mrv2 v1.4.0 - OpenGL (mrv2) and Vulkan (vmrv2)

[ggarra13]

v1.4.0

This version is the last free release of mrv2 (OpenGL backend) and the first release of vmrv2 (Donationware Vulkan backend which runs in demo mode until licensed).

Differences between Vulkan and OpenGL

Vulkan is a new open source API, compared to OpenGL that it might get deprecated on some platforms like macOS. It supports true HDR (High Dynamic Range), it is about 20% to 50% faster than the OpenGL version (on Windows, macOS M1+ and it is the same speed for GNOME 48 and later) but it does not support OpenUSD.
OpenGL's main benefit at this point is that it supports OpenUSD and works better on old CPUs (macOS Intel and older Wayland compositors).

Licensing the Vulkan version

The pre-compiled full Vulkan version is priced at u$50 for a single Operating System for a yearly license.
The pre-compiled full Vulkan version is priced at u$150 for a single Operating System to own.

For single users, contact ggarra13@gmail.com and make a Paypal donation. For bulk purchases, or network licensing, contact ggarra13@gmail.com first to arrange a setup.

ChangeLog

• Added license_helper for easy licensing of vmrv2.
• Added backend used to -version flag.
• Added tabulation to -version flag's output.
• Made Vulkan's mrv2 be installed as vmrv2 to distinguish it from the OpenGL version and allow having both installed easily.
• Fixed a useless icons directory on macOS and a missing one on Windows.
• Turned off screen saver/suspending as it was not friendly to some users.
• Added Alt + LMB when in scrubbing mode to scrub slower.
• Added a Preference to set a multiplier on how slow with Alt + LMB.
• Added a Preference to control how scrubbing looping behavior works. It can be set to Button (the UI timeline setting), Inactive or Active.
• Fixed Vulkan's DPI and scaling of images/videos within the viewport.
• Made audio stop playback when the window is minimized, except on older Wayland versions.
• Fixed YUV Original look up crashing the viewer.
• Fixed YUV Original pixel values as they were not matching the Full ones.
• Added Preferences->Behavior->Allow Screen Saver to control whether mrv2 blocks the screen saver when running.
• Fixed blocking Suspend mode on Windows.
• Improved performance of Vulkan shaders' compilation for faster start ups.
• Added to title bar an (E) when non-saved Edit changes are present and (A) when annotations have been done.
• Fixed Vulkan macOS builds.
• Fixed Vulkan HDR support when Windows' HDR monitor was set to SDR.
• Improved scrubbing behavior.
• Fixed Wayland port on Linux distributing some incorrect Wayland libraries.
• Fixed Vulkan macOS installs, without having to set environment variables. Now you can actually click on the icon (after you authorize the permissions to the application). It DOES work now!
• Fixed macOS distro not installing a local python into the .app directory.
• Fixed Linux distro shipping two wayland DSOs by mistake.
• Made macOS Vulkan work with Retina.
• Fixed Vulkan crashing bug when going to presentation mode with NVidia 575 drivers.
• Fixed hiding of Timeline in normal mode leaving a gap of 30 pixels.
• Fixed a lag when scrubbing with one or more of the thumbnail panels active.
• Fixed fullscreen mode in Vulkan backend.
• Fixed loading of some animated .gif files.
• Added a Preferences->Thumbnails->Refresh Thumbnails in Panels Manually to
  avoid auto refreshing of thumbnails. You have to go to any thumbnail and RMB->Update->Thumbnails.
• Added thorough list of Wayland compositors with their version commands.
• Added Desktop Envionment report when using X11 or Wayland.
• Fixed finding all preferences with MRV2_STUDIOPATH and STUDIOPATH.
• Fixed framing when loading a session file.
• Improved startup times from the command-line and when loading the first clip.
• Made starting playback from command-line once the audio has been cached.
• Added reporting of Studio location if MRV2_STUDIOPATH or STUDIOPATH are set.
• Fixed saving of movies in Vulkan.
• Fixed saving of movies at half and quarter resolution in Vulkan.
• Fixed saving of single frames in Vulkan.
• Fixed saving of single frames at half and quarter resolution in Vulkan.
• Added Stereo3D Anaglyph support to Vulkan on Windows and Linux.
• Fixed hanging on Wayland with Vulkan's windows when they were going off-screen.
• Fixed saving of Prores and DNXHD with the correct profiles.
• Fixed saving of Half images on Vulkan backend.
• Fixed saving of images without annotations on Vulkan.
• Fixed Presentation mode autofit on OpenGL backend.
• Fixed toggling of Presentation and Fullscreen modes quickly in Vulkan backend.
• Made Vulkan text input widget for annotations support composed keys as those in international keyboards and CJK.
• Made starting playback from the command-line faster.
• Fixed crashes when switching from/to presentation mode when starting out as presentation mode.
• Fixed a potential crash when exiting the program in Presentation mode.
• Fixed OCIO and libplacebo Vulkan image validation errors.
• When a codec is not found, now mrv2 will report the actual name and long name for it.
• Added Python command cmd.getBackend() to return the backend of mrv2.
• Updated update-cmd.py plug-in to start faster, keep UI responsive and
  support both the OpenGL (mrv2) and Vulkan (vmrv2) backends.
• No longer we distribute libpng.so on Linux to avoid conflicts with GTK3 plugin.
• Fixed saving of movie files with and without annotations from OpenEXRs on Vulkan backend.
• Added saving HDR data into movie codecs that support it (VP9, AV1, etc). Note that for saving the HDR data, Color TRC has to be set to a value different than BT709 in the Advanced Settings.
• Fixed saving movies from OpenEXRs with an alpha channel on Vulkan backend.
• Fixed Desktop Environment report when using -v (-version) flag.
• Added list of GPUs to Status bar on Vulkan backend.
• Made Playback->Auto Hide Pixel Bar a choice menu between "Inactive", "OpenGL only" and "OpenGL And Vulkan" instead of just a toggle. The default is OpenGL only as Vulkan is so fast it does not slow down when reading back a single pixel information.
• Added "cursor" as one of the valid external editors for the Python console.
• Added a description of all valid environment variables for mrv2.
• Upgraded to FFmpeg 8.0, which speeds up decoding by 5-10% on 8K movies.
• Improved error checking on movie decoding, catching errors on some corrupt movies.

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This discussion was created from the release mrv2 v1.4.0 - OpenGL (mrv2) and Vulkan (vmrv2).

[ggarra13]

mrv2-v1.4.0-Windows.exe was re-released as it was not creating shortcuts on install.