Cinamaker
Cinamaker is an app-based streaming solution for live mobile video. Released last year, Cinamaker allows users to record and edit multi-camera live streaming via iOS or Android device.
Cinamaker CEO and founder Benjamin Nowak had been working with technology for synchronisation on smartphones for some years, resulting in the iOS music app TuneMob. TuneMob allowed music to be played back, in sync, through up to seven iOS devices simultaneously.
“TuneMob was more of a novelty than a powerful utility,” says Nowak. “But it dawned on me that a perfect leverage for our sync technology would be multi-camera video.”
Cinamaker offers built-in video syncing using multiple iOS devices, without the need for an externally generated sync or timecode, allowing users to create a live iOS-based production ecosystem, in which multiple iOS devices – or the audio or video devices linked to them – can be switched live without the need for additional devices.
Cinamaker is releasing two apps – the primary one will be on iOS. Another consumer app will be released, for Android smartphones only.
Cinamaker’s live workflow features include multi-camera capability, live preview and remote control, all through an iPad interface. At its simplest, Cinamaker can use smartphone cameras directly, or it can connect to external cameras through encoders via HDMI or SDI sources, as well as using RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol). It supports up to four video streams of up to 25Mbps and up to eight audio sources.
Through a partnership with Panasonic, Cinamaker is optimised for Panasonic PTZ broadcast cameras, including options for easy remote control.
Cinamaker can stream directly to Facebook Live and YouTube Live, as well as to webpages or any RTMP destination. An upcoming cloud-service, called Blaster, will allow users to direct a stream to four different streams at once. Blaster will be provided as an add-on subscription service.
Through its iPad UI, Cinamaker can also do live audio mixing.
“We also can allow an iPhone to just capture audio and put it in sync with everything else and make it available through the mixer,” says Nowak. “We can also pull audio off a traditional mixer board which can come in as an audio input.”
Cinamaker also comes with a graphics system with features like picture-in-picture and chroma key as well as still and animated alpha channel graphics. It also supports text objects and embedding of clips.
On Stream The tool enables live streaming, editing and switching of video as well as live audio mixing.
Editing Ease
One of the newest features in Cinamaker is a real-time editor. “Unless you choose otherwise, all your source footage gets saved on the iPad,” explains Nowak. “Not only do you have the cut from your live stream, you have your source footage, so you can edit that with all your metadata preserve.”
Through an interface similar to that used for the live stream, users can then play back all the video sources as if they were real-time cameras. “It allows you to move the scrub bar to wherever you want to change a camera selection, or turn graphics on and off, and then essentially re-record as if it were live.”
Project files are in the XMEML format and compatible with Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. “When you open a project file in those editors, your source footage is all in sync, and all of your camera decisions and media objects are already in their libraries and in your timeline with all the metadata.”
“With that, we can also give users the ability to do editing in a live, real-time workflow by simply touching whatever angle they want at the time,” says Nowak. “It enables live multi-camera editing and live switching very simply.”
“We are the video storytelling tool for everyone, at a price point that everyone can afford.”
In-house Encoding
The company is also planning to roll out a line of its own encoder hardware. These encoders will allow for faster and easier device detection on the network.
“For professional environments, most people want to use a wired set up,” says Nowak. “We’ll be offering ‘Connectivity Kits’. We’ve sourced great camera adapters, and we’ll also offer smartphone adapters which will allow you to connect your smartphone using power over Ethernet cables, so you can have power and data all day with the reliability of wires.”
“We’re doing some testing now with an international broadcaster in the US, as well as with a handful of YouTubers, including Jam In The Van. We’ve done numerous events, everything from small conference room to large corporate events, including a big outdoor event in Costa Rica, and we’re also testing in a handful of schools, because education will be an important market for us.
“We believe we are the video storytelling tool for everyone, at a price point that everyone can afford… We’re surprising ourselves. We have a broader appeal than we thought.”
Learn more about Cinamaker, and download the latest version, at: www.cinamaker.net
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of FEED magazine.
