed an issue when jumping timecode will play a frame from timeline it was not supposed to.
- Fixed an issue with P3 connectivity
- Fixed an issue with GPU restrictions not saving correctly in Output Manager
- Fixed an issue with Colour Blocks not always using the correct network
- Beatbridge speaker icons will no longer appear when BeatBridge component is not loaded into the show.
- Fixed presets disappearing when using Drag’n‘drop preset functionality to create a new preset
- Updating a preset by dragging now updates the preset correctly.
- Stopped known engine crashes when encoding content at Lossless 4:4:4
- Command Pins in Timeline+ now accurately respond to different commands type settings.
- Fixed an engine crash when deleting keyframes while scrubbing tool is active.
- Fixed properties list incorrectly showing as blank after track selection.
Known issues in 4.6.3
Below is a list of issues that have been reported in 4.6.2 and have not been fixed in 4.6.3.
- Intermittent problem shutting down the Engine may cause process to hang.
- Can not upload media located on a Network drive using remote ZooKeeper.
- Deleting tracks in a timeline does not remove the programmed keyframes as well.
- Having the same index layers on networked systems causes pin values to have incorrect values.
- Selecting an audio device for multiple mixes causes ZooKeeper to crash.
- Relays list is ordered incorrectly when using high numbers of mixes and viewports.
- Legacy folder for older version of Hippotizer still exists in installation directory.
- ZooKeeper crashes when shutting down after switching between remote hosts.
- Timeline+ source track may show ‘Media Offline’ incorrectly.
- Preview live edits does not correctly display when using the Entry field values to create keyframes.
- Renaming components other than the engine in the configuration page does not work.
- When using Watchfolders unsupported content resolutions can be imported without warning.
- NDI source quality is degraded.
- Timeline+ tracks dont expand correctly when selecting ‘All’ category.
- Pixelmapper sometimes fails to show properties correctly.
- Pause on Dark applied to presets may recall in a playing state at 0 level.
- Large actions in the Timeline+ UI can cause a Zookeeper crash
- Resetting a Timeline+ component can cause Presets to no longer be dropped onto timeline until an engine restart happens
- Virtualized Viewports gets enabled on startup with more than 4 viewports even if the user has previously disabled the feature
- Virtualized Viewport settings not included in output manager export
- Windowed mode configurations will not always apply on output manager import until an engine restart has occurred
- Renaming the PC in Windows settings ater Hippotizer installation crashes the engine (Revert to original name for fix).
Deprecation Notice
Timeline Component As of 4.6.0 the Timeline component will no longer be supported by future developments.
Any timeline exports can be imported into the new Timeline+ component with minimal programming changes required for identical playback. The component will be completely removed from the
Hippotizer software as of 4.7.0 and any future shows should transfer to the Timeline+ component for ongoing support.
Multicontroller Component: Automation Control Sources Instead of using a control source per automation protocol, we now include one automation reader
control source as replacement for all the protocols. This automation control source will replace any of the individual control sources included in the following:
- Test Data
- GHAP
- DEAP
- PosiStageNet
- Kinesys
- PRG Automation
- StageTech SiMotion
- Artnet
- LevDev360
- PT5232
- BlackTrax
- NMEA (GPS)
Future programming should use the automation reader as a control source for future support. Protocols not included in the list will remain as individual control sources and all others will be contained in the automation reader from Hippotizer version 4.7.0.
Announcement: DMX Outpoint Announcement
In order to cater for increasingly longer clips being loaded into media servers the OutPoint pin used in the media player uses a 24-bit encoder. The max Outpoint length for this encoder is approximately 6 days, therefore it is easy to skip beyond the end of a layer clip. It is advised to use the ultra-fine control on a console to control the outpoint to give users control frame by frame. A document explaining this pins functionality and implementation can be found on the Hippotizer support site.
The complete article can be read here: https://support.green-hippo.com/article/73-outpoint-control-via-dmx-explained
Current DMX Personalities
| Recommended Hippo Personality | Also will work | Tested MA2 personality | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layer | 4.6 Layer | 4.5.2 Layer | Included* 4.6 Layer | 4.4 does not include Zoom X/Y |
| Layer Presets | 4.6 Layer Presets | 4.5.2 Layer Presets | Included* 4.6 Layer Presets | |
| Mix | 4.6 Mix | 4.5 Mix | Included* 4.6 Mix | 4.4 does not include FX 3/4 |
| Mix Presets | 4.6 Mix Presets | 4.5 Mix Presets | Included* 4.5 Mix Presets | |
| Viewport | 4.6 Viewport | 4.5 Viewport | Included* 4.6 Viewport | 4.4 does not work |
| SHAPE Viewport | 4.6 Shape Viewport | .. | .. | 4.5 Shape Viewport does not work |
| SHAPE Viewport Presets | .. | .. | .. | Call us |
| Timeline | Timeline | Timeline | Timeline | No changes |
| TimelinePlus | TimelinePlus | .. | 4.6 TimelinePlus | .. |
| Layer Performance | 4.6 Layer Lite | Layer Lite |
*Included in the Hippotizer installer and software download site.
Installation Notes
- When moving between feature version (eg. 4.3 to 4.4) always uninstall the previous version before installing new software.
- The minimum supported Datapath capture driver has changed. At least version 7.19.4 must be installed.
- Datapath drivers are now installed as part of the installer. Select yes when prompted to install them.
- 4.3 Is the minimum version of software supported by V4+ hardware .
- From version 4.2 Onward the Hippotizer data is stored in new locations to comply with Microsoft Windows security guidelines.
- The binaries (executable files) are stored in: C:\Program Files\GreenHippo\HippotizerV4
- The settings are stored in: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\GreenHippo\4_5
- The Media folder by default on Portamus and Play is: C:\ProgramData\GreenHippo\MediaV4
- The Media folder by default on all other V4 and V4+ systems is D:\MediaV4
SHAPE Project file compatibility
- Project files created in SHAPE 4.5.0 are compatible with newer 4.5 versions. (They are not backwards compatible)
- Project files created in SHAPE 4.4 are compatible with SHAPE 4.5
- Project files created in SHAPE 4.3 are compatible with SHAPE 4.5
- Project files created in SHAPE 4.3 are compatible with SHAPE 4.3.1.
- Project files created in SHAPE 4.2 or 4.2.1 are compatible with SHAPE 4.3.1
- Project files created or edited in SHAPE 4.3.1 will not load in older versions of SHAPE.
Current Codec Support
Resolution restrictions by Codec:
| Codec | Width | Height | Max Height | Max Width | Min Height | Min Width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FlexRes Performance | Divisible by 4 | Divisible by 4 | 16,384 | 16,384 | 64 | 64 |
| FlexRes Quality (All Colour spaces) | Divisible by 4 | Divisible by 4 | 16,384 | 16,384 | 64 | 64 |
| FlexRes Lossless 4:2:0 | Divisible by 4 | Divisible by 4 | 16,384 | 16,384 | 64 | 64 |
| FlexRes Lossless 4:2:2 | Divisible by 4 | Any | 16,384 | 16,384 | 64 | 64 |
| FlexRes Lossless 4:4:4 | Divisible by 4 | Any | 16,384 | 16,384 | 64 | 64 |
Content that does not fit within these restrictions can still be encoded through resizing.
Version 4.2.1 Removes Support for MPEG-2 Playback; please re-encode all content to FlexRes.
Video File Types
The following codecs and wrappers have been tested for their compatibility with Hippotizer’s built in transcoding system.
On encode, the content is converted to the FlexRes codec chosen. Encoding interlaced content is not supported.
| Codec | Extension | Status |
| Mpeg2 | .mpg | Does Not Work |
| Mpeg2 | .m2v | Works |
| Mpeg4 | .mp4 | Works |
| Mpeg4 | .m4v | Does Not Work |
| ProRes422 | .mov | Works |
| ProRes420 | .mov | Works |
| ProRes444 | .mov | Works* |
| ProRes4444 | .mov | Works* |
| FlexRes | .fxr | Works |
| AVI | .avi | Works |
| Animation RGB | .mov | Works |
| Animation RGB + Alpha | .mov | Works |
| h.264 | varies | Works |
| HAP | .mov | Works** |
Image File Types
| Codec | Extension | Status |
| Tiff | .tiff | Works |
| PNG | .png | Works |
| Jpeg | .jpg | Works |
| Targa | .tga | Works |
Image Sequences
| Codec | Extension | Status |
| Tiff | .tiff | Works |
| PNG | .png | Works |
| Jpeg | .jpg | Works |
| Targa | .tga | Works |
Audio Encoding
| Codec | Channels | bit depth | Status |
| Wav | 1 | 16b | Works |
| Wav | 2 | 16b | Works |
| Wav | 4 | 16b | Works |
| Wav | 6 | 16b | Works |
| Wav | 8 | 16b | Works |
| Wav | 2 | 24b | Works |
| Wav | 2 | 32b | Works |
| .mp3 | Any | Any | Does Not Work |
| .aif | Any | Any | Does Not Work |
| .mpa | Any | Any | Does Not Work |
| .wma | Any | Any | Does Not Work |
Notes
- *Content encoded from ProRes 444 may show a slight colour shift compared to the original due to an issue in the 3rd party media encoder. The ProRes 444 family also has limited support in Windows so it is best to test the specific codec and resolution when establishing a content workflow.
- **As of Version 4.2, HAP content can be ingested without transcode.
Martin P3-PC compatibility
Hippotizer can send video directly to the Martin P3-PC application running on the same machine, this requires a P3 Dongle.
The version of P3-PC and Hippotizer is important to ensure correct operation:
| Hippotizer Version | P3-PC Version |
| 4.1 | 4.2 |
| 4.2 – 4.2.2 | 4.2.2 |
| 4.3 | 4.3.1 |
| 4.3.1 – 4.5.3 | 4.3.1 |
Current CITP Support
CITP (Capture Interface Transport Protocol) is an open network protocol to allow visualisation software and lighting desks to exchange thumbnails and streaming previews from media servers. Green Hippo # works to ensure CITP is working correctly with as many 3rd party applications as possible. Here is a list of currently tested systems against this version.
| Desk or Software | Version Tested | Thumbnail Exchange | Streaming Previews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand MA2 | 3.3.4.3 | Works | Works |
| MA-3D | 3.3.4.3 | N/A | Works |
| MSD | 3.2.2.3 | N/A | Works – Inverted about Y Axis |
| Martin M-PC | 3.50.645.641 | Works | N/A |
| Capture Argo | 21.1.30 | N/A | Works |
| Hog 4 | 3.2.5 (Beta) | Works | N/A |
| Avolites | Titan (9/10) | Works | N/A |
| WYSIWYG | R38 | N/A | Does not Work |
| Chamsys | 1.7.8.1 | N/A | Works |
Current Datapath Drivers
- If using Dual DVI, Dual SDI or AV-SDI capture cards, we recommend Datapath Driver version 17.19.4
- If using Quad SDI and Dual DP capture cards we recommend Datapath Driver version 17.19.4
Capture drivers are now included with the installer.
When installing Hippotizer software you will be asked if capture card(s) are fitted. If yes, the installer will automatically deploy the correct drivers.
If a copy of the driver installer is needed, it will be placed on the Hippotizer at this location:
C:\Program Files\GreenHippo\HippotizerV4\ThirdParty\Datapath_Vision_V7.19.4
Current Display Drivers
Hippotizer Media servers use one of several type of graphics card, which are tested with current and former display drivers.
| V4 System | Driver |
|---|---|
| V4 Taiga (All Types) | FirePro 15.201 |
| V4 Boreal (All Types except Boreal DVI) | FirePro 15.201 |
| V4 Boreal DVI-SL | Radeon 15.7.1 |
| V4 Karst SDI or DP | Firepro 15.201 |
| V4 Karst DVI | Radeon 15.7.1 |
| V4 Amba (S/N: 240037 or Greater) | Fire Pro 15.201 |
| V4 Amba (S/N: 240000 – 240036 ) | Radeon 15.7.1 |
V4 Drivers are available for download here: Download Site
| V4+ System | Driver | Secondary Driver |
|---|---|---|
| V4 Tierra+ | Nvidia Quadro 431.94 | |
| V4 Taiga+ SDI Genlock | Radeon Pro 17 Q4.1 | Nvidia Quadro 390.65 |
| V4 Taiga+ | Radeon Pro 19.Q4.1 * | Nvidia Quadro 390.65 |
| V4 Montane+ | Nvidia 419.67 | |
| V4 Montane+ RTX | Nvidia 419.67 | |
| V4 Boreal+ SDI Genlock | Radeon Pro 17 Q4.1 * | |
| V4 Boreal+ | Radeon Pro 19.Q4.1 * | |
| V4 Karst+ SDI | Radeon Pro 17 Q4.1 | |
| V4 Karst+ DP | Radeon Pro 19.Q4.1 | |
| V4 Karst+ DVI | Radeon 17.7.2 | |
| V4 Karst+ DVI (S/N: 430143, Karst_Plus_100052 or later) | Radeon 19.6.2 | |
| V4 Amba+ | Radeon 17.10.1 | |
| V4 Amba+ (S/N: 420090, Amba_Plus_100027 or later) | Radeon 19.6.2 | |
| V4 Nevis+ | Radeon Adrenaline 19.40.01.18 |
- * Please contact support for GPU firmware/driver update procedures as these models have hardware specific requirements.
V4 Drivers are available for download here: Download Site
| V4+ MK2 System | Driver |
|---|---|
| Amba V4+ MK2 | Radeon 17.11.4 |
| Karst V4+ MK2 | Quadro RTX 471.11 |
| Mayon V4+ MK2 | Radeon Pro 21.Q1.2 |
| Boreal+ MK2 | Quadro RTX 471.11 |
| Tierra+ MK2 | Quadro RTX 471.11 |
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