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'''BlenderAVC '''is an open-source project to provide the "glue" between Blender's Sequence Editor and video in the [[:Category:AVCHD|AVCHD]] format. It provides a way of automating the creation of AviSynth scripts and proxy files so that [[:Category:AVCHD|AVCHD]] and [[:Category:HDV|HDV]] video can be efficiently edited within Blender.
[[Category:Software]]
[[Category:Beta]]
[[Category:Windows]]
[[Category:Advanced]]

== Project meta data ==
* [http://www.openfilmmaking.com/blenderavc/ Home page]
* [http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/blenderavc/ SourceForge project page]
* [[:Category:Advanced|Advanced]] users
* [[:Category:Windows|Windows only]]
* [[:Category:Beta|Beta]] status - '''Version 0.7'''
* Pros: 
** Video/audio can be synched properly
** Video can be processed (deinterlaced, etc.) before it is seen by [[Blender3D]]
** Proxies can be batch-created instead of one-at-a-time.

== Useful for ==
* Video transcoding
* [[:Category:AVCHD|AVCHD]] video support in [[:Category:NLE|NLE]]

== Workflows ==
* [[BunnyHopHop]]

== Requirements ==
* Windows 32-bit (not tested with 64-bit)
* You must have [http://www.python.org/ Python] version 2.5 installed.

== Using BlenderAVC ==
Keep in mind that BlenderAVC is in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Beta beta]''. Power users only!

=== Install ===
[http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235953 Download] the most recent package.

Here is a suggested method of installing BlenderAVC. All examples assume this method.
# Make sure you have a "zip" tool, since you will need to unzip several items. We recommend using [http://www.7-zip.org/ 7-zip].
# Download and install [http://www.python.org/ Python 2.5]
# Download BlenderAVC package from [https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235953/&abmode=1 SourceForge].
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\blenderavc</tt> folder - [[BlenderAVC]] source files
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\avisynth</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\blender</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\dgavcdec</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\dgmpgdec</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\ffmpeg</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\libxml2</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\smoothdeinterlacer</tt>
#* <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\tivtc</tt>
# Install <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\libxml2\libxml2-python-2.6.30.win32-py2.5.exe</tt>
# Install <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\tools\avisynth\Avisynth_257.exe</tt>

=== Configure ===
# In Windows Explorer, go to the <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\blenderavc\</tt> folder
# Copy the <tt>blenderavc_template.ini</tt> file to <tt>blenderavc.ini</tt>
# If you have put BlenderAVC somewhere besides the default location, you will need to edit the file <tt>c:\BlenderAVC\blenderavc\blenderavc.ini</tt> and update the <tt>[paths]</tt> section of the file.

=== Using it with your video ===
See the [[BunnyHopHop]] workflow for details on how to use BlenderAVC. [[BAAM]] (BlenderAVC Asset Manager) will allow you to access the video directly from within Blender.

== Source files ==
* <tt>blenderavc.ini</tt>
** Configuration file which holds the paths of various tools
* <tt>blenderavc_cl.py</tt>
** Command-line executable.
* <tt>LibBlenderAVC.py</tt>
** Core "library" code which does everything.
* <tt>BlenderAVCGUI.py</tt>
* <tt>BlenderAVCGUI.ui</tt>
* <tt>BlenderAVCGUI_ui.py</tt>
** GUI executable. It works, but it's a bit ugly and awkward. Created with GuiBuilder.
* <tt>COPYING</tt>
** Text of the license.
* <tt>README</tt>
** Basic information (mostly points here).
* <tt>transforms</tt> folder
** <tt>avs_allclips.xslt</tt>
*** Transform which generates an .AVS script containing all the clips, including file names and timecode.
** <tt>avs_audio.xslt</tt>
*** Audio-only .AVS script transform.
** <tt>avs_video.xslt</tt>
*** Video/audio .AVS script transform.
** <tt>common.xslt</tt>
*** Common sections of the XSL transforms.

== How it works ==
BlenderAVC is written in Python and XSLT and it uses other FOSS (free/open-source) tools. It finds the "raw" video clips and does the following things:
* Moves the raw files into a subdirectory called <tt>raw</tt>.
* Creates a <tt>clips.xml</tt> file which a list of all the raw clips. Once created, it refreshes the file non-destructively (i.e., it will maintain any manual changes).
* For AVC, indexes the raw clips using [[DGAvcDec]], which generates a <tt>.dga</tt> file for each one.
* For HDV, indexes the raw clips using [[DGMpgDec]], which generates a <tt>.d2c</tt> file for each one.
* Uses [[FFMPEG]] to pull out the soundtrack to a <tt>.wav</tt> file.
* Creates <tt>.avs</tt> ([[AviSynth]]) script for each clip using XSLT.
* Optionally uses [[FFMPEG]] to create JPEG image sequences to be used as proxies in [[Blender3D]].
* Optionally uses [[FFMPEG]] to create an MPEG "preview" (for PCs too slow to play back the AVC video in real time).
* Optionally uses [[FFMPEG]] to create an JPEG thumbnail (useful to see a quick overview of your clips, and also for a future asset management project).

== Coming soon ==
* Better documentation (including command line usage)
* Installer (low priority)

== Why? ==
BlenderAVC came about because of a personal quest to find a non-linear video editor (NLE) which was:
* Usable (fast, flexible, etc.)
* Free/open-source
* Cross-platform/Windows
* Supported by a vibrant community
* Suitable for professional filmmaking ([[:Category:HDR|HDR]], etc.)
After trying Linux a few times, I decided I just wasn't ready to make the leap. That knocked out [[Cinelerra]], which has failed to attract a large following anyway. [[Jahshaka]] looked (and looks) really cool, but its development has been stalled for years. Other projects looked interesting, but none met the other other requirements.

In the meantime, I have been using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulead_MediaStudio_Pro Ulead MediaStudio Pro] (MSP), which is a reasonably good NLE. The breaking point came a few months ago when I bought a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_HF100 Canon HF100], which records directly to [[:Category:AVCHD|AVCHD]]. Nothing supports this format directly yet, and I've been concerned about the future of MSP since [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corel_Corporation Corel] took it over a few years back. (Corel seems to be the place where apps go to die.)

Nevertheless, I tried to make it work. I tried using [http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/MakeAVIS MakeAVIS] (part of the [[FFMPEG]] project), which is a Windows codec that allows access to [[AviSynth]] scripts via a "real" <tt>.avi</tt> file. This configuration was slow and unstable -- it crashed several times per hour. MSP supports proxies, but there was no easy way to batch-create them; I had to place a clip, and then wait several minutes for it to generate the proxy. Frustration.

So I re-started my search. When [http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-246/ version 2.46] of [[Blender3D]] was released recently, I decided to take a closer look at its Sequence Editor. To my delight, I found that Blender has been making great strides as a [[:Category:NLE|NLE]] over the past few years, and with proxy support, could be quite usable even on my relatively old machine. Blender has direct support for [[AVCHD]], but I was shooting in 30p mode and the frame rate was never quite right. Frustration.

The other part of the puzzle is [[AviSynth]] -- an amazing little tool for video processing and frame serving. I was able to write scripts to process the AVC video, but since not many NLE's support AviSynth, I would have to transcode it to a supported format. Since I am a quality freak, this meant using a zillion gigabytes of disk space for a second (uncompressed or losslessly compressed) copy of my video.

Blender uses [[FFMPEG]], which can support [[AviSynth]], but the standard builds for [[:Category:Windows|Windows]] do not have this support enabled. Frustration.

In [http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=68387&sid=5c005a9ba89e90da87bcd22ae9f88b5d this thread], I ran into [http://www.nutty.ca/blog/ TheNut], who was kind enough to create and post an [http://graphicall.org/builds/builds/showbuild.php?action=show&id=751 AviSynth-compatible build of Blender] and the pieces started to come together.