Which file formats are supported by Curator?

Curator can ingest several common file formats. Please note that Curator supports standard versions of these formats. If the file contains non-standard audio or video streams, we are unable to guarantee that Curator will support them.

Please see the table below for a complete list of supported formats with audio and video streams.

List of XCode-supported file formats

Below is a list of the source formats supported by default in Curator:

¹ Requires an additional XCode license.

² Support for DNxHD and DNxHR wrapped in MXF OpAtom is limited to fixed bit rate encoding only

List of XCode-supported file formats for Alpha Channel support

Requirements for supporting live growing files

IPV provides access to live growing proxies within the Curator platform. To achieve live growing proxies, the high resolution source format must be supported by IPV XCode and must be a suitable (streaming) wrapper such as .MXF, with codecs as specified in this article. The engine writing the data must also ensure the file is growing incrementally and must not pre-allocate disc storage such that XCode mounted to the storage should be seeking or writing empty space. File length checks will be made by XCode until a suitable EOF is encountered - these checks (e.g., stat/fstat) during the recording of the file should never return a value less than that returned by an earlier call. Note that should high-resolution editorial action be taken based on the growing proxy, equally suitable access and a copy of the high-resolution media file is required by the conform engines, e.g., Adobe Media Encoder.

Live high resolution sources supported include

List of supported camera card file formats

Full support:

• Canon C300 Mk I
• Panasonic P2 (Not spanned over multiple cards)
• RED
• Sony FS7

Partial support (contact Technical Operations for details):

• Canon C300 Mk II and Mk III
• Canon 5D
• Sony F5 and F55

Additionally; DPX image sequence ingest.

Closed Caption Supported File Types

Currently, we only support .vtt File types for closed captions
Closed caption output is supported in any of the MXF or MOV formats, plus both HLS formats via a side-car VTT file automatically produced by XCode if an appropriate date is present in the hi-res source.

note that AWS Transcribe can also be utilized to produce .VTT files for appropriate media.
additionally, Curator has the ability with workflow configuration to convert .VTT files to SRT for delivery only.

NOTE: For multi-part and camera card content, a single Curator asset will be created, and the associated low-resolution proxy will represent all parts of the content “stitched” together to form one video.

List of PFR-supported file formats

How do I generate formats supported by Curator?

Here are some examples of servers which will generate supported material:

Which non media formats are supported?

By default, Curator ingests the following other file types:

Image Files

• .ai
• .png
• .bmp
• .tif/.tiff
• .jpg/.jpeg
• .cr2
• .nef
• .psd
• .pub
• .dpx
• .xmp
• .exr

Note: .ai and .psd files can be added as extended asset types in Curator. If this is required, please contact your Account Manager.

Extended asset types are searchable and can be managed through Curator folders, metadata and workflows. These can also be imported into supported applications (e.g. Adobe Premiere Pro) following the same model as Curator image assets.

Other common file types

• .txt
• .doc/.docx
• .xls/.xlsx
• .pdf
• .xml
• .xmp

When can Curator support additional formats?

Additional source formats may be supported through Curator's Adobe AME or Telestream Vantage connectors. These formats may be viewed at:

https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/using/file-formats-supported-import.html

http://www.telestream.net/pdfs/datasheets/Vantage_6.3_Format_Encode_Sheets.pdf

If you’d like to add these Connectors to your Curator licence, please contact your Account Manager.

What if I know my material is in an unsupported format?

You have two options if your media is in an unsupported format:

Convert your media

You may want to consider converting your content into an acceptable file format and we recommend you liaise with your System Integrator or Content Provider, who can advise on the best process.

Request a new format

We may be able to work with you to expand Curator’s ingest capabilities. If your media type and wrappers are not listed, please contact your Systems Integration Partner, or IPV if you have a direct support contract. IPV will provide a quotation and timescale and may require a suitable P.O. before work can commence.

What if I believe my media is in a supported format, but it won’t import?

Please follow these steps if your media doesn’t import:

1. Does the media open and play in at least two of the following players without error?

• Adobe Premiere, AVID or Final Cut Pro
• QuickTime Player
• VLC

If not, the media may be corrupted. Please liaise with your System Integrator or Content Provider to troubleshoot further.

2. If the media does open and play, please raise a Support ticket via Zendesk and confirm the following:

• Which players / editor you tested it in successfully, (please include version numbers if known)
• The source of the media
• The issues that you are experiencing on registration e.g. transcode failure
• Media Analysis information using MediaInfo or similar tool.
• Download details of an example file of the media in question so that IPV can investigate further.

How will IPV investigate the issue if we raise a Support ticket?

1. When we receive the media file, IPV will attempt to open and play in the above applications or use an industry standard QC tool to qualify the media integrity.

Note: If the media fails any of these tests IPV reserves the right to levy a charge for the time spent troubleshooting the media.

2. If the investigation replicates the client troubleshooting steps, the media will be passed to Engineering for detailed investigation. After initial analysis IPV will provide a diagnosis confirming why the media fails to ingest.

What solutions will be offered once IPV has investigated the issue?

1. If the issue is related to deficiencies in IPV software, and the media conforms to the appropriate specifications, IPV will confirm a timeline for a fix to be made available.

2. If the engineering analysis and testing confirm that the media file does not meet the full specification of the media format, you will need to discuss the issue with your System Integrator or Content Provider.

In this case IPV may levy a charge for the time spent on analysis.

What are the charges for these investigations?

Please contact your Account Manager for more information on costs.