Technical Specifications

Input formats:

Video Input

Multiple video formats (all those supported by mplayer)
External window capture at any framerate
Remote stream capture (using live.com codecs for mplayer)
LiVES backup files (.lv1 lossless)
DVD and VCD selections (via mplayer decoder)
Multiple/single image (any format supported by ImageMagick)
Yuv4mpeg video stream
frei0r/Weed generator input (e.g. libvisual audioreactive effects) for real time frame generation
LiVES set format (multiple clips, near instant reloading)
Firewire camera
v4l2 Webcam/TV card (/dev/video)
LiVES -> LiVES stream input.
Support for non-realtime frame and batch generators

Audio Input

mp3, ogg vorbis, mod (tracker), xm (tracker), wav
CD track audio
external audio sources via jack or pulseaudio
Video playback during audio recording

Processing:

Typical maximum data rate: 350Mb/s (dual core AMD64, 2.2 GHz, 1024MB RAM)
Realtime effect plugins (open source Weed plugin system), up to 64 realtime effects can be applied simultaneously to each frame. Full support for frei0r plugins.
Rendered effect plugins (open source RFX system). More than 40 built-in effects (via ImageMagick or any external binary).
Internal accurate (to 8 dp) video resampler. Audio can also be quickly resampled (rate/channels/signedness/endianness)
Real time network control via OSC (maximum 4 ms latency during playback)
O/S level access to video frames and audio
Internal format is jpeg or png for video, raw pcm for audio. Png alpha channel is supported.
Variable speed playback (forwards and reverse) for both video and audio; clip frame rate and display rate can be set independently, as can audio rate/velocity
Resampling from variable to fixed framerate is possible.
Able to mix any 2 video sources in realtime, via transition plugins. Any number of video sources can be composited in non-realtime.
Multitrack compositor can mix any number of clips in (semi) realtime
The following events can be recorded in realtime and then rendered/viewed: frame and clip switches, realtime effect apply, effect parameter change, audio changes.
The following colourspaces are supported internally: RGB24, BGR24, RGBA32, BGRA32, ARGB32, YUV444 packed, YUVA4444 packed, YUV444 planar, YUVA4444 planar, UYVY, YUYV, YUV422, YUV420, YVU420, YUV411.
Highly optimised 1 step colourspace conversions with chroma sub and super sampling, advanced heuristics ensure the maximum level of picture quality is maintained.

Rendering:

LiVES renderer can act on a limitless number of video tracks.
Audio channel support for stereo backing track and stereo audio per video track
Up to 65536 (soft limit) simultaneous realtime effects can be applied during rendering.
Rendering will be optimised, so that only inputs/effects which are actually visible on the output will be loaded/applied.
Effect apply, resize,resample and audio render done in a single pass, making rendering very fast and efficient.
Frames can be rendered at any frame size and frame rate.
Rendering can be previewed in realtime.
Backing audio can be rendered at any velocity/rate, forwards or reversed.
Time varying volume level and pan can be set per audio track, and per channel levels can be trimmed by the realtime mixer.

Playback:

Variable speed, bidirectional record/playback engine
Display framerate can be set independantly of playback framerate; can be fixed or variable
Playback speed/direction can be adjusted instantly during playback
Auto synch of display fps to incoming stream
Can be set to noframedrop mode
Frames from multiple clips can be accessed in random order with low latency (random seek times on the order of 50ms)
Variable playback rate for audio, including reverse playback, independant of video rate.
Support for external transport/timebase control (e.g. jack transport).

Control:

Can be controlled simultaneously via keyboard, OSC remote, and via MIDI or joystick.
Learning interface for MIDI, joystick.
Individual device mappings can be saved and reloaded.

Output:

Multiple video formats (currently over 50 codec/quality combinations). Auto resample/resize before encoding.
SDL playback plugin for video
Yuv4mpeg output stream plugin
Exports single frames to any image format supported by ImageMagick
Lossless backup format (.lv1)
Wav export for audio selections
Project export for clip sets and layout sets
Realtime audio output using jack or pulseaudio.
LiVES -> LiVES stream output.

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