Pdplayer is a professional image sequence player and viewer forthe 3D, CG and VFX industry, created by Asynthetic and distributed by Chaos Software. It supports most industry standard file formats including EXR, HDR, DPX, CIN, R3D, TGA, SGI, IFF, PIC and VRIMG. Multiple layers can be color-corrected and composed together in real time.

Despite being feature-rich, Pdplayer is fast and lightweight. It starts quickly and flips through frames with ease.
 

LAYERED SEQUENCE PLAYBACK

Pdplayer supports an unlimited number of layers, arranged on an infinite workspace. Each layer containing a sequence or a movie clip is cached independently, and the cache is not destroyed by most changes. This allows for multiple layers to be played simultaneously while applying changes in real time.

64 BIT

Working with HD, 2K and 4K resolutions requires large amounts of memory and the traditional 2GB limit of 32-bit applications quickly becomes a nuisance. Pdplayer 64, the 64-bit (x64) native version of Pdplayer, is only limited to the total amount of RAM and can comfortably handle the contemporary, memory-hungry digital workflows.

STEREOSCOPIC PLAYBACK

Pdplayer has built-in support for anaglyph, checkerboard and interlaced stereoscopic playback. Stereoscopic sequences - both sibling left/right images and stereoscopic EXR (SXR) images - can be detected when a layer is added, with a stereo composition being built automatically. One can also use the Add Other Stereo View command to quickly add a matching layer, or construct a stereo composition manually.

2K+ PLAYBACK WITH 3D LUT

Pdplayer is resolution-independent and is only limited by the CPU power, when playing from RAM, or by the speed of the storage, when playing from disk. On a Core i7, it can play back Ultra HD images (7680x4320) from RAM, as long as enough memory is available for caching. 2K DPX images can be played back from disk without caching, given a sufficiently fast (16 drive, for example) disk array. For film work, or in other workflows in which accurate color reproduction is needed, Pdplayer can apply 3D lookup tables to the images when playing back footage.

EXR AND VRIMG IMAGE LAYERS

Pdplayer can display the layers of EXR, SXR and VRIMG images. In addition, the individual channels (red, green, blue, alpha, luma, and depth) can be selected on a per-layer basis. This support for image layers allows users of 3D software and render packages to output the render elements into a single EXR (or VRIMG) file, while still being able to composite the final render in Pdplayer and use its color correction tools to quickly tweak and review the result. The Expand into Layers command can be used to quickly split an EXR image.

REALTIME COLOR CORRECTIONS

Pdplayer provides controls for exposure, soft clip, lift, gamma, gain, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation. Changes are applied in real time during playback, without the need for an intermediate render step.

SUPPORT FOR HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES

Pdplayer does not clamp super-whites of high dynamic range images such as EXR, HDR, DPX/CIN, and floating point TIFF and RLA/RPF. The exposure and soft clip controls operate on the original dynamic range of the image.

ON-SET GRADING AND KEYING

The live video layer shows a real-time video feed from a DirectShow capture device. Its primary purpose is on-set grading. A workstation, equipped with Pdplayer, can be used in the field for monitoring the quality of the footage, applying real-time color corrections, composing the live feed over or under CG images or even sequences, and later exporting the color settings for further processing to After Effects, Nuke, or as a 3D lookup table.

When Pdplayer is used in the field, one often needs the ability to apply a color key to the live feed, if the shot is done against a blue or a green box. Pdplayer supports two separate color keys that can be enabled in the Effects tab of the property panel.

RED R3D SUPPORT

Pdplayer has built-in support for R3D files, the raw format produced by the RED ONE camera.

EXTERNAL DEVICE OUTPUT

Pdplayer can play sequences on external devices such as Bluefish444 or Blackmagic Decklink, allowing you to preview your work on a broadcast monitor, in the exact environment in which it would be ultimately viewed.

COMPOSITION PROTOTYPING

In a world of dynamic working environments and tight deadlines, one cannot afford to wait for a whole render to complete before starting the compositing process. Pdplayer can help. Its ability to watch an output directory and bring in the frames as they become ready allows a composition to be prototyped and reviewed as soon as the first frames come out. Each layer can be reviewed for errors, then transformed and color corrected in real time. As a final step, the prototype composition can be exported to Adobe After Effects or The Foundry’s Nuke.
 

PIPELINE INTEGRATION

Pdplayer has extensive command-line support, with over 250 options controlling every aspect of the composition. This makes it easy to integrate it into any production pipeline. Third party applications that have scripting capabilities (e.g. 3DSMax, Maya, etc.) can control Pdplayer via the command line or by passing it a combination of options and commands in a pdpcmd file. Pdplayer can be easily integrated with Lightwave with the help of the Lightwave plug-in and render script that come with it.

More information at Chaos Group