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This documentation makes use of several symbols and typographical conventions in order to differentiate various paragraphs from standard descriptive text. Here is the list of symbols and typographical styles used:

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Select your preferences for the user interface:

This tab allows you to set define the decoding device to use for certain codecs.

You can also defines the maximum number of CPU threads engaged in the decoding process.

This page allows you to define default location for media.

→ Click on the browse icon to select a new location for the different types of file.

When using a control panel, this is where you can connect and configure it.

The Tangent Devices panels are supported.

→ Select Tangent Tube from the drop-down menu.

When your system has several audio devices connected, use the Audio Output Device drop down menu to select the desired one.

In this page, you can define the video output signal. Select it from the drop down menu.

The menu bar display different icons:

The Command Panel gives access to the assets of a particular content (media, compositions, metadata) as well as some tools for working with those assets.

ICE Prime mouse cursor changes appearance if an action with the mouse is possible:

Warning messages can appear in the different modules of ICE Prime.

These messages interrupt the current work, in order to inform the user about a critical path.

Warning messages always require an action from the user : press OK to continue or ESC to cancel.

A lot of keyboard shortcuts are available in ICE Prime.

Drag & Drop from Windows' file system allows you to easily import flat files, packages (DCP, IMF, iTunes, etc..), image sequences, compositions, sidecars files, etc.

→ Hit the Windows key or press + at the bottom right of the panel to display the Windows file browser.

→ Select your files and drop them anywhere in the application’s window.

Once the media are properly referenced, they are displayed in the Media tab.

The Import panel is an internal smart file browser that has the capability of understanding complex media files and packages.

→ Click on the IMPORT button at the bottom of the application window to display the Import panel.

The Import panel is composed of 2 areas:

The left column, used for quickly navigating through the physical files volumes the system is connected to.
Bookmarks and Aliases are also displayed there.

The folder tree column, showing folders' organization within a volume.

In order to ease the navigation, you can display only a specific file type.

→ Click on the file type to open the drop-down menu:

→ Select the desired type of file from the list:

→ Validate the import using OK.

→ To delete a media, select the desired clip and press *- at the bottom right of the Command Panel.

→ Alternatively, when the clip is selected, you can →. Choose Delete from the drop-down menu.

The operator can display the media assets using different views :

Click on the View icons on the upper right of the Command Panel to change the views:

When importing an encrypted DCP, the assets are displayed with a closed lock and the media preview is black:

After importing the KDM (See Import Encrypted DCP), the locks are open and the media preview is enabled.

→ A double click on a media will automatically load the content on the record timeline.
Alternatively you can open the media operations menu with a right click and select Load in Record.

→ To start automatically the playback of the content loaded on the timeline, enables the option Start play on Load in the Project Settings, User interface.

→ To load manually the media on the timeline, refers to section Adding clips to a composition.

→ To start the playback of an IMF or DCP package, see the Composition tab information on next chapter.

When performing a right-click on a media clip in the Media bin you access the Media Operations menu offering several options and shortcuts.

In order to playback stand alone files together with a video, for example external subtitles or audio files, it is possible to add them in the existing composition:

→ From the Media bin, right-click on the file and select Add Media Track: a new track with the media has been created on the timeline.

If the standalone file is a Dolby Vision metadata file it works the same.
Refers to Dolby Vision for more information.

Media can be converted to a different frame rate, audio configuration, image resolution and color space. This can be done manually in the Composition settings panel, but also automatically using shortcuts.

When a media referenced in a project has been moved from its original physical location, the application cannot access it and it is no longer possible to work with it.

In this case, a warning is displayed on the clip:

It is then necessary to proceed to a manual relink of the path to the files.

Your media is now relinked.

When a package contains SideCar files, they are displayed in the list Sidecar Assets.

→ To open a SideCar asset double click on it. If Windows system recognizes the file type, the associated application will be automatically launched.

OPLs present in an IMF package are listed under the Processing Graphs list.

You can modify the lenght of the columns for the list of composition. Position the mouse until the cursor changes appearance next to the column you want to modify and slide:

To read more about the Compositions management: Compositions .

Refer to chapter Media Import Drag & Drop

Refer to chapter Media Import Drag & Drop

This element of the timeline displays the metadata present in the tracks and allows some controls over the tracks.

The commands for the Transport controls are the following:

When a media is opened on ICE Prime’s timeline, it is included in a composition.

This composition can be enriched with additional media tracks, and its parameters can be modified.

ICE Prime supports multiple compositions, either coming from a package (DCP or IMF), or compositions manually created.

They are managed in the Command Panel, in the COMPOSITIONS page.

ICE Prime plays the media based on their metadata.
For example, a double click on a Composition or a specific clip in the Media bin will automatically set the right parameters on the timeline, in terms of frame rate, color space, or image resolution.

However, there is some cases where either the metadata are not present or not correct, and in this case the settings of the composition must be manually changed.

The different Composition Settings are available in the Command Panel in the SETTINGS pages.

There is several modes for playback available:

The “Play once” mode is set by default.

→ To toggle to the other modes, click on the icon until the desired mode is displayed.

→ To play a specific region of the composition, mark the desired range with IN and/or OUT points:

The timeline’s interface displays some playback information such as:

When an image sequence has no frame rate information in the metadata, it is possible to manually set a frame rate:

You can navigate from Reel to Reel using different options:

→ Double click on a time code in the Reels' list for the PlayHead to jump directly to the fist frame of the reel in the TimeLine.

→ Use shortcuts Alt+Ctrl+Page Up| for Next Reel and Alt+Ctrl+Page Down| for Previous Reel

Additionally, when the PlayHead is positioned on a particular Reel, it is highlighted in the Reels' list.

→ To Add a Marker, position the Playhead on the desired timecode and in the Markers panel select a color and click +. The Marker is set for a default duration of 1 sec.

→ To mark a range, first define your range and in the Marker panel click +.

→ To delete a Marker, select it in the Markers' list and click -.

Markers are represented in the TimeLine by colored triangles and positioned in the Marker’s track:

You can navigate from Marker to Marker using different options:

→ Double click on a time code in the Markers list for the PlayHead to jump directly to the related frame in the TimeLine.

→ Use shortcuts Shift+U for Next Marker and Alt+U for Previous Marker

Additionally, when the PlayHead is positioned on a particular Marker, it is highlighted in the Marker’s list.

SMPTE markers labels are supported. To add some, select the desired Marker in the list and click on Default on the Type column.

This action display the Markers drop down menu.

You can also add custom comments.

Select the desired Marker in the list and click on Default on the Comments column and add your custom text:

You can move or change the duration of a marker directly in the timeline:

→ Position the mouse on the IN or OUT point of the marker until the cursor shows and move the marker to the new position.

→ To Add a Locator, position the Playhead on the desired timecode and in the Locators panel select a color and click +.

→ To delete a Locator, select it in the Locators' list and click -.

You can navigate from Locator to Locator using different options:

→ Double click on a time code in the Locators list for the PlayHead to jump directly to the related frame in the TimeLine.

→ Use shortcuts P for Next Locator and Alt+P for Previous Locator

Additionally, when the PlayHead is positioned on a particular Marker, it is highlighted in the Marker’s list.

→ Select the desired Locator in the list and click on the empty field in the Comments column and add your custom text.

→ To rename a Locator, double click on its name and enter the new text.

You can move a Locator directly in the timeline:

→ Position the mouse on the locator until the cursor shows and move the locator to the new position.

The Color Management System defines the working color space of the composition (also referred as Workflow), regardless of the source color space or the desired output color space.

There is 3 types of color management systems available with ICE Prime:

You can select them in the COMMAND PANEL  SETTINGS  CMS

Using the Native CMS, the media is displayed as is and no color space conversion is done on the composition.

With this mode it is however important to set the Worklfow accordingly, in order to have the full tool set of image analysis in line with the content.

The Marquise Technologies' Color Management System is a proprietary color management system allowing state of the art color conversions.

For more precision and reliability, MTCMS uses industry standards to compute in 32 bit-float on-the-fly the exact values for every possible color. No interpolation is done when using a LUT.

ACES, for Academy Color Encoding System, has been developed by AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) with the intend to help preserve the color integrity of the content from shooting to archiving.

Specific algorithm allows any kind of source to be processed within the controlled environment of the ACES color space and for a specific output.

See Working in ACES

Working in MTCMS requires to define the colorimetric information of the sources placed on the timeline for reference for all operations of color conversion simulation.

ICE Prime parse the existing metadata of the media, so when a color metadata is present in the file, ICE Prime will automatically load it as current Source settings. If not, you need to characterize the source manually.

The source settings are defined in the COMMAND PANEL  SETTINGS  CMS

ICE Prime always computes in FULL range internally meaning that:

When no information of range is present in the media, the FULL range will be set by default, in order to avoid any additional compression if the source is indeed encoded as FULL content but with no metadata about it.

Be careful with this setting because your output may have levels that are not correct.

Read also About Color Range in the Support Portal’s Knowledge Base for additional information.

ICE Prime supports different chromatic adaptation also called Color Appearance Model (CAM).

This adaptation makes it possible to match the original RGB color coordinates of the DSM to equivalent CIE XYZ coordinates. These colors are not matching from a colorimetric point of view but rather from a perceptual point of view.

This is why ICE Prime offers different methods that will meet the needs of each content. Select a method to apply for adapting the white point of your source media to the one set in the MTCMS:

When the CMS is set on ACES, this is where you select the ODT (output device transform) used to display the content.

ICE Prime allows to load a Look Up Table for the Viewport. You can select one in the drop-down menu.

Different workflows are avaialble when working in ACES, and it must be chosen first in order to have access to the right paramters.

When selecting the ACES CMS, ICE Prime inspects the media metadata to automatically set the right IDT if that metadata is present.

However it is always possible to modify manually the IDT:

→ In the SOURCE MEDIA section of the CMS page, choose the IDT corresponding to the properties of your source.

In ACES system, you need to choose an Output Device Transform to display your content accordingly.

However, the ODT are also depending of the workflow you have chosen.

The ODTs are chosen in the Displays / Target Display drop down menu.

When the metadata of the Max FALL and Max CLL are present in the media, ICE Prime displays them in the CMS page.

However, these metadata can be wrong or missing. In that case, you can edit them:

→ Double click on the Max FALL or Max CLL value to modify it and validate with ENTER.

ICE Prime allows to manage the subtitle’s luminance independently from the one of the video track.

This is managed in the CMS page under Timed Text Color Space:

By default, a factor of 4 is applied as gain (e.g. a 100 nits subtitle will appear at 400 nits.), but it can be modified using the Timed Text Gain’s slider.

HDR metadata present in the file can be verified using the Metadata Inspector available in the COMMAND PANEL  METADATA

When setting an HDR workflow in the CMS, the video scopes automatically adapt their scale according to the color space chosen.

The output of Dolby Vision metadata through HDMI is done using the AJA Kona5 video IO card.

→ To allow the sending of the Dolby Vision metadata directly to the consummer TV, the HDMI and the Dolby Vision options must be enabled in the Video Output Settings.

→ Whatever the CMS chosen, select Dolby Vision in the Workflow drop-down menu.

→ Select the Primaries. It can be either BT.2020 or P3D65.

→ Select the metadata version in the section Dynamic Tone Mapping:

→ Setup the Mastering Display for Dolby Vision in the COMMAND PANEL  SETTINGS  DISPLAYS

For more information, please refer to the chapter Mastering Display.

You can import media with embedded Dolby Vision metadata like any other file.

ICE Prime will detect the metadata and automatically set the CMS settings accordingly.

In addition, the video track displays a white line representing the embedded metadata:

Marquise Technologies' solutions support the two variations of Dolby Vision metadata:

There is different ways to inspect Dolby Vision metadata.

In the COMMAND PANEL  METADATA the Dolby Vision’s metadata are displayed over two sections:

If your listening device is not compatible with the soundfields on the timeline, it is possible to perform a down-mix to stereo:

→ In the Command Panel, select TOOLS then ROUTING

→ In the Audio Routing section, use the DOWNMIX dropdown menu to select the desired downmix configuration:

A Master Gain slider is available in the Routing panel:

ICE Prime offers a full set of Audio monitoring tools for the quality control. Refers to the chapter Audio Scopes for details about the different audio scopes.

In ICE Prime, the Immersive Audio files are not managed as regular audio tracks.

When dropping an immersive audio track into the Media bin, ICE Prime recognizes the metadata and displays a specific icon for the file:

→ To load the immersive audio file on an existing Timeline, use the "Add as Media Track" function from the Media bin.

ICE Prime supports Dolby Atmos^TM technology and allows the import and the render of Atmos files for QC purposes.

For all text-based subtitle formats, only the UTF-8 encoding is supported.

It is important to differentiate the effective duration of the subtitle file from the interpreted duration.

The effective duration is ranging from the first spot to the last spot. Whatever timecode is indicated for the first spot, once placed on the timeline the interpreted start will always be 0:00:00:00 by convention unless otherwise specified in the metadata.

If a start TC is embedded in the file, for example an EBU STL file starting at 10:00:00, then the way it will be interpreted by the timeline differs depending on the way the file is opened:

If you double click on a subtitle file specifying a start TC directly in the media bin, it will be placed automatically on the timeline at the indicated Start TC:

If you import a subtitle file specifying a start TC on an existing timeline using drag & CTRL V, then the start TC will be the one of the playhead location:

In this last case, the original TC of the spots will be relative to the new start point of the file. This will be reflected in the spot list with a different color for the time codes (see below Subtitle Inspection chapter).

Some subtitle formats carry metadata that are displayed in the Command Panel  Metadata  Clip page.

When you import the file on a new subtitle track on the timeline, the track box will display the language information present in the file. However, if you delete the file and replace it with another clip of another language, the Track language information will not be updated automatically.

The import of standalone subtitle file is similar to a video or a audio assets.

You can import the subtitle file directly from the OS browser by selecting it and dragging it into the Command Panel's Media bin.

The way to import subtitles and captions image profile is identical to text profile.

However, make sure the image files and the subtitle XML file are in the same root folder, permitting to automatically locate the image files to which the XML subtitle file refers.

→ To place your subtitles and captions in an existing timeline, move the Playhead to the desired location for placing the start of the subtitle then in the media bin, right-click on the subtitle file and chose "Add as Media Track".

You can load multiple subtitle tracks, they will be stacked on the top of each other.

To view them use the enable / diabled icon on the Track control Box.

It is possible to configure the composition size according to the properties of a subtitle file such as IMSC1. To do this, the file must have the attribute tts: extent defining the resolution of the image in its settings.

Most of the time, this attribute is used in the subtitle files using the image profile and the pixel unit. This is to inform the optimal resolution of the use of the subtitle, so as not to deteriorate its quality which the would make it unusable:

The composition fits the dimensions of the subtitle file.

In the case of using a subtitle in text profile, the subtitle will use the same resolution as the current composition. The text being vectorial, there is no loss of quality.

It is possible to quickly navigate from one subtitle line to another one in the composition.

→ Go to COMMAND PANEL  TOOLS  SUBTITLES  TEXT

→ Double click on a timecode REC IN or REC OUT :

On the Viewport you can activate different Guides in order to verify the placement of a subtitle on the image:

→ Display the Safe Frame guides using Alt+F.
Parameters for the Safe frame guide can be adjusted in COMMAND PANEL  SETTINGS  FORMAT

→ Display a grid on the Viewport using Alt+G.

As soon as the subtitle has been placed in the timeline, subtitles are displayed into the Viewport. If not, verify that the associated font has been loaded:

→ Go to COMMAND PANEL  TOOLS  SUBTITLES  FONT

If a font is present in the subtitle, it’s name will automatically appear under the tab FONT in white color.

If the font has been not properly loaded, no font will be listed or the font will be displayed in red.

In addition, the Console will display an error message:

→ Double-click on the 1 digit or the font label to open the Font Library.

→ Select the desired font into the list and click on OK to validate your selection. Fonts present in this list are based on the OS font folder.

By default, the scopes monitor is set on a 4-scope layout.

→ To change the number of scopes to be displayed on the Scopes monitor click on the scope layout icon and select another layout.

ICE Prime gives a default scope ordering, that can be modified by the user.

→ Click on the Scope icon to select the scope to display for this location.

→ Click on the option icon to select the options for the current scope.

A histogram is a graphical representation of the tonal distribution in a digital image.
It plots the number of pixels for each tonal value. By looking at the histogram for a specific image one is able to judge the entire tonal distribution at a glance.

→ You can use Shift+H to display the Histogram.

Options

The vectorscope is used to visualize chrominance, which is encoded into the video signal as a subcarrier of specific frequency: it plots the Cb and Cr channels against each other, for the purpose of measuring and testing television signals.

→ You can use Shift+V to display the Vectorscope.

Options

This diagram allows you to see how the signal is displayed within the color space chosen.

→ You can use Shift+G to display the CIE diagram.

Legend

Options

The Waveform is used to measure and display the level of the brightness, or luminance, of the part of the image being drawn onto a screen at the same point in time.

→ You can use Shift+W to display the Waveform.

Options

This tool offers different modes in order to inspect the image.

→ to activate the Zebra, use Alt+Z or press Z on the user interface. By default, the Zebra patterning is set on Signal Range mode.

→ to toggle between the different Zebra modes, select them in the Command Panel / Tools / Zebra:

The Luminance meter is used to measure the photometric brightness of an HDR image. It measures the amount of light that strikes a surface in the picture.

→ You can use Shift+N to display the Luminance meter.

You can display detailed color information for a specific area of the image (pixel accuracy).

The information are displayed per color channel (R, G, B and A).

The VU-Meter displays a representation of the signal level per audio channel.

You can display Peak Meters information, Sample Peak and True Peak.

The Loudness meter measures the human perceived loudness of an audio content.

Here the Loudness Meter is based on the EBU R128 Loudness recommendation.

In this meter, the positions of the full range loudspeakers are marked on a graticule and the amplitude distribution of the sound-field is used to modulate a visual representation, also called "jellyfish display".

The phase relationships that exist between channels of a multi-channel audio system represent critical information to a quality-control engineer.

The Room visualizer allows a real-time 3D visualization of the immersive audio objects positions in the room.

→ Click anywhere in the scope with Alt pressed for orienting the room in any direction.

b.e. = big endian / l.e. = little endian