Language:

Update SportsCode V8 to 8.3.0 today!

Today SportsCode 8.3.0 has been released. All users with a SportsCode V8 code can update to this new version. Read the changes here....

Today SportsCode 8.3.0 has been released. All users with a SportsCode V8 code can update to this new version.

Click here to download SportsCode Gamebreaker 8.3.0

Click here to download SportsCode Pro, Elite or Player 8.3.0

At the end of this page you will find the full release notes for this new version of SportsCode. We however have made a short list of the most important updates:

For all SportsCode Gamebreaker, SportsCode Pro and SportsCode Elite users:

  1. The manuals have been greatly overhauled to include all the options described in these release notes.
  2. HD capture has been stabilised 
  3. Extra Compression: When this option is ticked, an "Extra" package will be exported during capture, so when is ended, 2 movie packages will be available. This works great for capturing DV and converting to H.264.
  4. Added timestamp information inside the package. This is used for synchronising XML imported data from CODA, iCODA, CODA Server and other third party data vendors. Check the manual for more information under: “Instance Adjusting for live XML import adjusting”
  5. Added colors: green and red to the timeline ruler to indicate movie readiness and segmentation 
  6. Drag and drop movie creation re-implemented. By clicking and dragging on a timeline, instance, or edit instance movie window, a reference movie can be created.

For all SportsCode Pro and SportsCode Elite users:

  1. Playback speed can be set by selecting the instance or group of instances, then clicking on the speed icon in the movie organiser tool bar. Alternatively, hold down SHIFT+CTRL and click on the instance to access the playback speed menu. 
  2. Live import of XML files, for loading Coda data live into SportsCode

For all SportsCode Elite users:

  1. All web page exports use the export window queue to manage the conversion process. This greatly enhances the reliability of the Matrix Export.

 

Updates from 8.2.1 to 8.3.0:

  • Registration
  •  
    • Registration has been updated to better handle some foreign languages, particularly Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
    • Registration procedures and processes for all users has changed, but the change should be transparent for most users apart from asking once whether or not to register online or use a dongle and agreement to license. No license registration is required for this update.
  • Manual
  •  
    • The manuals have been greatly overhauled to include all the options described in these release notes.
  • Capture
  •  
    • HD capture has been stabilised. A huge amount of testing and development has been done in this area. Through this process we have found some real thresholds relating to hardware and have to come the conclusion that if a true HD workflow is required then the proper hardware must be in place.
      • To capture HD on a laptop reliably the following is required:
        • MacBook Pro 17in with 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 8GB RAM and 7200rpm hard drive or solid state drive. (The graphics adapter must be set to higher performance)
        • MacBook Pro 17in with 2.53 Ghz Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB RAM and 7200rpm hard drive or solid state drive.
        • MacBook Pro 15in with 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and 7200rpm hard drive or solid state drive.
      • To capture HD on a MacPro use a > 8 Intel Core CPU with 8GB RAM. Models dating back 3 years will do the job with no problems.
      • To playback HD video smoothly requires a good graphics card and at least a 2.0Ghz Intel Core CPU and 4GB RAM. Take note that our software is doing a lot more that Quicktime Player, so comparisons to this and our software really should not be made. Over the last 3 years, Apple computers have come with a variety of graphics adapters, so we cannot guarantee that all computers will play HD files properly. We have seen cases where old PowerPC PowerBooks can play HD, but newer MacBooks cannot. This is due the gutsy graphic card in the late PowerBooks.
      • We strongly recommend using Apple Intermediate Codec for capturing HD. This codec is far more stable than the HDV codec. It is tempting to use HDV as its file size is vastly smaller than that of AIC. But from our testing, we have found that HDV is very temperamental and is not a very good codec for this demanding process. Also, AIC lends itself to easier workflows as the codec does not need to be installed on a machine to playback the video plus it results in better quality and converts to other formats better. It is very important to speak to your support representative about HD workflow if you are really interested making the jump.
    • Extra Compression Update: This feature has been rewritten from the ground up. This option can be found in the Capture save dialog box. When this option is ticked, an "Extra" package will be exported during capture, so when is ended, 2 movie packages will be available. This works great for capturing DV and converting to H.264. If compressing HD video, be aware compression times could be long. Using the convert movie package uses the same routine, so if you forget to tick this box, you can fire it up during capture; even queue packages for different workflow. Beware, this increases CPU usage and may slow down other applications involved in your workflow. The export will stall itself if the CPU > 95%.
    • Added timestamp information inside the package. This is used for synchronising XML imported data from CODA, iCODA, CODA Server and other third party data vendors. If any CODA software is being used to code live, capturing using this version makes synchronising the movie and the XML a cinch particularly live. See Instance Adjusting for live XML import adjusting.
  • Movie Organiser
  •  
    • New Feature: Playback speed can be set by selecting the instance or group of instances, then clicking on the speed icon in the movie organiser tool bar. Alternatively, hold down SHIFT+CTRL and click on the instance to access the playback speed menu.
    • New Feature: Preference added for title picture creation. "Maximum number of pictures in titles frame" sets how many pictures will be used in the title as a background effect. Setting this zero will create a black with row text only. Using large number settings can cause the movie organiser movie creation time to be very long especially if there are a large amount of rows in the organiser.
    • Row colors are copied when databasing. Previously, instances were exported using the default grey colour.
    • Multiple bug fixes related to title creation, mixing of various movie codecs, and the use of stacked movies.
    • Added better routines for handling large amounts of labels in instances.
  • Matrix
  •  
    • Updated Matrix web page exports
      • All web page exports use the export window queue to manage the conversion process. This greatly enhances the reliability.
        • iPhone export
          • Added options for exporting up to the last 99 instances.
          • Added options to create row and column totals movies.
          • Added options to create cell totals movies.
        • XML export
          • Added options to create cell totals movies.
          • Added options to export all individual movie using 0 as the setting.
    • Printing bug fixed when matrix axis is swapped.
    • Better procedures written to handle multiple open timelines.
    • New settings in the window to replace only rows from the selected timeline.
  • Capture timeline
  •  
    • New Feature: MO and Sorter windows can be created from capturing timeline on the capturing computer. The resulting files will work after capture if saved.
    • New Feature: MO and Sorter windows can be created using timeline share timeline during capture. The resulting files can be linked back to original movie.
    • New Feature: Added colors: green and red to the timeline ruler to indicate movie readiness and segmentation. The green portion indicates that instances within this range of time are written to disk and are readily available to be viewed. The red portion indicates that instances within its range are not ready for use. However, if an instance is double clicked on to be viewed, the timeline will update and the instance movie will be made shortly after the double click.
    • New Preference: A new preference has been added "Update timeline regularly during capture". If this option is selected, the timeline will travel along rapidly to keep up with the capture window. This allows the timeline movie to be played in a state of delay behind the capture without bumping into the end of the timeline. In practice, we have found that we can stay ~18 seconds behind capture reliably. Pushing this faster will be possible when faster hardware is available.
    • New Preference: A new preference has been added "Zoom timeline during capture". When this option is selected, the capturing timeline will automatically zoom in towards twice the default movie segment duration. There are two reasons for this preference: It helps the person coding see what labels have been inserted in the instance and more importantly on older computers with low memory and cpu speeds, we found displaying too many instances over a long sustained capture was troublesome.
    • New Preference: "Default movie segment duration" has been added to the capture preferences. During capture, the software writes movie segments to the hard disk, so they can be accessed by other processes during capture. This preference sets this default duration. It strongly recommended that you use the default settings of 1 minute unless timeline share updating is paramount. If this setting is set lower this creates more movie parts and a higher demand on the cpu and hard disk which can interrupt other processes. Also, after capture, having a lot of movie parts in a package can be hard on a network as opening and playing the file creates higher requests. This can also create problems when creating large reference or combined timelines; the movie parts can add up quite quickly. In any event, we recommend saving captured movie packages as standalone packages after capture, this makes one file out of all the movie parts which makes long term usage a lot more robust. During coding the default movie segment duration will be overridden by live coding; when a code button is ended, an update will be triggered and the movie segment will end according to the minimum segment duration time.
    • New Preference: "Minimum movie segment duration" has been added to the capture preferences. This setting is smallest duration a movie segment during capture can be. It should generally be left alone and only be used in timeline share workflows and even then it is probably not necessary. When a code button is ended during capture, it triggers the capture window to end the current movie segment. So, if this preference is set to 10 and the movie segment is only 1 second long when the code button is ended, the update will not occur for another 9 seconds. This setting insures that the movie segments will be at least a certain length and the capture process is kept in certain parameters. See "Default movie segment duration" for more details on capture segments. 
  • Movie windows and files
  •  
    • Re-implemented Feature: Drag and drop movie creation re-implemented. By clicking and dragging on a timeline, instance, or edit instance movie window, a reference movie can be created. This was available in versions prior to Mac OS X 10.6. However, it has been implemented differently that before. The name of the reference movie is now "Movie YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS.HH.mov". This naming makes it very handy for sorting especially if items are put in a folder and things are added at a later date. IMPORTANT NOTE: If the movies are to be used in iMovie or other post production applications, you must hold down OPTION when doing the drag and drop. This strips extra movie tracks that SportsCode uses for time, coded data for overlay and instance notes plus drawings.
    • Movies created from SC use the file type MooV to make them more compatible with Apple's movie player.  Standalone SC movies with the extension SCmov might not open with Apple's player without this file type. If problems occur, change the movie extension to .mov. Updates in Mac OS X 10.6 have required SportsCode to have an individual file extension, so that they open in SportsCode reliably.
  • Databasing
  •  
    • Database package structure has been updated. Timeline DB exports movie data to 'MOVIE DATA folder'.  This structure is the same as a captured timeline package and standardises all movie packages. All DB procedures now export to this folder including movie organiser, sorter and find windows.
  • Instance Adjusting
  •  
    • Two new options to adjust instances to the right of the playhead.
      • "Remove unused instance time to the right of the playhead" This sucks empty space between the playhead and the first instance start to the right of the playhead.
      • "Nudge all instances on the right of the playhead to the right" This pushes all instances to the right of the playhead to the right. Hold keys down, the instance movement will accelerate.
    • Three keystrokes added to adjust instances using the playhead
      • Hold down CTRL+COMMAND+Z and click and drag the playhead. All instances will be adjusted according to the playhead location.
      • Hold down CTRL+COMMAND+X and click and drag playhead. All instances to the right of the playhead will be adjusted to the playhead location.
      • During capture: Hold down CTRL+COMMAND+A and click and drag the playhead to adjust the instances during an auto XML import. A time offset will be calculated, stored and used to import the XML for the remaining time that SportsCode running. This offset will be discarded once SportsCode has been quit, but the instances will remain in place in the movie package after it is closed.
    • All instance nudge keystroke behaviours have been increased by 10 times.
  • Timeline
  •  
    • Fixed flickering with drag selection of instances that could occur on rare occasions.
  • Opening Packages
  •  
    • Package opening procedures updated.
    • Modernised the opening of all spreadsheet files (sorter, statistics, etc).  Many changes made to underlying procedures, but there should be no observable differences.
  • Timeline Share
  •  
    • Fixed timeline share timeline from asking to save changes after closing.
    • The timeline share timeline file in the package could not be opened, this had stopped working. It has been fixed, this is a good backup timeline to have handy if needed.
    • A final update procedure has been added so that the full length of the captured movie is available to the timeline share timeline.
    • When double clicking on the package to open as timeline share timeline on networked computer, the opening process will repeatedly try to open the file. If it cannot because there is not enough data or the data is not ready, it will give up. This is rare and we have not seen this yet. When this occurs, double click on the package again. We have not had one not open since we made the changes.
    • Fixed problem where timeline share would stop responding when opened.
    • Updating timeline share update message has been removed.
  • Exports
  •  
    • The File > Export menu has been reorganised and features renamed to present in a tidier manner.
    • New SportsCode XML preferences and features
      • Added timestamp data to the file structure. This makes synchronising with captured video much easier. The video must be captured with SportsCode.
      • New Preference: The entire preference panel has been redone.
        • Export section
          • XML
            • "Enable" turns on automatic SportsCode XML export during capture and coding.
            • "Directory for timeline share XML edit list" sets the folder for where the file is saved. This is not be confused with timeline sharing of the timeline movie, this is timeline share of its data only and is the same data that is presented in the timeline share timeline.
            • "XML file name" sets the default name for the XML file.
          • Excel
            • "Enable" turns on automatic traditional Excel edit list export during capture and coding.
            • "Directory for timeline share Excel edit list" sets the folder for where the file is saved. This is not be confused with timeline sharing of the timeline movie, this is timeline share of its data only and is the same data that is presented in the timeline share timeline.
          • "Update timeline share edit list every XX seconds" sets the frequency at which new data is written to the file. It can be used to help with timing of third party data presentation work flows.
    • New feature: File > Export > Movie > Convert movie package. Open any package captured in 8.3.0 or greater and the package can be converted to another type of movie codec. The complete package structure is copied, so all data remains in tact. This is very convenient for compressing and archiving movie packages. Each time this feature is chosen, the package is sent a queue for converting. So, a batch of movie packages can be loaded up and left to compress over a period of time. This option can be used during capture if extra compression was not selected or more formats are required once capture is completed. The new package will carry the same name with "-extra" appended to it by default or a new name can be given. The feature does not support movie packages prior to 8.3.0 since there was changes to the package contents structure. To use this with packages from previous versions, choose File > Save as standalone package, then export it. Saving as a standalone package does take very long as it just copies the data and restructures that package.
    • Increased quality for movie exports:
      • Convert iPhone movie into iTunes
      • Convert selected instances by row to iPhone movie into iTunes
    • Final Cut Export updated:
      • This export has been hundreds of times faster.
      • Added feature to export instances as markers or clips.
  • Imports
  •  
    • New SportsCode XML preferences and features
      • Import section
        •  
          • "Enable auto XML import background copy process" initiates a procedure that copies the XML file from a remote folder to a local folder, then from this local folder the file is imported into the timeline. This preference helps in areas where network connectivity is weak. We have found in some cases that 3G networks can be very slow and when using normal procedures for reading the XML file over the network connection the timeline import can cause the timeline to update very slowly and the pinwheel to appear. If this is evident, turn this preference on. The live import will be slower depending on network conditions, however the pinwheel interruptions will be less.
      • New menu item: "Reload auto XML import" has been added to the File > Import menu. This reloads any XML files in the auto XML import directory. This is useful if corrections have been made to the XML during the import.
    • GPSports Updated
      • The GPSports export has been updated to handle new file formats in GPSports latest versions.
      • Added default row colouring to enhance the look of the import.
    • New Import: OPTA
      • A new import has been added for OPTA's football XML data. This is version 1 of this import. There is a tremendous amount of data in these files, we are only touching the top of the iceberg. We are anxious to get feedback from the users of this import.
        • The OPTA import requires the user to subscribe their data service.
        • The import consists of two files per match, the naming convention of the files is:
          • F24-{competition_id}-{season_id}-{match_id}-eventdetails.xml
          • srml-{competition_id}-{season_id}-squads.xml
        • Upon importing, these two files must be in the same folder and the {competition_id} and {season_id} must match, otherwise the import will not work.
        • To use:
          • Choose File > Import > OPTA
          • Select the eventdetails.xml file to be imported.
          • Two timelines will appear with the imported data, link these two timelines to the corresponding movies of each half. Creating two timelines is done to help aligning the instances to the movie and makes using multiple angles easier. If only one movie for the whole match is available and link each timeline to this movie. Using the second half timeline, set the playhead to the beginning of the timeline and hold down CTRL+COMMAND+Z, then click and drag the playhead down the movie until the instances match up to the second half of the movie. Once the instances are aligned, save the file, select all instances in both timelines, first and second half and choose File > Merge timeline windows. A full timeline will be created and can be saved.
            • The import can be changed to import a single timeline by editing the OPTA_import.plist located inside the application package. Upon user feedback this can be changed or individual users can change this themselves.
        • Resulting timelines will have:
          • individual player rows with grouped labels describing the type of involvements.
          • Team 
        • The import currently supports custom label groups, renaming of any code or label names, and row colors according to teams.
        • Multiple languages are supported if the proper XMLs are supplied.
      • For more information on the OPTA file specifications, contact OPTA.
    • New Import: Champion Data AFL enhanced
      • A new import has been added for Champion Data's AFL XML data. This import is similar to the original Champion Data, now called "Champion Data AFL basic", however it uses a more detailed XML file that includes derived statistics. It has been extended to include label groups and rows of instances for chains of play from stoppages, kickins and turnovers to goal, behind or no score. Also included are labels for attendance at centre bounces, opponent player labels for certain actions and field zone labels for event location.
        • This import requires the user to subscribe their data service.
        • The import consists of one file per match, the naming convention of the files is:
          • sportscode-{match round #}-{home team}-{away team}-enhanced.xml
        • To use:
          • Choose File > Import > Champion Data AFL enhanced.
          • Select the enhanced.xml file
          • 4 timelines will appear, one for each quarter, link these timelines to corresponding movies.
          • Use CTRL+COMMAND+Z to align the instances to the movie.
        • The import currently supports custom label groups, renaming of any code or label names, row colors according to teams and derived chains of play.
    • New Import: Champion Data Netball
      • A new import has been added for Champion Data's Netball XML data. This import is similar to the Champion Data AFL import and requires the users of this import to subscribe their data service.
      • This import creates the following rows in the timeline:
        • Player involvements coded in individual rows
        • Centre pass receives by team with player inserted as label
        • Circle entries by team with player inserted as label
        • Goals and goal assists by team with player inserted as label
        • Shot attempts by team with player inserted as label
        • Turnovers by team with player inserted as label
        • The import consists of one file per match, the naming convention of the files is:
          • civ-{match round #}-{home team}-{away team}.xml
        • To use:
          • Choose File > Import > Champion Data Netball
          • Select the civ.xml file
          • 4 timelines will appear, one for each quarter, link these timelines to corresponding movies.
          • Use CTRL+COMMAND+Z to align the instances to the movie.
        • The import currently supports custom label groups, renaming of any code or label names, row colors according to teams and team statistical events.
    • New Import: Generic CSV Import
      • A generic importer was created to allow the creation of simple "edit lists" from third party processes that can be imported into a timeline. Many users wanting to import extra data will find working with the CSV format very easy as most of the data manipulation can be done in Excel and exported to a CSV file.
      • The feature will attempt to import most comma separated value files that meet the following conditions:
        • The first line (row) in the file is the column header / value description
          • An example might be: Player, Team, Mins, Secs, Frames, Action, Result
        • There are columns/values for Mins,Secs,Frames and each line(row) has this data. This time should be moment at which the instance precisely occurred, started or ended. The length will be determined by the lead and lag times set when importing. Without this data, the instance will not be created.
        • Import options:
          • A global lead and lag time can be set for all instances.
          • Check boxes are available to choose whether the data is imported.
          • The name can be changed and this will be reflected in the timeline as a code row name or label name.
          • Label or code type can be selected.