Distribute Review: Inlet Technologies Fathom

Inlet Technologies Fathom handles a variety of video inputs and lets you output common formats such as VC-1, On2 VP6, H.264, MPEG-2, and AVI.

Inlet Technologies Fathom is a batch-encoding and file-analysis tool with extensive automation capabilities, great support for H.264 and VC-1 advanced encoding parameters, solid Blu-ray output, and very good closed-captioning support. If you're considering an encoder for heavy-duty shared use in an enterprise, Fathom should be on your short list.

Fathom's interface has four primary windows (see Figure 1). There's one large video window for post-encoding analysis; a Session Directory, which contains jobs to be encoded; the Encoding Queue, which contains jobs currently being encoded; and the Encoding Monitor, which displays statistics about the files being encoded.

You can also set up watch folders. Those with direct or network access to the watch folder can drop files there, and Fathom automatically encodes them. This is a nice technique for automating file encoding and for sharing program usage over a network. Also valuable is the ability to support open and closed captioning for most formats, which is unusual in this class of tool.

Figure 1. Fathom''s main interface. Note the file analysis tool on the bottom, which proved very useful during my tests.

The program can input MPEG-2 elementary, program, and transport streams, as well as GXF, AVI, QuickTime, and AVISynth scripts. That's a nice range of options that can dramatically expand the input formats and filters available to Fathom users. If you need support for live capture to file, Inlet offers several capture hardware options, such as analog and SDI input. Fathom supports most common output formats — including VC-1, On2 VP6, H.264, MPEG-2, AVI, and image thumbnails.

The basic building block for the program is a job, which is a combination of a template, input file, and target output file. The program ships with about 130 templates for live and file-based encoding to Blu-ray, DVD, CableLabs, multiple devices, and all relevant web formats that you can modify and save as your own.

Once you start a job, you configure all encoding parameters by working through seven tabs on the left of the Job window (see Figures 2 and 3). This includes general, input, output, sizing, compression, processing, and captioning. To me, the options are generally plentiful and straightforward, such as the useful ability to select in and out points for files selected for encoding. The only exception was the resizing controls, which I found awkward and confusing. Specifically, when you input a file, you have to manually input the file's pixel aspect ratio, which most other programs can derive from the file itself.

Though you can access a guide by right-clicking the screen, even the guide is confusing. For example, the guide advises you to enter a pixel aspect ratio of 11:10 for 16×9 input, when the true aspect ratio of my primary 16:9 acquisition format, HDV, is 1.33. If Fathom can't derive aspect-related information from the file header or file itself, Inlet should rework this interface, perhaps by allowing users to choose the input format from a simple list box. That said, once you figure it out, you've figured it out, and it's more irritating than significant.

Filtering options include four de-interlacing methods, noise filtering, and the abilitiy to add front and rear bumper files and to insert a watermark over your video. You can also generate thumbnail frames from your video at specified intervals.

Figure 2. Fathom''s Extended parameters include almost all H.264 encoding options exposed in the MainConcept Reference encoder.

Once you've created your encoding jobs, you send them to the Encoding Queue. Fathom can encode multiple files simultaneously, though the default configuration is to encode files serially. To enable parallel encoding, take a quick trip to the Options window (Tools>Options) and check the Enable Concurrent Job-Encoding box. I tested on an HP xw6600 workstation configured with two 2.83GHz quad-core Xeon processors for a total of eight cores.

With eight jobs running, encoding to various SD and HD configurations using the VC-1, VP6, and H.264 codecs, the program consumed up to 85 percent of the available processors, which is very efficient operation. On a single H.264 encoding job, the program consumed about 50 percent of all eight cores, producing a 6-minute, 640×480 file to a data rate of 500kbps in 3:46 — well under realtime. You can also queue more jobs while the program is encoding, another nice touch.

After encoding, you can right-click the Job file in the Session Directory and choose Analyze Output, which loads the file into the Video Analysis window. There you can play the file and view analysis graphs that reveal the average data rate, quantization values, dropped frames, buffer fullness, and frame size. Basically, this is most of the information available from Inlet's Semaphore, a standalone tool that costs $995, and it's a great way to recognize immediately problems with your files.

With this as background, let's look at my format-by-format results.

H.264 is the most widely used codec for web video, and H.264 support is a Fathom strength. For example, Fathom uses the MainConcept H.264 codec, which is the highest-quality codec that I've tested. It's offered with templates for the most common uses, including Blu-ray Discs, high- and low-resolution streaming, the Apple iPod and iPhone, and the Sony PlayStation and PSP.

Beyond the presets, Fathom's H.264 encoding options are very extensive. You can access many of the options provided in MainConcept's Reference application, including control over B-frame pyramids, minimum and maximum quantization values, and entropy encoding mode. Though the presentation is a bit technical, the manual and help file explain most parameters. If you like to tweak your H.264 encoding parameters (and let's face it, who doesn't?), you'll appreciate the flexibility Fathom provides.

I compared Fathom's H.264 output to files produced by other encoding tools, and found Fathom's quality similar to other tools produced with the MainConcept codec. This places it ahead of Apple's Compressor,which uses Apple's own codec, and about on par with Sorenson Media Squeeze, which uses MainConcept.

In terms of compatibility, all files played normally in the QuickTime player, which I expected. To test Flash compatibility, I changed the extension from .mp4 to .flv and integrated the file into a Flash project, where the file also played normally. Overall, for general web usage, Fathom should be a good choice for both quality and compatibility.

Next, I checked encoding for the iPod, producing two files at both high and low resolution. Both files loaded and played normally on my iPod nano. To test Blu-ray output, I encoded a file using Fathom's H.264 Blu-ray preset, which loaded and recorded normally into an Adobe Encore Blu-ray project and played well during playback.

Interestingly, Fathom does not support the MOV format and can't produce H.264 or Sorenson Video 3 files in QuickTime's MOV container. You can stream H.264-encoded files using the MPEG-4 wrapper with Apple's Darwin Server. QuickTime will play MP4 files, but if you need the MOV format for some legacy application, Fathom may not be for you.

Figure 3. Fathom provides extensive access to Microsoft''s advanced tweaking options for VC-1.

When producing VC-1 files, Fathom provides access to most VC-1 tweaks (see Figure 3). These include filtering, quantization properties, and motion-estimation properties, equaling the parameters provided by Microsoft's own Expression Encoder 2. My initial results were not favorable. In my mixed-motion test file, the file produced by Fathom had many dropped frames in high-motion sequences, which Fathom's analysis tool quickly made obvious.

As with most Windows Media-compatible encoding tools, Fathom includes a smoothness control that lets you trade off smoothness and sharpness. When I lowered sharpness from the default 75 percent to the more smoothness-oriented 25 percent, the dropped frames went away. Quality was then on par with that of Expression Encoder 2 across a range of high- and low-motion footage. This turned out to be a great example of how an internal file-analysis tool can really simplify problem identification and resolution.

For VP6, Fathom supports two-pass VBR encoding. This delivers the highest-quality VP6 files, especially in mixed low- and high-motion footage. However, the tool doesn't currently support the VP6-S variant, which is a lower-quality, easier-to-decompress mode that's favored for HD encoding. Inlet plans to offer this mode sooner rather than later.

Otherwise, VP6 encoding controls are very extensive, including most of the advanced features found on On2 Flix Pro's VP6 tab. Again, this is a nice feature for those who like customizing their encoding controls. Equally important, output quality was visually identical to that of Flix Pro, which is the gold standard for VP6 encoding. As long as you don't need VP6-S in the short term, Fathom should be a very good choice for VP6 encoding.

In other tests, I produced Blu-ray-compatible files using Fathom's MPEG-2 Blu-ray presets. These also loaded normally into Encore. Probably the only true disappointment with the product is the Seen-by-Scene feature, which in theory is supposed to allow you to analyze scenes within a video and then re-encode scenes that need a quality boost. Sounds great, but then I learned that it works only with VC-1-encoded files (not H.264, VP6, or MPEG-2), and only VC-1 files without B-frames, which excludes files encoded using the Advanced Profile. The feature “may not” work with files produced with low-bit-rate Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding, and it didn't work with several of the files that I tested. When it was available, it didn't really improve the quality of the re-encoded segments; in fact, it reduced it in all my tests.

Long story short: If you're buying Fathom to access this one feature, you'll likely be disappointed. Otherwise, Fathom proved to be a fast and efficient encoder of high-quality, compatible files.

Company: Inlet Technologies
www.inlethd.com

Product: Fathom

Assets: Efficient operation, broad automation capabilities, solid Blu-ray output.

Caveats: When you input a file, you have to manually input the file's pixel aspect ratio, which most other programs can derive from the file itself.

Demographic: Anyone looking for a high-performance encoder.

PRICE: $7,999

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