QCTools Version 1.0 Press Release

Published On: September 19, 2018 |

San Francisco, CA – Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC Media) and the QCTools development team are announcing the release of version 1.0 of QCTools, an open-source application developed to help media archivists in assessing and analyzing the quality of their digitized video content. Version 1.0 is an important milestone in the development of QCTools. This version includes major updates that will enhance the user’s ability to analyze their digital video collections, as well as a newly developed Code of Conduct.

The two biggest updates to the application are the feature to save QCTools reports as MKV files, and the addition of the Barcharts view. The MKV report format is a huge step forward in improving collaborative workflows. An MKV report includes all of the signal graph data, as well as video thumbnails, allowing users to share and view reports without needing the original source file on-hand. The Barcharts feature displays boolean graphs based off the graphical data going above or below thresholds. The thresholds can be set by the user, exported, and shared with the preservation community.

Another highlight in this latest version of QCTools is the inclusion of a Code of Conduct. Maintaining a community that is free of harassment and discrimination is of the utmost importance in any collaborative project, especially those working within the open-source paradigm. The Code of Conduct is available on the project’s GitHub Page.

Here’s a quick rundown of version 1.0 updates and bug fixes:

New Features
- MKV Output with saved thumbnails
- Added a Code of Conduct
- Updates and polished interface
- QCTools now opens with the same filters that were selected when it was last closed
- Shows a list of the last 20 recently opened files in “File” menu
- Zoom option using mouse wheel & middle mouse button
- Added Barcharts feature:
  - Multiple colored conditions per chart
  - Autocomplete and condition validation for chat conditions editor
  - Ability to save and load chart conditions
  - Default conditions
- New Filters and player options
  - Line over time player
  - Pixel Scope player
  - Corners Player
  - Entropy and Entropy-diff filters
  - New xflat option in waveform filter
- Refactored, deduplicated, and cleaned up player code
- Expanded–debug mode
- Updated documentation
Bug Fixes
- FFmpeg compatibility
- Improved arrow key control in filter view
- Improved stability for files with no video stream and non-audio first stream

For a more comprehensive overview of the updates to this version, check out the release info file on the GitHub Repository.

As development persists and QCTools becomes more stable and feature-rich, BAVC Media continues to request input from the archival, preservation and video production communites. You don’t need to know how to code be an impactful contributor to the QCTools project. Check out the GitHub Repo and add any problems you find to the Issue Tracker, or help update the documentation to make the program easier to use in more environments!