Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/501792
71 SPRING 2015 / CINEMONTAGE 71 SPRING 2015 / CINEMONTAGE TECH TIPS the comment box and start typing. The video will automatically pause and then resume once the comment is entered. All the comments will be displayed to the right of the video with the exact time code for each comment, as well as the name of the person who left it. For example, comments could be "foreground too blue" or "open spaceship door" or anything else, and everyone's comments will appear live for any user currently viewing the video. Users will also be automatically notified by e-mail, although this feature can be disabled. When a viewer clicks on a comment, the playback head automatically jumps to that time code and pauses there while you read it. Comments can also be color-coded, filtered and sorted. Sometimes words aren't enough to express your thoughts (see Figure 3). Therefore, Kollaborate also allows you to draw on the frame while commenting on it, allowing you to bring attention to a specific area in the frame. I found this to be a useful and easy feature. To do it, I found a frame that needed some work, clicked on the pen tool, chose a color to draw with from a drop- down palette, and started drawing. When I was done, I entered some words to describe the drawing and submitted the comment. Now when users click on the comment, they're not only able to read it, but will be able to see the picture I drew on the frame. While Kollaborate's viewing and commenting system is useful when working with other members of your team, you might want to export all the comments to your NLE and have them appear on your timeline with markers. This allows for easy viewing of the changes you need to make without leaving your editing software. Avid Media Composer and Edius can import markers natively. For other NLEs, you can download Digital Rebellion's free Marker Import app, which lets you import markers from Kollaborate into other popular NLEs such as Adobe Premiere. Note that you can also export the comments to a text file. There's another feature of Kollaborate that I find very compelling and important. Synced Sessions allow you to create shared viewing sessions with other users where you control the playback head on their computer, thereby allowing everyone to see the same part of the video at once. This is a handy way to have a real-time conference about the project without people wondering what frame you're talking about. CONCLUSION I see no reason why a program such as this wouldn't be a critical tool in a production. Kollaborate offers the tools you would require to store your file, playback video on desktop and mobile devices (such as a tablet), leave time-coded comments on a file, and draw over the video to illustrate the comment. In addition, Kollaborate allows you to monitor statistics, like who viewed which video, and create specific departments to target content to certain groups of users while keeping it away from others. Kollaborate also features industry-standard JKL keys for playback. Besides all the capabilities of Kollaborate, Digital Rebellion also provides various helper apps, such as uploading tools (from folder watchers to batch encoders), playback tools and collaboration tools (see Figure 4). See the website for a complete list of apps. Whether you use it to review dailies, get feedback from clients or colleagues on a work in progress, manage VFX shots, share finished movies, or make uncompressed files available to team members, Kollaborate has the ingredients of a complete system for, well, collaboration. The free trial makes it easy for you to try it out on your next project. Visit http://kollaborate.tv for more information. f Top, Figure 3: Kollaborate allows you to create a drawing directly over the video at a specific time code in addition to typing a written comment. Above, Figure 4: A collection of helper apps enhance the Cloud experience such as CinePlay, which lets you play videos from Kollaborate on a variety of different machines.