New Client Review Player

The beta New client review player feature can now be activated for all ftrack Studio sites by an Admin, or user role with Global permissions access to Manage settings.

While in the testing phase, this tool, like all the other experimental features, can be found and enabled from the System settings > Advanced > Experimental menu by ensuring that the New client review player checkbox is toggled on.

You can create a new client review from any collection of versions:

1. Navigate to the Versions page.

2. Select the version(s) you want to add to the review and right-click on the selection.

3. Open the Add to client review menu.

4. Click Create new.

Once created, client reviews can be accessed via the list of Client reviews in the left sidebar of the project.

1. Click the arrow icon on the left of the Client reviews, opening a drop-down client reviews list.

2. Hover over the selected review and click the arrow icon on the right side, opening a drop-down menu.

3. Click Open.

1. Click the arrow icon on the left of the Client reviews, opening a drop-down client reviews list.

2. Single-click on the selected review, opening a preview of the review that will show the review content and all the review settings.

3. Go to the right-hand side menu and click Open session.

Opening a review session will take you to the new and updated Client review interface, which now has a bigger media window, redesigned feedback bar, full-width review sessions, expandable notes, the ability to view feedback per frame, colored timeline markers, and several new features.

• The updated Client review interface has four main sections:

To Play or Pause your media, you can use the on-screen control button that is located in the upper-left corner of the toolbar.

By toggling the media Playback options button, you can choose how you want your versions to be played.

1. The horizontal Playlist, is located below the toolbar, at the bottom of the Client review player interface.

• To access a version(video, image, or PDF), click on the selected thumbnail from the list.

2. The vertical Playlist, is the fourth section of the vertical sidebar.

This playlist is more complex than the horizontal one (though they both carry the same assets). It enables you to re-order the versions (by simply dragging and dropping the clips), set your preferred grouping, and add new versions.

To access a version(video, image, or PDF), click on the selected thumbnail from the list.

• To group, open the drop-down menu above the version list and choose the option you prefer.

By clicking the +ADD VERSIONS button at the bottom of the vertical playlist menu, you can add a new version(s) to the review.

Select the version, click DONE, and the chosen asset will appear in the playlist.

By clicking the UPLOAD FILES button at the bottom of the vertical playlist menu, you can upload a new version(s) to the review.

This will open your file browser, allowing you to choose the files you wish to upload.

Every version in the vertical playlist has a 3dot menu that enables you to view the version in ftrack Studio, remove the version from the playlist, or add to it a related version to compare.

You can find the menu in the right of each version and open it with a single click.

Once the menu is open, hover over the action you want to take and click.

In the Client review, all annotations are saved automatically, and there is no need to post them as part of a note. The drawing tools are enabled by default and displayed in the toolbar area in the lower center of the player interface, from where you can access all the Annotation tools, change your Drawing color or Brush size and Clear the annotations.

To access the Annotation tools, click the purple annotation icon, opening a drop-down menu.

By default, the Annotation tool is set to Brush, but you have a list of other tools to choose from.

To change the Annotation tool, simply click on the preferred option.

When using the zoom tool, it will be displayed among other Annotation tools in the lower center of the player interface.

You can use the + / - buttons to zoom in or out and the reset button to return to 100%. Holding down the shift key, you can move around the version and specify the area you would like to zoom in.

The zoom tool is available at all times, regardless of what drawing tool you have selected - you can still zoom using your mouse wheel or by using the zoom gesture on your trackpad. The same zoom controls will appear and remain while zoomed in but will disappear once the zoom is reset back to 100%.

Drawing color and Brush size

With the Drawing color and Brush size tools, you can customize your annotations.

To access, click one of the icons, that enables you to set your preferences.

The Drawing color enables you to choose the color of your annotation tools (Including the laser tool)

The Brush size, enables you to choose the line size of the tool you are using.

You can select between seven different line sizes. (The size of the laser tool cannot be changed)

You can remove annotation at any time using the Clear annotations button.

Clearing annotations will not remove any previously attached annotations on existing notes and they will remain captured with the feedback.

If you Post an annotation with a note, the note will be created along with an attached frame showing the drawing. If you then use the Clear annotations button to clear that frame, the drawing will disappear, but the frame will remain with the note, and the attached frame will still show the drawing. So all notes will always capture the state of the frame at the point of posting, regardless of what happens afterward.

The Flip and Flop features allow you to Flip and Flop media, invert mirror images or videos and compare them in Compare mode. You can activate them from the toolbar buttons that you can find in the lower center of the player interface.

With the button on the left, you can flip the media vertically, while using the button on the right, you can flop the media horizontally. Once the tool is activated, the indicator icons will remain lit and purple till the tool is deactivated. (In the picture below, both of the tools are activated.)

In the Client review, any asset that has more than one version can be opened in the Compare mode.

It enables a quick side-by-side comparison of two different versions of media. You can compare any versions within a group.

To do so, go to the vertical Playlist tab, choose the Group by asset, and select the asset you would like to compare.

Once this is done, click the Compare button on the toolbar.

The Compare mode interface opens in the horizontal playlist area - letting you choose between Overlay or Side by Side compare modes:

You can dismiss Compare Mode by clicking the X to the right of the compare mode controls or choosing another clip in the playlist.

Ghosting allows drawings to be seen over multiple frames, both before and after the frame on which the annotation is made, authorizing the user to sketch the path of an object or to indicate movement over time.

To activate, click on the Ghosting button on the toolbar. You can find it in the lower center of the player interface among the other annotation tools.

While enabling, you can also define how many frames you wish to view the annotations behind or ahead of the current frame.

The feedback section is located in the re-designed vertical sidebar, which aligns all the feedback elements into one section. You will find there all of your annotated frames with each note, labels, and any attachments. (To see all of your associated images, simply expand the note.)

To submit new feedback, use the feedback window text field ‘Write a note…’

A simple note can be added by typing it within the text field and clicking POST. 

If you want a more detailed note (with or without annotations), follow the steps below:

From the Feedback section, you can choose how you want to see the notes.

You can view them per Frame by Item, or by Review.

In the Frame mode, it’s easy to see which frames have notes and which don’t, while in the Item mode, you’ll see the latest feedback first.

If you select Review, you can now compile all feedback added to a review into one neatly organised list. You can view comments across all assets in a playlist simultaneously and easily jump to specific feedback.

For jumping to the next/previous note or annotation, you can use the two buttons from the upper-right corner of the feedback interface. Using these buttons, you can jump through every frame that has feedback or drawings and skip only to frames with activity.

To track an exact record of any drawings made at the time of the note. Every time you post a note, we capture the media window and attach it to the note, indicating the time when the note was saved.

The Approve (green check)or Require changes (red cross) buttons can be found at the lower center of the player toolbar, next to the Annotation tools, and are available for all participants in the session.

The Approval summaries are located in the Approvals & interactions tab in the vertical sidebar, and you can check each of the assets separately.

You can monitor four different parameters of the approval flow: Approved, Required changes, Seen, or Not seen, and all that data is presented in percentages.

The Asset information tab provides you with all the basic information about the version you are currently on, and it is located in the vertical sidebar.

To invite others to join your Review session:

1. Go to the Share this review tab in the vertical sidebar and click the 'Invite via email button.

This will launch a dialogue where you can search the users by name or email [A.]

For filtering participants, you can use the drop-down menu [B.]

Synced review session enables different participants to join frame-accurate synchronized review sessions. When reviewing in Sync, everyone sees the same frame of the same media at the same time, ensuring all feedback is crystal clear (playback, notes, drawings, media changes, etc).

It displays all the actions (skipping forwards, jumping to a frame, or making an annotation) taken on all participants' screens to all the collaborators, enabling them to see the same changes on their screens in real time.

To Start the synchronized session, click the Start Sync button in the right side of the top bar.

All the attendees will see an invitation prompt to join, and they can jump into the session directly from that message by clicking the Join button.

They can also use the Join Sync button in the top bar.

Anyone who has successfully joined Sync will have a flashing green indicator on their icon.

To drop out of the sync session and work independently, click the Leave Sync button.

The Mute All function in the client review sync area allows the logged-in users to quickly mute any playing audio if reviewing with a large group.

The client review Settings tab is the last section of the vertical sidebar.

There are seven different settings you can adjust:

A. Name - This setting enables you to name, or rename the review. Click on the setting and type in the name. You can also rename the review from the left corner of the top bar. Click on the title, opening the Edit name option, and type in the new name. B. Description - This setting enables you to fill/update the description of the review Click on the setting and type in the description. C. Expiration - This setting enables you to set or update the expiration of the review. You can choose between Always open or Closed. D. End date - This setting enables you to set the end date of the review Click on the setting, opening a calendar, and choose the date. E. Allow download of original media - This setting allows you to enable / disable collaborators to download the original media file, together with the compressed version. Click the button to enable /disable. The download button appears in the right side of the toolbar. F. Collaborator notifications - This setting allows you to enable / disable collaborators to receive email notifications when there is new feedback. Click the button to enable /disable. G. Passphrase protection. - This setting enforces collaborators to enter the passphrase to access the review. Click the button to enable / disable. Once enabled, the passphrase appears under the setting, and you can share it with your collaborators.

Actions now inside the Review Session

Inside the playlist

Learn more about actions here

Watermarking [Review Pro feature]

Watermarking is a security feature that overlays a visual monochromatic and transparent text on your digital assets. Enabling you to protect the copyright of your media content and claim its ownership, ensuring that your clients or colleagues cannot reuse it without your consent.

To enforce live Watermarking to all your Review content, go to System Settings > Review & player > Settings and enable the ‘Enable Watermarking in Review player’ checkbox.

Once enabled, the visual watermark will be displayed during your Client Review sessions in the corners of the image.

It visually identifies [A.] the Username, [B.] date/time, [C.] Review name, and [D.] Review ID for each participant.

In addition to enforced corner texts, you can also add a customizable watermark text [E.] that will appear in the center of the image.

To add your own text, go to System Settings > Review & player > Settings and type in your ‘Watermark text.’

Keyboard shortcuts

The Client review player comes with several series of one or several keys to quickly perform a preprogrammed action.

To see the different keyboard shortcut options, click the keyboard shortcut button in the lower-right corner of the toolbar.

To close or leave the Client review, click the LEAVE REVIEW button in the right corner of the top bar.