Amped FIVE Update 38827: New Filter Presets, Project Snapshots, and Advancements to Convert DVR, Annotate, Compression Analysis, Advanced File Info, and Much More

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The latest Amped FIVE update delivers new improvements to accelerate your workflow. The new big addition of Filter Presets allows you to reduce manual steps. We’ve also expanded proprietary format decoding and introduced Project Snapshots. Moreover, you’ll find updates to Convert DVR, Annotate, Compression Analysis, Advanced File Info and much more!

Hi everyone! After a busy summer, here we are again with another Amped FIVE update. We are continuing to develop tools and functions designed to save you time and effort. In this release, we introduce Filter Presets. Before taking a look at that, along with many other improvements, let us quickly review a few new formats added to the powerful Amped Engine.

See the New Features in Action

Formats

As with every new release, the Amped Engine running inside Amped FIVE gets another update

Of particular note, we have added video and audio support for the Netvue .nvt3 format. Next, along with many other new formats, we have made a significant update to an older legacy type, the VISTA .vid format. 
Thank you to everyone who has submitted files for analysis and support to the codec team. With your help, we learned that these proprietary formats exist. Developing the forensic demuxers, extractors, and decoders helps everyone within the forensic video community.

Filter Presets

To put it very simply, a preset is a set of filter parameters that you can create, save, and then reuse when required.

Imagine a street camera that you obtain footage from all the time. You may always use the same set of parameters in specific filters. This is the sort of scenario where a preset is helpful.

Here we have the final tab in Correct Fisheye, with all the settings in each tab adjusted to correct the distortion. The challenge is that you may always need to do this. You may also need to share these settings with other projects or colleagues.

At the top right, you will now see some new buttons and a dropdown selector.

The buttons will display a tooltip when you hover over them. Here are their functions. 

After applying the selected filter parameters, we can now save these parameters as a Preset. When the Create Preset button is selected, you will be asked to give it a name.

In this example, we have given it the name “Main_Street_Camera”. This Preset is then saved in the Preset folder, within a subdirectory related to the filter. It is a standard JSON file that can be viewed if required. 

The next time a file is received from that same source and camera, after selecting the filter, the preset can be selected from the dropdown menu.

As you may now imagine, using the various Preset buttons allows you to fully manage and edit them, as and when required.

Important note: remember that if you share a Preset with a colleague, it must go into the same folder path on their system. 

The presets folder will be generated after the first Preset is saved. However, it may be necessary to create the filter subdirectory manually if the colleague has never saved a Preset related to that filter.

One last example, before we move on.
How often do you create a text filter with timing macros to evaluate video timing?

A new Timing Preset could be a huge “time” saver!!

We hope you find Presets to be a valuable new resource in combating the repetition of applying filter parameters.

Project Snapshot

The shortcut bar at the top of the application now has a new button.

A Project Snapshot is a copy of the Amped FIVE Project (.afp) with the date and time of the snapshot appended to the filename.

Saving several instances may assist you during large projects.

Here we have the main Project, named as CN1234, along with two Snapshots.

Whilst working on the project, you still have the option to Save, which overwrites the previous one.
Now, though, you can also save a snapshot of the complete project at that date and time, but this does not overwrite the main one. This means that you can go back to any previous snapshot state.

Convert DVR

When using Convert DVR to extract multimedia from proprietary containers, it is often necessary to create intermediate, temporary files.

The decision to retain these is under the Advanced tab. 

From this release, you will be able to easily identify them with the file extensions of:

• .vstream (for video)
• .astream (for audio)

You may also notice another change in the image above. There is a new option for Overwrite Existing File(s). The default is now to “Ask”. Consequently, you will now receive a message on what to do for each instance where a file is already present.

Next, we have a new dropdown option under the Audio tab.

The default for this new setting is “No”, but you may be asked under certain circumstances to place audio into an MP4 container, rather than as a WAV or AAC. This may be caused by limitations in a browser-based playback system or DEMS.

The last change in Convert DVR is a new option within Fallback Procedures.

Reminder, for those that may not have looked too deeply into Fallbacks, is that this is here as a “last resort” option. Fallback Procedures and Custom Commands may help to give you something, whilst you send the file to us for analysis and inclusion within Amped Engine.

The new dropdown for Force Input Video Format allows you to demux the input file as a specific format. 

Linked with the Codec options, this enables you to select the individual container and coding types for your file.  

Convert Frame Rate

Frame rate conversion is often required when synchronising or mixing various video sources with different frame rates. In this update, we have improved the encoding of the new data to ensure a Constant Frame Rate (CFR) is achieved.

Here we had a 24fps Variable Frame Rate (VFR) video. To synchronize this with a 30fps dashcam video, we must use Convert Frame Rate.

The new video was analyzed with Advanced File Info, and as you can see, it is now a Constant Frame Rate (CFR) within the MKV container. We will look at an improvement to loading newly written files into Advanced File Info a little later.

Range Selector

If you select a range of frames, you can create a lossless version of those frames in a new container.
There is no transcoding in this process. It simply copies the selected frame range to a new container format, starting at the previous I frame. 

From this release, you will be asked to name the file and to provide a location. The defaults can be applied by simply pressing “OK” in the dialog box.

Generate Report

Project Notes have previously only been inside the Amped FIVE Project. In this release, though, you can now select to include them in your report.

Selector Tool

Let us get back to filters and all of those where the Selector Tool is used.

There are now two extra buttons.

As you may have probably guessed, they allow you to copy X, Y, W, and H data from one filter and then paste the data into another.

This information not only works with the selector input, but also within Annotate. And the data can be shared between the two.

Annotate

Following on from the Selector Tool update above, we can now visualize the positional data and copy and paste it by using the buttons under the right-click context menu.

No need to use a pen and paper anymore, just copy and paste between filters.

Here are a few more Annotate updates:

• When Magnify or Spotlight is used, the corresponding Contrast and Brightness values are added to the Report data.
• When using Text, the “Fit Size to Text” option now considers alignment.
• When Keyframing, if you edit an existing keyframe, the path interpolation will be recalculated.
• New “Delete All but This” option under the right-click context menu for annotations.

Text Macro

The powerful Text Macros are available from within both the Add Text and Annotate filters. The new addition to the list is $HASHCODE.

It is important to highlight that this hash value is derived from the video loaded into the chain. It is not from any original proprietary file, and it is not from the video that may be written from this chain (because it’s a little tricky to calculate a value from a file not written yet).

When used after the Hash Code filter, the macro will display the calculated value of the loaded file. Alongside the value will be the algorithm used, and then the last part of the filename.

Unfortunately, we live in an age where video can be altered very easily, both maliciously and accidentally. Consequently, it can be difficult to ensure that others are analyzing the same video file. Having this presented within any written visual material may ensure that other analysts are working from the same source.

Player

There are currently three different timing controllers for video playback. 

They can be evaluated and selected by using the Playback Mode button.

When a data timestamp is able to be used for timing control, either originally or through the use of the Adjust Timestamp filter, a visual hint will now appear to tell you.

You then have the option to change the mode and assess the suitability of that timing source. 

Eyedropper

Many filters can use a selected color, either as a background or for a border, etc.
Next to the color selection buttons, we now have an eyedropper.

This can be used to select any color from within the loaded image or video. 

Rotate

Cellphone videos will often require rotating to be viewed correctly. Sometimes it may not be possible to easily identify what the rotation angle should be. Luckily, most authentic video files obtained directly from the phone will have rotation information within the metadata. Remember that metadata can be removed through file sharing or transcoding.

We have now added a button, directly inside the Rotate filter, to pick up this information and then apply the necessary rotation.

This works in the same way as the button inside the Aspect Ratio filter and is yet another small solution to save you time.

Writer Filters

Another quick and simple solution that saves you time is found here. We have added a new direct link to Advanced File Info within the right-click context menu of written files.

Whilst we are looking at Advanced File Info, let us detail a few new improvements there!

Advanced File Info

Within the RIFF Viewer, we have now enabled highlighting of all the data related to that entry.

The central separator bar can now also be moved horizontally to allow for better visualization of the data.

When the right-click “Go to Frame” option is available, we have now linked this with the individual chain.

If you have multiple chains, you no longer need to have that chain active within the viewer. It will link automatically, and the relevant chain will be shown in the viewer.

Hint: Remember that you can visualize multiple chains at the same time by adjusting the tabs in the Viewer.

Compression Analysis

The following updates affect both the Macroblocks filter, for MPEG1,2,4 etc, and also the Coding Tree Units filter for HEVC.

To help with better visibility of the different overlays, each one can now be given a different color.

This makes a huge difference in the evaluation of the data. 

Visualization improvements have also been made in the Quantization view.

Firstly, there are now two different modes to calculate the color map. 

• Frame-based mapping is computed on the individual frame, using the lowest and highest QP values. 
• Absolute will use the same mapping for all frames based on the full range of Quantization Parameters.

The visual presentation of the values has also been improved, with single values for each unit being shown.

Finally, we have improved the extraction of motion vector data for skipped Blocks and Units.

Video Loader

A small change to our handling of standard files with embedded subtitle timestamps. They will now be extracted from the file, and a log of the extraction will be created. This allows for direct analysis of the subtitle information. As we are talking about subtitles and timestamps…keep reading.

Load Timestamp / Load Subtitle

Some proprietary formats now have a standard subtitle and a data timestamp. When loading both a proprietary data timestamp and a standard subtitle, priority will now be given to the timestamp file. The subtitle may also contain time data, so remember that you can manually load this as a timestamp and then use the Input Format options to parse the time and date components.

Measure

Last, but by no means least, we have some updates to Measure 1d, 2d, and 3d.

Line colors can now be customized to allow better contrast against any background color. Along with this, ID labels can be applied to the lines.

Linked to this, you have control over what labels to show.

Other Updates and Changes

Here are some smaller improvements in this release.

• Library: Updated the FFMS library to version 5.0 
• Video Loader: improved error handling of decoding engines “FFMS” and “FFMS with Audio”
• Application: added an initial check of all the necessary files, and that they are available and not corrupted as soon as the software is loaded.
• GUI: improved support for Windows scaling feature.
• Filter Settings: removed “Show Input” and “Apply” arrows.
• Freeze Frame: increased reliability of the filter in certain circumstances.
• Audio Loader: improved the loading process for files that use a video container to store only audio streams.
• Projects: improved the removal of information from the current project when starting a new one.
• Calibrate Camera: changed the starting values to improve the convergence of the iterative method used in the Fisheye distortion type.
• Uninstaller: the license seat can now be deactivated while uninstalling manually if the Digital license scheme is in use.

Bug Fixes

Thanks to all the users who have reported bugs. They can be annoying, so if you find one, please reach out to us in support so we can fix it.

• Advanced File Info: fixed a bug causing an incorrect value in “pts duration (computed)” for some proprietary video formats.
• Advanced File Info: Fixed a bug that caused the application to become unresponsive when loaded files contained no data.
• Advanced File Info: fixed an issue with the text Color of a selected node and its background.
• Advanced File Info: when using the Open in FIVE button, the file will now be analyzed instead of directly loaded.
• Multiview: fixed a bug with user-selected padded background color.
• Loaders: resolved a bug preventing the playing of files when non-Latin characters were present in the file path.
• Batch Convert DVR: fixed a bug that caused files not to be placed correctly in output folders.
• Copy and Verify: fixed a bug that prevented loading files from within the tool for some configurations.
• Annotate: fixed a bug preventing multiple objects or a group of objects from being copied and pasted.
• Measure 3d: fixed a bug that could cause the text labels to appear far away from the corresponding line.
• Camera Calibration: fixed a bug that caused the software to crash when canceling a camera calibration process.
• Snapshot: fixed a bug that caused the Snapshot function to save the wrong monitor.
• Compare Original: fixed the error caused by the canvas size greater than 1 in camera calibration.
• FFMS: fixed a bug that caused the chroma upsampling option not to be applied correctly when set to Standard.
• GUI: fixed an issue where the undocked Tools panel failed to display content correctly after switching tools.
• Validation Tool: fixed a bug that caused the filter list file to be empty.

Don’t Delay – Update Today

If you have an active support plan, you can update straight away by going into the menu About > Check for Updates within Amped FIVE. If you need to renew your SMS plan, please contact us or one of our authorized partners. And remember that you can always manage your license and requests from the Amped Support Portal.