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pdplayer
Pdplayer is an advanced image-sequence player supporting multi-layered sequence playback.
What is Pdplayer?
Pdplayer is a professional image sequence player and viewer for the 3D, CG and VFX industry, created by Asynthetic and distributed by Chaos Software. You can also see it described as a RAM player or a flipbook.
The most basic use of Pdplayer is to play back image sequences such as img_0001.tga, img_0002.tga, ..., img_00158.tga, although it can do a great deal more than that. Please browse through the Features for more information about Pdplayer's abilities.
Pdplayer Features
Viewing Sequences
- • Multiple ways to open a sequence: double click, Open With » Pdplayer, drag and drop, copy and paste, File » Add Layer, File » Add Recent
- • Industry standard file format support including EXR, HDR, DPX, CIN, TGA, SGI, IFF, PIC, VRIMG and more
- • RED R3D support
- • Variable framerate playback
- • Horizontal and vertical flip
- • Depth channel
- • Viewing a single channel
- • Global zoom, pan and pixel aspect
- • Mask and safe area
- • Timecode/frame indicator modes
- • Locating a frame in Windows Explorer
Stereoscopic Playback
- • Option to detect matching footage and automatically build a stereoscopic composition
- • Anaglyph, interlaced and checkerboard output
- • Support for stereoscopic EXR (SXR) files
Image Layers and Channels
- • Support for EXR and VRIMG image layers
- • Per-layer image channel support including alpha, luma and depth
Color
- • Support for 1D and 3D lookup tables (LUT)
- • Exposure and soft clip controls for high dynamic range images
- • Color controls including lift, gamma, gain, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation
- • Adjustment Layer
Comparing Sequences
- • Toggle upper layer (V)
- • Difference blend
- • Side by side (Ctrl+Shift+Left, Right)
- • Layer crop rectangle (can approximate A/B split)
Layers
- • Layered sequence playback
- • Infinite workspace
- • Global and per-layer aspect ratio
- • Layer flip, scale, position and crop
- • Layer blending modes including normal, add, multiply, screen and difference
- • Alpha channel source
- • Layer opacity, including fade in and fade out
Caching
- • Layer-based cache
- • Realtime interactions
- • Full, half and quarter cache resolution
- • Preloading layers
- • Clear cache, Remove layer from cache
- • Direct disk playback (Layer » Disable Caching)
- • 64 bit (x64) version, not limited to 2 GB or 4 GB
Copy and Paste
- • Copy/paste layer, frame, copy from/to explorer
- • Clipboard Layer
- • Copy/paste color corrections
- • Copy layer to clipboard as Nuke script
Saving and Exporting
- • Ability to save a composition
- • Ability to save a frame, screen, mask
- • Export composition or single layer as sequence or AVI/Quicktime movie
Annotation and Collaboration
- • Brush Layer
- • Brush Sequence Layer
- • Text Layer
- • E-mail frame/screen
- • Built-in HTTP server for remote collaboration
Integration
- • Framebuffer Layer
- • Extensive command line support
- • Export composition as After Effects .jsx, Nuke .nk, Pdplayer .pdpcmd
- • Copy layer to clipboard as Nuke script
External Output
- • Bluefish444
- • Blackmagic Decklink
- • NewTek VT
- • Firewire/IEEE1394
- • Secondary/tertiary display
On-Set Grading and Monitoring
- • Live video layer from any DirectShow video input
- • Primary and secondary color key
Misc Product Info
Do you offer floating (network) licenses?
Yes, we do offer floating licenses out of the box. Once you have a license for a specific machine, you can run the license server on it and then use Pdplayer anywhere on the local network. See Support, Pricing and Licensing for more information.
Is there a Mac or Linux version?
Not yet. Work on the Linux version is underway, and a beta is expected to be available within a few months. A Mac OS X version will follow shortly thereafter.
Does Pdplayer support multiple CPU cores?
Yes, it does. The more cores you have, the better.
Does Pdplayer support more than 2 GB (4 GB) of RAM?
The 64 bit version supports more than 4 GB. The 32 bit version supports 4 GB when run under a 64 bit version of Windows, 2 GB otherwise.
Does Pdplayer take advantage of GPU acceleration?
No, Pdplayer's pixel engine is completely CPU-based. Modern multicore CPUs provide enough computing power for its needs. One advantage of this decision is that Pdplayer does not require a powerful GPU and can run well on most notebook computers.
Does Pdplayer support 3D lookup tables (LUT)?
Pdplayer 1.0.1.36 does. See What's New in Pdplayer 1.0.1.36 for more information.
Why do my EXR (TIFF, RPF, VRIMG...) images appear washed out?
By default, Pdplayer assumes that floating point values are linear (have a gamma of 1.0). If your images are sRGB (or have a gamma of 2.2), pick sRGB from the Color Space chooser in the Color tab of the property panel.
Why don't my AVI or Quicktime movies load?
The most likely reason is that you are using the 64 bit version of Pdplayer. Under 64 bit Windows, there is a strict separation between 64 and 32 bit code, and 64 bit applications are not allowed to use 32 bit DLLs. Most AVI and DirectShow codecs are 32 bit, and Apple has not released a 64 bit version of Quicktime at all. As a result, Pdplayer 64 cannot open or export Quicktime and compressed AVI files.
Does Pdplayer support MPEG (MPEG-2, DV...) files?
Pdplayer can open any file that is recognized by DirectShow, but the quality and performance may vary widely from machine to machine as it's determined by the third-party codecs in use.
Can Pdplayer show alternate EXR or VRIMG layers?
Pdplayer 1.0.2 can. See What's New in Pdplayer 1.0.2 for more information.
Will Aja Xena be supported?
We cannot commit to Aja Xena support at this time, but we haven't ruled it out, either.
Does Pdplayer have command line options?
Hundreds. See Section X of the manual or the file pdplayer.cmdline.txt in the installation directory.
Is Pdplayer's composition format documented? Is there a text-based format that can be edited?
Pdplayer's composition format, pdpcomp, is binary, not documented, and changes between versions. You can use File » Export Composition as to export a composition to Pdplayer's pdpcmd format, which is a simple text file and can be edited.
How can we create a Pdplayer composition from a script?
Generate a pdpcmd file that describes the composition. A pdpcmd file is a sequence of Pdplayer command line options. The easiest way to get started is to create a similar composition in Pdplayer, then use File » Export Composition as and create a pdpcmd file for it, which you can use as a template.
Can Pdplayer export to Combustion, Fusion, Toxik...?
Not yet. If you are proficient in the scripting language of your compositing application, you can export to pdpcmd from Pdplayer and then write an import script. We will help in any way we can.
How can I open a sequence that is numbered in a way Pdplayer does not recognize, such as image.1.tga or frame_1_scene_01_shot_05.tga?
Drag the folder containing the sequence from Windows Explorer onto the Pdplayer window.
How can I convert a VRIMG sequence to an AVI/Quicktime movie?
Open the sequence in Pdplayer and use File » Save Layer as.
Why does my Pdplayer composition look slightly different in Nuke?
To meet its real time constraints, Pdplayer's compositing engine operates in 8 bit sRGB. Nuke works in linear floating point and produces results that are physically correct.
Why is the application called Pdplayer, when it is obviously more than just a player?
The naming reflects our focus on making Pdplayer a fast and convenient tool for sequence playback and review.
Why use Pdplayer instead of a full-featured compositing application?
For sequence reviews, presentations, and so on, you need a tool that starts instantly, loads fast, and is simple. Most compositing programs cannot flip through frames the way Pdplayer can because they are optimized for different tasks.
Pdplayer requires Windows XP SP2 or Vista, 32 or 64 bit. It places no requirements on the video card. There are no fixed CPU and RAM requirements; these depend on the specific tasks. For simple PAL or NTSC playback, a 1.5 GHz CPU and 512 Mb or 1 GB RAM may suffice. Working in larger resolutions and with more layers increases the CPU requirements. Increasing the amount of RAM allows one to fit more frames into memory. Increasing the hard disk speed allows one to load sequences faster, or, with a sufficiently fast RAID array, even play back directly from disk (use Layer » Disable Caching for that.)
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