Release Notes for Flix 6.4.0

Release Date

26th May 2022

For a detailed guide on upgrading to Flix 6.4.0, refer to the Upgrading to Flix 6.4.0 section at the bottom of this page.

New Features

Faster, More Reliable Imports with the Improved Transfer Utility

Experience increased performance with the new transfer utility process introduced in Flix 6.4. The new transport method is faster and more reliable than before, allowing you to easily transfer files to and from Flix and quickly import more panels, in larger batches. The transfer process and file import performance is up to 23% faster than the Flix 6.3 series.

Flix uses a new dedicated port for the Transfer Utility. The default port is 9091, but it can be changed using the client_transfer_port parameter in the config.yml file. See Flix Server Options for more information.

See Import Progress at a Glance in the Transfer Queue

Adding to the work done to the transfer utility, we wanted to give you feedback on what’s happening in the background at a glance. That’s why we’ve introduced a clearer, more comprehensive UI to improve transparency and accessibility. The sleek, non-intrusive interface allows both artists and production to be up-to-date with tracking the transfer process. You can also view and organize uploads and downloads more easily.

Go to See Import Progress at a Glance in the Transfer Queue for more information.

Preserve Camera Moves Between Storyboard Pro, Flix, and Avid

Discover a smoother journey from Storyboard Pro to Avid in Flix 6.4 with support for camera move keyframes transfer into .aaf files, all through Flix. During import, panels with either camera moves or layer transforms now import full-canvas PSDs and QuickTimes together, rendered directly from Storyboard Pro. For panels with camera moves, Flix continues to import the keyframes, but with the new read/write AAF system, Flix fully supports camera moves preview and editing across the whole round trip from story to editorial, and back to story.

See Importing Storyboard Pro Projects into Flix, Setting up Flix with Avid Media Composer, Exporting Your Sequence Revision from Avid Media Composer and for more information.

Preview Artwork and Movies from Panels in a Sequence

Flix 6.4 brings new flexibility into preview preferences. You can now manage the preview setting in the Panel Browser section of preferences. The new default preview settings enables you to see either the full animation or the first frame. Alternatively, if you need to quickly change these settings, you can do so on each individual panel without having to go back to preferences. The latest release also enables you to import both .psd and .mov files, allowing for different kinds of review based on the needs of the show.

See Preview Artwork and Movies from Panels in a Sequence for more information.

Save Time and Space by Importing Packaged Storyboard Pro Project Files

Introducing support for .sbpz packaged project files for Flix 6.4. You can now import .sbpz files in Flix, providing an optimized experience using less storage and reducing backup issues or loss of data.

See Importing Storyboard Pro Projects into Flix for more information.

Update Your Flix Client Automatically from the Flix Server

We’ve made improvements to Flix’s client/server software to allow for future versions of the Flix Client to be automatically upgradeable via the client on startup. Flix detects if the server is a newer version and allows you to download the new Flix Client from the server automatically. This update also ensures there isn’t a mismatch between the client and server versions.

See Installing and Launching Flix Client for more information.

Get Creative with the Latest Photoshop 2022 Features

In Flix 6.4, we’ve added support for Photoshop 2022 to reduce pipeline friction. We’re still working on optimizing this support and ensuring that Flix complies with the new way Photoshop creates plug-ins from Photoshop 2022 onwards (UXP plug-in).

See Installing Plug-ins for Photoshop 2022 for more information.

More Flexibility with 2.2:1 and 1.0:1 Aspect Ratio Support

It’s important for users to have the flexibility to use their preferred aspect ratios for productions, that’s why we’ve added support for the 2.2:1 and 1.0:1 aspect ratios to Flix. You can now benefit from a wider selection choice and support content for widescreens and mobile devices.

Feature Enhancements

Under the Hood

• ID 388509 - A dropdown listing servers previously logged into has been added to the Flix Client. You can remove listed servers by clicking the x next to the server you want to remove from the list.

• ID 410212/421508/450966/450967 - Flix now displays a Client Upgrade Required warning when you log in if the client and server versions do not match.

• ID 412175 - Some config file options, CLI flags, and an environment variable have been deprecated in this release. The deprecated options still work, but are logged as a warning recommending that you use the new values shown here. The deprecated fields will be removed in a later release.

Deprecated Option	New Option
config file options
replication_port	server_comms_port
replication_ip	server_comms_ip
rpc_port	entitlement_port
CLI flags
rep-port	server-comms-port
rep-ip	server-comms-ip
rpc-port	entitlement-port
Environment variables
RepPort	ServerCommsPort

• ID 416726 - Flix Server has been upgraded from Python 2 to Python 3.

• ID 426904 - You can now access the Flix Client download page from Flix Server on the following URL:
http://[server_hostname]:[server_port]/download

• ID 459747 - Flix Server and Flix Client now support macOS 10.15.x (Catalina), 11.x (Big Sur), and macOS 12.x (Monterey).

• ID 477204 - Flix Client has been upgraded to Angular framework version 9.1.13.

• ID 477207 - Flix Client has been upgraded to use Clarity version 3.

• ID 488940 - Flix transfers now use the server's SSL certificate, if available, to encrypt the connection for file transfers between the client and the server.

• ID 490774/498574/502698/504491/507771 - Flix Servers now set a timeout on all database transactions as a fail-safe to ensure that no transactions can hang indefinitely.

• ID 490810 - A new /file endpoint has been added to return image data directly. See the API documentation for more details.

• ID 490819 - Panel thumbnails are now downloaded in the Chrome browser using safe and secure URLs, making downloading thumbnails faster and more efficient.

• ID 490918 - Flix Server now detects if another server has already been started with the same ident.

• ID 495762 - Three new MySQL config file options have been added, giving you greater control over connection details:

• mysql_dial_timeout - defaults to 10s

• mysql_read_timeout - defaults to 5m

• mysql_write_timeout - defaults to 10m

Where m = minutes and s = seconds. You can also combine minutes and seconds. For example, 1m30s.

Story/Production

• ID 472530 - Flix now records a summary of each transfer in the Flix Client logs, allowing greater visibility on the speed and reliability of transfers.

• ID 482507 - Clips from Storyboard Pro containing camera moves and/or layer transforms now import as .mov files, creating accurate animations in Flix.

• ID 489562 - Flix now forces Storyboard Pro to use H.264 encoding when exporting .mov files to Flix.

• ID 493116 - A warning is now displayed when a user tries to access a show thumbnail they don't have access to.

• ID 493530 - Layer transforms in clips from Storyboard Pro are now stored against their respective panel revisions in Flix.

• ID 495729 - You can now cancel transfers during upload by clicking the Cancel All button. A confirmation dialog is displayed, allowing you to continue the transfer if required.

• ID 495999 - Some Photoshop Flix plug-in actions are no longer disabled while importing or running another action. However, any replace actions are still disabled during import.

• ID 496563 - Flix Client now displays a warning on start up if the application closed unexpectedly with unsaved changes or file transfers were in progress.

• ID 496569 - Logging out with transfers in progress now displays a warning, allowing you to continue the transfer if required.

• ID 503228 - You can now undo imports in the Flix Client. Undoing removes the imported panels, but transfer items remain in the Transfer Queue history.

• ID 504953 - Flix Client now checks the Storyboard Pro version currently selected in Preferences and displays a warning message if the version is not supported.

Editorial/Production

• ID 393024 - You can now export audio when publishing .aaf files. This can be turned on in the Preferences > Third Party Apps > Avid Media Composer, but you must also enable Use Flix Timing to export audio.

• ID 485621 - Importing from Avid now always imports all frames and the Effect and New Clips option has been removed from the Avid Import options.

• ID 494313 - The system designed to import .aaf files has been rewritten and will be implemented for all import actions in future releases, allowing for more consistent importing behavior.

Note: Due to a change in how panels are processed when importing from Avid, some panels may be versioned up the first time you import an existing sequence, even though nothing was changed. This only affects a very small number of panels.

• ID 503237 - Metadata detection on images from Premiere has been improved, reducing the chances of server errors.

Bug Fixes

Under the Hood

• ID 383616 - Flix Server returned an error if the hostname in the config file was set to 0.0.0.0.

• ID 426001 - Deleting a user or a group from the server added spurious error messages in the server logs.

• ID 431958 - On older hardware, the Flix Client occasionally failed to launch.

• ID 468618 - Logging in to a server using http:// when TLS was enabled did not display an error.

• ID 468621 - Logging in to a server using an incorrect Username or Password displayed the wrong error message.

• ID 470444 - In multi-server setups, Flix did not switch to an alternate server as expected if the current server failed.

• ID 484849 - Importing unsupported file types failed silently and did not display an error message.

• ID 487851 - File paths in the Preferences dialog occasionally overlapped the preference label.

• ID 487882 - The alignment of feedback banners at the top of the Flix Client interface was inconsistent.

• ID 491991 - Thumbnails were occasionally generated twice for a given panel, resulting in still panels being converted to two-frame animated panels.

• ID 497100 - QuickTimes exported from the Flix Client occasionally caused the Flix Server to crash.

• ID 502164 - Using chips in the Preferences dialog under Third Party Apps did not work as expected.

• ID 505302 - In multi-server setups, image transcoding jobs were not distributed across the available servers effectively.

Story/Production

• ID 438147 - Exported QuickTime files did not respect audio alignment when there were unselected panels at the beginning of the sequence revision.

• ID 463019 - Animated panel thumbnails did not show the correct frame in relation to the Trim Animation values.

• ID 463105 - Flix always versioned up the newest panel in the panel history, rather than panel selected in the browser.

• ID 474613 - Camera animations in 3D environments from Storyboard Pro were not rendered correctly in Flix.

• ID 476984 - Imports from Photoshop occasionally stalled when the server was under heavy load.

• ID 496676 - Panels imported from Storyboard Pro containing Layer Transforms were not animated in Flix.

• ID 498513 - Panels marked as duplicates were always considered duplicates, even after they were changed.

• ID 501947 - Opening and closing full screen/pitch mode occasionally caused popups to be hidden by the player.

• ID 503586 - Users attempting to access shows not accessible by their group membership caused the Flix Client to become unresponsive on exit.

• ID 504992 - Importing files of a different aspect ratio to that set in the show caused the import to fail in some cases.

• ID 504993 - Sending a panel with camera moves from Flix to Storyboard Pro after adding a trim did not update the keyframes correctly.

• ID 506690 - Storyboard Pro clips with 3D animations were not rendered correctly in Flix.

• ID 506999 - The timing of camera move keyframes were off by one frame if placed on the last frame of a Storyboard Pro panel.

• ID 507446 - The Flix Client occasionally crashed when saving a sequence revision.

• ID 508555 - Windows only: Storyboard Pro imports occasionally caused Flix Client to become unresponsive.

Editorial/Production

• ID 442758 - The DNxHD converter occasionally generated blank panels in .aaf files.

• ID 465215 - Sequences from Avid occasionally failed to import transitions as expected with Ending at Cut alignment selected.

• ID 465979 - Panels were incorrectly marked as ref when a clip on an upper track in Avid split a clip on a lower track in two.

• ID 469563 - Publishing duplicated panels from Avid back to Flix did not work as expected.

• ID 484641 - Publishing from Flix occasionally stalled when the server was under heavy load.

• ID 486853 - Overlapping clips in Avid caused unchanged panels to version up unexpectedly.

• ID 487242 - Overlapping panels occasionally relinked to the incorrect panel revision after consecutive imports from Avid.

• ID 487850 - The spacing between options on the Export and Publish dialogs was inconsistent.

• ID 497180 - Legacy warning messages were displayed when you clicked Publish to Editorial.

• ID 499918 - Setting Avid preferences at show and studio level did not always work as expected.

• ID 504652 - Failed publishes occasionally appeared as successful in the Flix Client.

System Requirements

Flix Server

Note: Flix Server is built and tested exclusively on Intel processors. Running the Flix Server on AMD processors may lead to unexpected runtime errors.

Linux
Operating System	CentOS 7 64-bit
RAM	At least 16 GB
CPU	A 64-bit Intel processor @ 3.2 GHz, or higher 8 cores, or more
macOS (deprecated)
Note: The macOS version of the Flix Server software is deprecated. We will no longer support or provide macOS binaries for the Flix Server in future versions of Flix.
Operating System	• 10.15.x (Catalina) • 11.x (Big Sur) • 12.x (Monterey)
RAM	At least 16 GB
Procesor	ARM-based Apple Silicon processor (with Rosetta) or Intel processor with 64-bit support 3.2 GHz or faster processor with SSE 4.2, or later Note: Apple M1 is tested on Rosetta emulation to ensure new functionality runs as expected on M1 hardware. (We are working toward native Apple Silicon support in future releases.) Article: For more information on Foundry products and supported macOS versions, see Foundry Knowledge Base article Q100592.

Flix Client

Note: Flix Client is currently not available on Linux. Other operating systems may work with Flix Client, but have not been fully tested.

Note: From Flix 6.5.0 onwards, macOS 10.15.x (Catalina) will no longer be supported.

macOS
Operating System	• 10.15.x (Catalina) • 11.x (Big Sur) • 12.x (Monterey)
RAM	4 GB
Processor	ARM-based Apple Silicon processor (with Rosetta) or Intel processor with 64-bit support 2 GHz or faster processor with SSE 4.2, or later Note: Apple M1 is tested on Rosetta emulation to ensure new functionality runs as expected on M1 hardware. (We are working toward native Apple Silicon support in future releases.) Article: For more information on Foundry products and supported macOS versions, see Foundry Knowledge Base article Q100592.
Windows
Operating System	Windows 10
RAM	4 GB
Processor	A 64-bit processor @ 2 GHz, or higher

Third-Party Application Support

Note: From Flix 6.5.0 onwards, macOS 10.15.x (Catalina), Photoshop CC 2020, and Avid Media Composer 2018 and 2019 will no longer be supported.

Application	Supported Versions
Adobe Photoshop	CC 2020, 2021, 2022
Note: Photoshop 2022 support requires some extra set up before you install the plug-in, see Installing Plug-ins for Photoshop 2022 for more information.
Adobe Premiere	CC 2020, 2021
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro	7.0.2 (version 17.10.2, or later), 20 (20.10.0, or later)
Avid Media Composer	2018, 2019, 2020

Upgrading to Flix 6.4.0

This update requires end users to upgrade Flix Client to version 6.4.0.

Additionally:

• The new Transfer Utility port must be accessible on each server and all clients. The default port number is 9091, but the port can be changed by setting the client_transfer_port parameter in the config.yml file to a different port number. See Flix Server Options for more information.

• If any server is running CentOS 6, it must be upgraded to CentOS 7.

From Flix 6.3.7

• DB upgrade (v29 -> v41) - see Upgrading Flix for more information.

• Photoshop Plugin update - see Manually Installing the Photoshop Plug-in for End Users for more information.

From a pre-6.3 version (e.g. 6.2.2)

• DB upgrade ( -> v27) - see Upgrading Flix for more information.

• Asset migration is recommended, but not required.

Note: Although not required for 6.3, we recommend performing the asset migration eventually, as future minor (e.g. 6.5) and major (e.g. 7.0) releases may not support assets stored outside of show subdirectories.

• PS Plugin update - see Manually Installing the Photoshop Plug-in for End Users for more information.

• Server configuration - see Upgrading Flix for more information.