Dalet is excited to present the March release of Dalet Flex 2022.3.0.

This release of Dalet Flex provides the new features, quality and security enhancements, bug fixes, and other changes listed below.

Flex 2022.3 is an interim release track, allowing customers to make use of the latest functionality and bug fixes in Flex before the next LTS (Long Term Supported) release track becomes available.

Dalet Flex

New Features

Support configuring the source of StartTimecode and Decouple StartTimecode from timeline objects

In this release, there are two major changes in the way Dalet Flex handles the way it deals with startTimecode values.

Configuring the source of StartTimecode

Media files can have multiple StartTimecode values, for example extracted from the MXF header or from the video or audio stream. The start timecode is relevant for example to reference other media timeline items created on this asset (e.g. markers/annotations, keyframe, clips in a sequence...)

Flex now provides an option to configure the source of the timecode on the environment level. To do this, a new media asset property *“preferredStartTimecode”* is dynamically resolved from the different startTimecoode values available for the media: *FormatWithVideoStreamFallback* or *VideoStreamWIthFormatFallback*.

The configuration is set as a Consul KV *flex/shared/flex-enterprise/preferredStartTimecodePolicy* and to improve granularity, it can be customized per media format (MP4, MXF) or customized per media codec (DNXHD, JPEG 2000). By default, FormatWithVideoStreamFallback is used if there is no defined value for preferredStartTimecodePolicy KV.

Decoupling StartTimecode from timeline objects

Until this release, DaletFlex supported decoupling sequences, clips, keyframes, waveforms and other asset objects from Timecode but it did not support decoupling timeline items, such as markers and annotations. This release allows decoupling of markers and annotations. Currently, the feature MUST be feature toggled using "decoupleStartTimecodeEnabled" (defaults to false) until the migration of this data becomes mandatory. . If you have Timeline Comments and Metadata Annotation to migrate, and decoupleStartTimecode has been enabled, customizing preferredStartTimecodePolicy should be done after flex-timeline-migration is executed. Please coordinate this with a Dalet representative.
FMP checks if the start Timecode has been extracted and uses the value set in the asset.formatContext.preferredStartTimecode field in any UI component that displays timecode:

• FMP Player startTime
• FMP Sequence
• FMP Annotation
• Reviewer
• This feature is also relevant, if you develop scripts or plugins and are using timecode related with these media timeline items.

Preparing to use preferredStartTimecode and decoupleStartTimecode

Any site preparing to start using Decouple start timecode and customize the selection of preferredStartTimecode must do the following (in conjunction with their Dalet representative):

1. Schedule downtime
2. Define your preferred configuration in flex/shared/flex-enterprise/preferredStartTimecodePolicy (if not defined FormatWithVideoStreamFallback is used)
3. Use the flex-timeline-migration application (available in 2022.5.0) to update existing timeline comment and timeline annotation timecode entries in the database
4. Update any client applications using REST API B2B clients and update SDK/Groovy scripts used in workflows if you have any custom implementation
5. Set Consul KV decoupleStartTimecodeEnabled to true

Please contact your Dalet representative to plan the migration as soon as convenient.

FlexXTEND: Support local media check-in in the Premiere bin

The Flex Xtend panel in Adobe Premiere allows editors to export Flex assets directly to the NLE, edit and save the edited asset back to Flex. This release adds the ability to use local media on the Premiere editing station and upload that local media to Flex, creating respective media assets in Flex and allowing future work with this previously local media, or any editing project which includes this media, on different workstations.

Note that for this function to properly operate, it must be configured in the Flex Xtend Panel, under Setting.

Add the Variant name for checked-in local media; the Metadata Definitions ID for this asset; the Import Action ID – the action that will import the new media into Flex; the Workflow Definition ID - the workflow that Flex launches after importing the local media; and the target location for saving the local media – which can be a shared storage or an S3 bucket.

To initiate the upload of local media files, in the Flex Xtend panel, go to Export and click on Media Check in.

NOTES:

1. The shared storage (if used) must be mounted or mapped as a local drive (as with sequence rendering).
2. Import Action expressions in Flex must change as following:
   Source Resource {job.variables.variableHashMap['resource'].id}
   Item Name {job.variables.variableHashMap['resourceItemName']}
   Variant(If configured) {job.variables.variableHashMap['variant']}

Drop Frame Support for Fractional Frame Rates 29.72|59.94 fps   

Dalet Flex now supports fractional frame rates (29.97, 59.94f) with drop-frame (DF) support. Before this change all 29.97|59.94 were assumed to be non-drop-frame (NDF).
This has been updated across the whole platform: from Extract Technical Metadata mapping to API and FMP UI.
VideoStream dropFrame boolean property is used to differentiate DF/NDF options.

Dalet FlexMAM

New Features

Support for Camera Card and Spanned Media in FlexMAM

Camera card and spanned media assets are now supported in FlexMAM.

Camera Card: This asset represents the folder structure of proprietary Camera Card formats. Similar to a package asset, you can double-click to browse members of the camera card (such as the Spanned Media assets).

Spanned Media: Recording devices will sometimes split a video into multiple files, yet still expect to interact with those files as a single unit. The Spanned Media asset type has been introduced to represent these spanned files. They behave very similarly to standard media assets (i.e., they can play back a proxy, have keyframes and markers, etc) with the key difference that Flex also holds basic information about each underlying file that can be found in the Spanned Media Information section of the Technical Metadata tab.

Updates to the keyframe tab

Several changes to the keyframe tab increase the capabilities and usability of the keyframe tab:

1. Pagination to support large numbers of keyframes per asset: up to 24 keyframes can be displayed on each page.
2. Improvements to keyframe selection behavior, visualization and clarity, master keyframes, tooltips and icons.

Changelog

2022.3.0

Enhancements DaletFlex

• [FlexXTEND] Check-in local media from Premiere to Flex
• Decouple start tc from timeline objects
• Added support for using the formatcontext timecode if the the videostream timecode is not defined
• Complex fields are now editable and set to “true” when saving the metadata definition
• Decouple TC: New feature toggle "decoupleStartTimecode" created to control whether Decouple TC mode is used or not. Default value is false.
• New technical metadata fields “version” and “preferredStartTimecode” have been added to search index for media assets
• Add support for search of Camera Card and Spanned Media asset types in Flex Core and in FlexMAM
• Add a preferredStartTimecode property in FormatContext that is populated with dynamic resolution of startTime based on policies
• Decouple TC: Create a TimelineComment/TimelineMetadata migration
• [FlexXTEND] Added sequence markers in project asset and render asset workflows
• [FlexXTEND] Added a new, more accessible menu icon for left-hand panel
• Check READ permission on variable when using add/get/delete comment calls in metadata service
• Include sortBy field when returning user active default grids
• Support fmpVisible flag in suggestions endpoint
• JAE to filter RUNNING messages so that if there is no progress in a job then no job status message is sent. (WAS: FFP (FSP) plugins to manage polling nextDelay + local filtering of message with no progress)
• Developed the ability to log once when storage selector configuration value is missing in property
• Set child category to the taxon name if no value is supplied
• Add endpoint to get a child taxon by name
• [FlexXTEND] Local media check-in - media movement and import
• [FlexXTEND] Local media check-in - settings
• Added support for drop frame support for fractional framerate (29.97f/59.94f) NDF to support timecode + capturing richer info 
• Clip duration count is always in frames to better support the export of Flex Sequence to AAF
• Add filter to retrieve only certain subtitle formats
• Respect limit parameter passed to GraphQL suggestions
• Parse: AAF using file from vfsLocation
• ImageTranscode, CompositionSequenceProxy, Transcode plugins to use subpath
• Users with no access to a workspace can still view shared UDOs from that workspace
• Added an option to skip automatic import from the Vantage/Amberfin import plugin
• Inject the jobcontext variable with imported id and set asset context when importing a Project, Edit, CameraCard or Spanned Media asset
• Flex Move (Web Transfer) now has the correct Dalet Flex logo
• Selector Policy: Custom Configurable Selector Policy created for Storage resource selector policy in Folder resource configuration
• Added new subpath options to Storage Reference for proxy creation
• [FlexXTEND] Added the ability to see the sequences and dependencies in imported Premiere project assets
• [FlexXTEND] Added the ability to export Premiere project assets (proproj) back to Premiere for continuous work
• [FlexXTEND] Added the ability to import Premiere Projects (proproj) into Flex, creating a Flex Project asset
• Omitting a content-type header in REST API calls now results in a meaningful error message
• Blocked API users from creating actions based on obsolete enterprise plugins.
• Action merge will not trigger when the action is New
• Added the ability to add video tracks content to the FCP.xml created from a Flex Sequence
• Flex Spanned Media and CameraCard: purge, delete
• JEF Export Edit: create internal AAF xml to prepare for FSP Create: CompositionPackage: audio tracks
• Camera Card: cloud archive and full restore
• Camera Card: HotFolder support
• Spanned Media Asset: HotFolder
• Spanned Media Asset: copy, move, tar, untar (FFP)
• Spanned Media Asset: timeline annotation
• Added a taxonomy authorization check to determine whether a user has the correct taxonomy access which actions that user is allowed to perform on the taxonomy.
• Added full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) support for taxonomies via enterprize REST API
• Added the ability to create the basic FCP.xml structure from a Flex Sequence
• JEF Export Edit: export existing Flex Sequence and create FCP xml with referenced source MediAsset and an option to create Flex Edits
• Fixed Transcode/CreateProxy extracting Technical Metadata using blocking calls
• Fixed an issue where certain asset types were missing ResourceType enum
• Added EXIF information to ImageConext for correct image display
• Fixed a logic issue resulting in an endless loop in image sequence number range logic for single non-numbered image filenames
• Fixed an issue where the Web Uploader failed to upload VOB files
• Added an expression to target an asset variant in the Event Handler Service
• Improved and enhanced timecode support to capture all timecode values when extracting asset metadata
• Allowed high frequency media import from S3 to S3
• Added an event filter to decrease the load on visible even handlers retrieval in the Event Handler Service
• [FlexXtend] Removed the conditional export flow when a shared storage path is was not set in the Xtend Settings
• Aligned chunk times on video frame boundaries
• [FlexXtend] Removed the additional assets info footer from the export metadata screen as it is not required due to the local media check in capability
• [FlexXtend] Removed Project Saving and Asset Check in from the render section of the panel, as they now have dedicated sections and operations
• Removed Members and Followers API from Accounts; and Variants, Groups and Properties API from Master Account
• Improve locking while getting/setting workflow variables and executing job by introducing new KV and using feature toggle to keep existing behavior
• Removed the outdated Azure transcode resource
• Dedicated priority per action configuration for Workflow Actions
• Update job scheduler weights to support different job priorities
• Publish event details : naming convention for event property name should be consistent
• Added the Traverse Member flag to the Move Workspace action to enable the workspace change for all members of an AS02 or IMF package in the Modify relationship function
• Add consul KV flag to the Flex Stream Processor service to convert the output video to be progressive, deinterlacing the source if required, when an output transcode profile does not have a specified interlaceFormat property
• Search will no longer return results with a deleted tag or taxon
• Update external user OKAT IDP details if they are updated in Flex
• Fixed and issue where image overlay for stitch or sequence job fails if target is local filesystem 
• If services believe themselves to already be registered with the auth service, but the authn service rejects access token requests, they should clear their client ID / secret and try registering again
• Improve output profile semantics for explicit vs template mode streams
• Child accounts should not have the option to edit metadata schemas created in the master account
• Update to Role object types to remove attachments and comments
• For Accounts in FlexCore, hide tabs in the UI: Members and Followers in Account and Groups, Variants, Properties in Master Account
• [FlexXTEND] The Settings Configuration panel has been redesign to reflect the new Xtend capabilities
• Set the list of destinations of "PUBLISHED" event
• Update to latest stable ffmpeg to prevent errors when extracting keyframes from HLS proxy versions 
• Enable Field expression on Encode Subtitle Folder Resource
• Internal job progress reporting improvements Part 2
• Support for folder level sharding to allow shard of package formats
• Validated that changing a searchable flag on a metadata definition does trigger a reindex
• [FlexXtend] Removed unused methods from the premiere.jsx
• [FlexXtend] Use stream pipe to write data to file in Premiere and AME

Fixed Issues DaletFlex

• Flex Enterprise: Getting message - The physical file cannot be accessed. on Asset view page
• On logging out through Saml credentials, user is redirected on invalid url
• Suggestion Assets are not displayed in FMP Page
• preferred starttime code is giving wrong value for default behaviour when videostream start time code is 0
• XtendAdobePanel - Tooltip not displayed on hover of "Export Project" button in "Save Project" screen
• XtendAdobePanel - local media name should be displyed same as Premiere Bin media name while exporting local media
• XtendAdobePanel - Import Progress screen > Percentage count more then 100% showing while downloading
• If space in asset name then "%20" dispalyed in placeholder in flex while Project Export
• Keyframe extract is not working from FMP
• User should be redirect to the"Import Screen" while click to "OK" button from Render process screen
• Collections metadata functionality is broken
• When uploading files with webtransfer WFs are not triggered and webtransfer are throwing a 500 internal error
• Incorrect tootip on delete icon displayed for pinned object
• Error while parsing updated date while progressing vantage job
• If Enterprise API query is delegated to SearchElastic, and sets deleted to true or null, then SearchElastic fails to return deleted records
• Timezone ID user field in incorrect case
• Update FO to expose function to getAccountMembers and use in EHS
• FlexXtendPanel - Project should be saved before start the Remote Render from Rendering Video section
• Getting Source requires at least one child validation even though child has a value while saving the action configuration.
• Busy wait cursor is going on when you add /in url
• User should not be allowed to retry the failed job/workflow which are belongs to another workspace.
• DPX image sequence HDR to SDR conversion results in black frames
• Getting system message while running extract technical metadata action on media asset
• Frame accuracy problem for 29.97 and 59.94 FPS files having no start time code
• JEF-Copy/Move fails when trying to fetch FFP and other storage via tag expression.
• Flex Login App: Exception message is displayed instead of validation message for invalid reset password token
• Flex Xtend Adobe Panel: Attachment of high res with proxy is broken in windows
• GET /api/objects/<accountUuid>/dependencies;referenceType=ownership is broken
• GET endpoint <masterAccountUrl>/api/accounts/<accountId>/timelines is broken
• Unable to extract waveform for audio streams with non-standard channel counts and therefore unknown channel layouts
• Fixed interval calculation for frame extract can cause repeated frame extracts
• Concurrent task execution is not constrained in FSP
• Account login not working for specific account
• Authorisation-service NumberFormatException in AuthEventMessageHandler
• FSP jobs are failing if interlace format in associated profile is other then "Progressive"
• FlexXtendPanel - Panel redirect to "Import" screen when click to "Back" button from "Media Check-In export process" page and "Project export process" page
• FlexXtendPanel - Copy not works in 'Media Check-in' & 'Save Project' when 'AWS S3' selected in setting
• FSP not recognising timecode stream
• New keyframe Doesn't Override the previous master keyframe
• Facing an issue when we ingest using the web uploader
• Missing report templates and documentation.
• Message text needs to be modified when delete role which is already assigned to some user
• RetryableExecutionStepException Fails When Used in Multi Step Plugins
• Fix typo in DB column MIO_TASKINSTANCE.TASKDEFINATION_
• Tasks API: taskDefinitionName field actually performs exact match against task instance name
• 2021.12.0 upgrade failing due to job waiting for flex-registry-service
• Flex Login App: Issues with invalid/disabled account.
• Details of child UDOs of shared UDO is not getting loaded
• Create child UDO from fmp fails (API request fails)
• Enterprise API does not map AssetAPIQuery.frameRate field to FQL
• NodeJS logging metrics are all labeled as undefined
• Fix incorrect mapping of enum fields in FastObject
• It is possible to set several master keyframes.
• Enterprise API does not map AssetAPIQuery.parentAssetId field to FQL
• FastObject service does not return parent information for assets with a UDO / generic object parent
• Media is not imported due to special characters/spaces in filepath.
• JEF Script SDK NewMetadataAnnotation.metadata field expects JsonNode, should be type Metadata
• JEF Script SDK workflowService missing getStructure method
• Null error observe when run delete action on Group asset
• Flex Enterprise: Import Camera Card action fails.
• SAML login issues
• Update flex-elasticsearch-library to check version conflicts when deleteByQuery
• Wrong error message after performing the DELETE api/httpclient/ in Search service
• Implement way to allow empty setting of user usersettings.fmp.language
•  {workflow.mioObject.owner.id} / ${workflow.mioObject.owner.id} expressions are not working in task definition
• FlexXtendPanel - Preview window > User Profile dropdown details not displayed when "No Preview Available" in preview window
• Extract Technical Metadata as Transcode/CreateProxy internal step
• Asset fetching issue in api for given account
• Flex Metadata Designer: Type: Metadata Schema & Default Metadata Schema contents overflow on create type screen.
• Extract Technical Metadata action is failing.
• Not able to set actual value and remove expression on variable using rest api
• Executor handling unknown job id causing a bottleneck and infinite loop
• Expression enabled job variable is incorrectly set in job
• Azure container root path limitation
• Update default value of editable flag in complex metadata field
• Flex Login App: Getting system error page on logging out from flex.
• Search UDO children is not working for ACL user
• Type: Unable to check default type checkbox when there is multiple schemas selected while creating a Type object.
• Add scheduled task monitoring to all services / apps
• Problem in index elastic when we stop master redis node is stopped and another node become master
• FastObject Service: update display name for user object
• Create composition is not working for some AS02 files
• JEF-script-timed action does not execute if started again after cancelling previous job + 1 issue
• Support {'@@<expression@@'} in value field of External IDs
• JEF job should not get completed If External IDs variable expression is incorrect.
• Environment showing incorrect summary
• Audio waveform not supporting s3 storage root folder
• The value in tags having = sign got truncated
• When payload parameters are not given in API then Proper validation message should be displayed during delete annotation
• Thesaurus Term drag and drop to other relationship is not working for given scenario
• new eventHandler execute job plugin issues
• Creator should be added with Create permission in Tag permission table.
• Flex Metadata Designer: Intermittent Issue: Error while processing request
• assetInfoExtract with outputFile is not working for AZBS
• System should not allow to destroy role if any user is assigned that role
• JEF Script Multi Decision/Decision throwing error
• Fixed a Rest Error in Transcode Action where an Azure container is being used
• Error while decoding TIFF header for frames
• Fixed an issue where it was not possible to delete custom markers (from the UI) when they are being deleted too quickly
• Fixed an issue where image sequence import was failing because the format was being flagged by BDAV anti virus software
• New presets added to FSP
• Set new behavior for extracting the Timecode used by MAM Player (Format and Video TC)
• Fixed an issue where AS02 proxies appear green in FMP
• Fixed an issue where Extract Technical Metadata with Output action fails on Frames Package
• Fixed an issue where frames proxy creation was failing with error code 25
• timecode option is not passed to FFMPEG in FSP stitch request
• Fixed an issue where MAM UI displays purged annotations 

Enhancements FlexMAM

• FMP support for camera card and spanned clips - MVP
• Decouple start tc from timeline objects
• Visual Updates to Keyframes Tab
• Decouple start tc from timeline objects
• Carousel preview view for modal keyframe tab
• Keyframe modal tab - behavior
• New Keyframe tab
• Add summary pane for Flex Edit/Flex Project assets
• Improvement of empty state to be consistent for all empty state messaging
• Hotkeys to jump to in/out timecodes in a timecode range selected in the player
• Add online help link in FMP header
• Display only FMP compatible subtitles in the player dropdown in FMP
• Add retry button when search results are empty
• Respect field level permissions for column layout fields in FMP
• Wizard menu improvements
• Enhancement to Table refresh button
• Support workspace selection when creating UDO from FMP
• Admin app: column templates should be listed from the account being edited even if logged in user is in a parent/master account
• Combine enterprise actions into sub-menu and add config to hide altogether
• Add column number icon for multiple sort
• Improve audio track slider functionality by adding an Expand/Collapse button to control the size of the audio track name column

Fixed Issues FlexMAM

• Template selection box position changed
• Incorrect IN and OUT time displayed when edit timeline annotation and Timeline doesnt play
• Incorrect sequence duration in the Sequence Preview
• Group members are not getting listed on view group asset page
• Incorrect IN and OUT time diplayed in player for timeline comment
• Marker template section not available on markers tab on summary panel and manage page
• Incorrect column header in Exported search results csv
• Marker view list is loading very very slow
• Type dropdown positioning issue on create template page
• Asset is not getting selected when login or back to search
• metadata dropdown list on bulk edit metadata page not displayed after first selected metadata
• Search listing doesn't load results
• Flex FMP doesn't support searches using non-ASCII characters (ä ö ü î ...) or apostrophe
• Marker Tab selection on summary panel and manage page not persisted
• Technical metadata option not available when select marker and then again media while create template
• Icons on keyframe tab should be displayed even if no records exist
• Save search is broken
• Asset name should not be displayed after Delete action
• New task notification
• Metadata - column layout - tooltip
• Click on toast message after adding multiple objects should redirect to view collection \ Clip bin
• Column title of IN column is changed to Marker on summary panel markers tab
• FMP Keyframes: Fixed an issue where the number of keyframes displayed in FMP is limited to 100