Viz Engine 5.4.0 

Release Date: 2025-08-28

These are the release notes for Viz Engine version 5.4.0. This document describes the user-visible changes that have been made to the software since release 5.3.

Note: Viz Artist maintains its release notes in a separate document starting from version 3.12.0.

Installer Notes

General

The Software ships with a bundle installer containing all necessary components. It is recommended to use the bundle installer when setup needs to be done manually.

  • The Setup application (both MSI and Bundle installer) must be run in Administrator mode.

  • Visual C++ Redistributable files are no longer part of the .msi setup file. These files are now installed with the bundle setup application (VIZENG-13210, VIZENG-12629, VIZENG-12701).

  • The bundle setup application installs or upgrades Viz Artist together with its required Visual C++ Redistributable files (VIZENG-12936, VIZENG-13804).

  • All files contained in the bundle setup application can be extracted using the /dump command line option. This creates a sub-folder where the files are extracted (VIZENG-13020).

  • Multiple installations of Viz Engine are not supported.

  • The installer automatically upgrades (replaces) any existing Viz Artist/Viz Engine 3.x installation. However, downgrading is currently not supported (VIZENG-7098).

  • If Adobe After Effects is installed after Viz Engine, the Viz installer needs to be executed again to install the AE plug-in (VIZENG-7876).

  • The user account must have SeCreateGlobalPrivilege (SE_CREATE_GLOBAL_NAME) enabled.

  • The configuration profiles shipped with Viz Engine guarantee a correct Audio/Video delay, to have a proper lip-sync setup or a correct video wall installation. A manual configuration (for example, number of inputs, clips, etc.) is still required, after applying these profiles (VIZENG-18861).

  • To use Global Illumination in Viz Artist/Viz Engine, at least Direct X version 9 is required. An installer can be found at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109 (VIZENG-19983).

  • The Basic, Viz DataPool, Viz PixelFX, Viz Maps, Viz Extension and Viz Socialize plug-ins are released together with Viz Engine, starting with version 4.0.0, and are included in the bundle installer. The basic plug-ins are installed by default.

Note: In case of installing Viz Engine with the individual MSI installer and not the Viz Artist Bundle installer, ensure all runtime dependencies are up-to-date (for example, Viz Engine does not start with an outdated Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) version). The minimum required version is 14.40.33810 (https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe).

If Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.40.33810 is already installed and Viz Engine is not starting, the runtime installation could be damaged. Reinstall the runtime redistributable in this case. The related installer is part of the Bundle installer.

Information: In case of upgrading from previously installed versions, and the upgraded version comes with a new CodeMeter version, make sure that all the applications installed using CodeMeter on the same host, are still running.

Windows

  • This software was tested to run on Windows 11 (LTSC 24H2), Windows 10 (LTSC 1809, 21H2) and Server 2019 and Server 2022.

  • Windows transparency effects should be turned off (former known as Aero). In Windows 10 set Show transparency in Windows to Off in Settings > Display and Transparency effects to Off in Settings > Personalization > Colors > More options.

  • Power management and hibernation mode must be turned off under Windows. You can execute powercfg -h off to remove hiberfil.sys from the hard disk.

  • It is recommended to install the latest Windows Security Updates and Patches, except NVIDIA updates.

  • Installations on Windows 10 are only supported on their respective supported hardware (see Supported Systems).

  • .NET framework 4.5 or higher is required (VIZENG-6036).

  • The minimum Windows Installer version is now 5.0.0 (VIZENG-10146).

To run Viz Engine without Administrator privileges, you need to grant the following permissions:

  • SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege

  • SeCreateGlobalPrivilege

  • SeCreatePagefilePrivilege

  • SeIncreaseWorkingSetPrivilege

UAC

  • Viz Engine is UAC aware. Configuration files, profiles, log files, and additional files are stored in %VIZ_PROGRAMDATA%, which defaults to %ProgramData%\Vizrt\VizEngine. Temporary data is stored in %VIZ_TEMPDATA% which defaults to %TMP%\Vizrt\VizEngine. The default value can be changed in the command line of viz.exe.

  • Existing Lens files are copied from %ProgramFiles% install folder to the new UAC aware %ProgramData% folder during installation (VIZENG-8757).

  • Existing Viz configuration files are copied from %ProgramFiles% install folder to the new UAC aware %ProgramData% folder during installation (VIZENG-7472).

Cinema 4D

  • Cinema 4D LiveLink Installation: The installer searches the following location first: %ProgramFiles%\MAXON\CINEMA 4D R16\plugins (VIZENG-7965).

  • Cinema 4D LiveLink package can be installed any time later by using Viz Artist Installer in Repair mode. Its installation folder is not selectable anymore (VIZENG-8996).

  • Cinema 4D R23 or newer: LiveLink plug-in is available at %ProgramFiles%\Vizrt\VizEngine\CINEMA 4D LiveLink\R23 (VIZENG-25344).

Driver Versions

These are the recommended driver versions for various hardware components:

Vendor

Driver Version

NVIDIA Blackwell, Ada Lovelace, Ampere, Turing, Volta, Pascal and Maxwell GPUs

572.83

NVIDIA Kepler GPUs

473.47 (419.17 for older boards)

Matrox Topology based boards

11.1.101.2163

Bluefish

6.5.1.22

Bluefish Supernova Firmware

162

AJA

16.1.0.3 (Firmware 2021/06/23)

Codemeter Runtime Kit

8.30a

AV PCL/PCI Plura Timecode Reader

5.34

NVIDIA Drivers

Information: Please refer to https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4777/~/nvidia-dch/standard-display-drivers-for-windows-10-faq for information about the DCH and Standard driver versions and how to install a missing NVIDIA control panel.

NVIDIA driver 572.83 is recommended for GPUs with Blackwell, Ada Lovelace Technology. Ampere, Turing, Volta, Pascal or Maxwell Technology cards have been tested with 572.83 only. A driver upgrade is not recommended in general. Kepler GPUs are not recommended anymore, however they might still work using older driver version 473.47. Boards that do not support this version of the driver should use rev. 419.17.

NVIDIA Driver Configuration (Manage 3D Settings):

Setting

Vertical sync

Force Off (except Videowall and systems without video hardware).

Unified Back Buffer

Off

Power management mode

Prefer maximum performance

Antialiasing mode

Enhance the application setting

Antialiasing setting

4x (4xMS)

Profile

Workstation App - Dynamic Streaming profile (for systems with video hardware)
3D App - Video Editing (for systems without video hardware)

Important: Viz Engine will not start if an outdated driver is used. 

Matrox Drivers

  • For Matrox video cards, driver version 11.1.101.2163 is required. This version is mandatory. Pre-release versions are not supported.

  • Uninstall previous versions of Matrox DSXUtils prior to installing this driver.

  • Install drivers (DSX-TopologyUtils.exe) only from a local drive.

  • Reboot between uninstall and install of drivers, and another time after the installation has finished.

  • The VfW codecs are included in this driver, so uninstall previous versions of the Matrox VfW codecs and do not install any Matrox VfW codecs over the regular driver installation.

Other Drivers

  • The latest firmware for Supernova and Supernova S+ is 162.

  • The latest firmware for Neutron is 1i2o 35. There is no longer 1in1out firmware.

  • The recommended firmware for AJA IO4K+ devices is 2021/06/23.

  • The recommended driver version for Plura AV timecode reader cards is 5.34.

Please refer to the Viz Engine Administrator Guide for which drivers and driver settings to use.

Given that a supported Matrox device is installed, the following codecs are supported for post-rendering with MatroxFileWriter and the ClipOut channels:

  • RLE (animation), playback only

  • H.264

  • Apple ProRes

  • HDV

  • XDCam

  • DVCPro

  • DNxHD (4849)

  • XAVC (UHD requires M264 board)

Upgrade Notes

  • All plug-in installers are installed per-machine starting with 5.2.0. Uninstalling all previous per-user plug-in installations before upgrading is recommended to avoid duplicated installer entries.

  • Existing Viz 3 configuration files, Genlock and IP configuration settings are migrated automatically by Viz Engine.

  • The old Shared Memory output is not supported on the Viz Engine Pipeline. 

  • Due to changes in the video IO part, ring buffer size for interlaced virtual studio setups might require a higher ring buffer setting. Existing configuration file(s) might need to be adapted.

  • Scenes using the BrowserCEF plug-in automatically migrate to use the new Browser plug-in.

  • The command interface is not locale-aware. Special regional settings like a semicolon within float numbers do not work. You need to use a regular "." 

Information: Viz Engine is not forward-compatible. Opening scenes created in this version of Viz Engine might drop warnings when opening in previous versions. A scene saved with this version might look different if you open it in a previous version. This affects scenes containing more than four streaming channels.

Licensing Model

  • The CodeMeter Runtime (installed with the bundle installer) is required to use the WIBU license system. Details can be found in the manual in section "WIBU-based Licensing System". Please refer to the Vizrt Licensing documentation on how to apply a license container.

  • Cloud-based installations require a license server; standalone cloud installations are not supported.

Other Upgrade Notes

  • NVIDIA Tesla Grid K2 Support was removed because no up-to-date drivers are available anymore.

  • Viz Engine does not support half-height rendering anymore.

  • Lens distortion uses a slightly different norm since revision 54263. If you need older lens files, please use use_lens_compatibility_mode = 1 in the config file.

  • Viz Artist is now being started by the Viz Engine process and not by command file anymore. If you start viz.exe and VizGui.exe independently, the Restart Current option fails.

A 64-bit version of each codec must be installed to work with Softclip64. Most codecs come with an installation manual on how to install them correctly.

Softclip64 has been tested to work with the following 64-bit codecs:

  • HuvYuff Version 2.1.1

  • Lagarith Version 1.3.27

  • Newtek SpeedHQ

Virtual Environments

The following GPUs have been tested in virtualized environments, the listed driver version is the one being used. The following GPUs are currently supported (Kepler are only supported in the Classic Render Pipeline):

Model

Driver

Platform

NVIDIA L4

573.07

AWS (g6 instances, gr6 instances)

NVIDIA A10G

573.07

AWS (g5 instances)

NVIDIA T4 Tensor Core

573.07

AWS (g4dn instances)

NVIDIA Tesla V100

431.79 GRID9.1

AWS (p3 instances) (1)

NVIDIA A40 (2)

572.60

vSphere 7.0 and 8.0

NVIDIA RTX6000

572.60

vSphere 7.0 and 8.0

(1) Instance not supported on Windows Server 2025 or higher (legacy uefi boot).

Viz Engine has been tested to run in the following virtual environments:

Viz Engine Render Pipeline

Classic Render Pipeline

Amazon Cloud (AWS)

(tick)
(tick)
(tick)

(tick)

Microsoft Azure (1)

(tick)
(tick)

(tick)

fra.me/nutanix (1)

not tested

(tick)

VMWare ESXi (6.0(1), 6.50(1), 7.02, 8.0.2)

(tick)

(tick)

Alibaba Cloud (1)

not tested

(tick)

(1) Tested with Engine 5.0.0 only

Note: Backup and Restore on Azure systems are currently not supported.

New Features

Key Features

New Features: General

Key

Summary

VIZENG-32355

Adaptive Graphics GFX Channel Flexbox Support

VIZENG-31750

Add "ImportTask" support for images

VIZENG-33824

Add assign colorspace and linearize/apply_tf to texture_image_compat

VIZENG-32683

Add event handling for WebChannels in DVE mode

VIZENG-32806

Add stylesheet functionality

VIZENG-33723

Add support for RTX 2000 Ada

VIZENG-33401

Add white level to HDR settings

VIZENG-33759

Allow webchannels to be used within superchannels

VIZENG-32682

Disable classic pipeline for Artist for Learners

VIZENG-33537

Ensure stable fps for Video Wall setups with the renderer always in front

VIZENG-32700

Expose priority of Function Plugins to user, let them rearrange manually

VIZENG-30817

Handle <uuid>*NAME GET command, without loading the object

VIZENG-33773

Image colorimetry attribute

VIZENG-31297

Increase the zoom out inside the stage

VIZENG-33839

OnAirFormat needs to be considered while setting scene on RENDERER.

VIZENG-31854

One of the horizontal bar in Stage is almost invisible

VIZENG-33667

PERFORMANCE SET_VALUES add styling values

VIZENG-33749

RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Support

VIZENG-32794

Searching for Particle Systems returns wrong result

VIZENG-32728

Show Main Axis and Cross Axis direction in the bounding box of Flexbox

VIZENG-33333

Stylesheet: add per format style selection support

VIZENG-33619

Stylesheet: investigate and fix issues exposed in VIZART-5340

VIZENG-32329

Support BoxTransformation/Flexbox in Toggle Plugin

VIZENG-31272

Support for GET GH Name info via REST

VIZENG-32330

Toggle Plugin: Support formats

New Features: Renderer

Key

Summary

VIZENG-32516

Add "browser" channel type

VIZENG-31750

Add "ImportTask" support for images

VIZENG-32541

Add animation support to DynamicGeometry and its nodes

VIZENG-32774

Add AuxDepth support to Multilayer External VS sequence.

VIZENG-33675

Add ColorEncoding to SceneGlobals for better Artist integration

VIZENG-32648

Add DVE support to Webchannel

VIZENG-32644

Add DynamicGeometry node addition and removal

VIZENG-31547

Add FBX Blend Shape support on dynamic geometries

VIZENG-33278

Add HDR setting to Viz Engine Renderer scenes

VIZENG-32263

Add instancing Plugin API support for the instancing producer

VIZENG-32806

Add stylesheet functionality

VIZENG-32178

Add support for BGR and BGRA image scaling

VIZENG-33370

Add support for LUTs to convert between colorspaces

VIZENG-32576

Add support for whitespace paths on Viz Engine's Unreal project directories

VIZENG-32582

Add UI support for DynamicGeometryNode

VIZENG-33401

Add white level to HDR settings

VIZENG-33639

Alembic support in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-32381

Alternative light falloff option

VIZENG-33164

Browser Plugin / Web Media Asset video playback support

VIZENG-33402

Convert assets (images) according to different HDR settings (colorspace, transferfunction, whitelevel)

VIZENG-32701

DynamicGeometry: Create a Plugin node

VIZENG-33471

DynamicGeometry: Make BlendShape node a generator

VIZENG-33616

HDR: convert HDR to scRGB when presenting

VIZENG-33838

HDR: load and dynamic range convert images from disk via texture image

VIZENG-33713

HDR: LookupTable conversion on non-keyed areas

VIZENG-33714

HDR: snapshot rendering in 16bit

VIZENG-33817

HDR: support automatic colorspace conversion on TEXTURE_IMAGE

VIZENG-32557

Implement a DynamicGeometryNode for calculating normals

VIZENG-32482

Implement a GPU DynamicGeometryNode

VIZENG-32550

Implement BlendShapes on a compute shader

VIZENG-32316

Implement GeometryModifier

VIZENG-33560

Implement Tetrahedral Interpolation for LUTs

VIZENG-33410

Improve DynamicGeometry Twist node

VIZENG-33392

Improve text extrusion and effect performance and behavior

VIZENG-33628

lensDistortion texture is not available for multilayer sequences

VIZENG-32580

Make AbstractGeometry publicly available for artist

VIZENG-32288

Make particle system compatible with instancing Plugin API

VIZENG-31493

Modify FBX importer to create static geometries by default

VIZENG-33388

Preliminary Clipping planes functionality on Unreal

VIZENG-32305

Proper support of Unreal in HDR workflow

VIZENG-33281

Reduce Unreal Engine Plugin size after Reality Connect additions

VIZENG-32441

Renderer: disable attachments that are not needed

VIZENG-33702

Renderer: replace isSRGB with linearizeMethod in TextureSlot

VIZENG-32818

Renderer: support composition for AI Keyer use case

VIZENG-31909

Renderer: support hot-reloading materials when GH changes

VIZENG-33669

Renderer: support Khronos PBR neutral tonemapper

VIZENG-31156

Renderer: support lens distortion

VIZENG-32325

Support "Magnifier" in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-33412

Support copying DynamicGeometry animations

VIZENG-32890

Support DynamicGeometryPluginNode animations

VIZENG-28969

Support Fill&Key in the Libero render sequence

VIZENG-28973

Support Glow in the new Viz Engine renderer

VIZENG-33586

Support HDR inputs in classic scenes

VIZENG-28968

Support SplineStrip Plugin in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-31405

Texture Desaturation

VIZENG-32533

Trash Matte does not affect to the container with Talent Shadows

VIZENG-32273

Unreal Engine 5.5 Support

VIZENG-33208

Unreal: ControlImage does not load images from URLs

VIZENG-31401

Update DLSS to 3.7.20

VIZENG-31229

Use glm in indexed_mesh

New Features: Video IO

Key

Summary

VIZENG-33907

Move plura card timecodes to more consistent TC index

VIZENG-33834

HDR: support hdr engine mode independently from installed / used video board

VIZENG-33531

Integrate newly exposed license API into VizEngine

VIZENG-33530

Integrate the new VCP into VizEngine build

VIZENG-33528

Clip player flag to force the player only to use Matrox

VIZENG-33525

Enable Matrox SDI/IP video output from GFX channels

VIZENG-33480

New parallel output configuration requires new config preset

VIZENG-33407

Add support for reading metadata from audio files

VIZENG-33405

FFmpeg 7.1.1 zlib/openssl/curl Fixes

VIZENG-33378

Update curl

VIZENG-33377

Update xerces

VIZENG-33347

Implement Shot Clock data extraction from VANC data

VIZENG-33341

Support Type III LUTs

VIZENG-33284

Frame Rate Derivation in Compound Input and avformat:

VIZENG-33282

Sync Colorspace Definitions with ffmpeg 7.1.1

VIZENG-33271

Cleanup Use of AVPacket

VIZENG-33240

Integrate FFMpeg 7.1.1 into clip player

VIZENG-33164

Browser Plugin / Web Media Asset video playback support

VIZENG-32906

Decouple MapToVizChannel from Matrox configuration

VIZENG-32792

Add 8K and 8K+ resolution licenses

VIZENG-32695

Enable UHD2 resolutions for VizEngine

VIZENG-32693

Integrade DSX LE6 D100

VIZENG-32689

Multiplay transition not working with VML clip player

VIZENG-32538

Align parameter order of Matrox config pages between Artist and Engine

VIZENG-32487

Matrox Clip Player optimizations for clip frame accurate playback

VIZENG-32313

NVDEC support for Clip Texture Renderer

VIZENG-31615

Upgrade OpenSSL version in VML Clip Player to 3.5.0

VIZENG-31148

Allow multiple outputs from a large canvas

VIZENG-30876

Alpha support for WEBM with VP8/VP9 and MKV with VP8/VP9

Fixed Issues

Fixed Issues: General

Key

Summary

VIZENG-33947

Control SoftClip isn't added inside the Control Objects

VIZENG-33833

get_renderoption_force_sleep has no effect

VIZENG-33798

True becomes False in VSL

VIZENG-33516

Viz Engine crash related to format dependent animations

VIZENG-33479

Engine crash related to ArrayIndex error in script

VIZENG-33453

DVE size does not match the size of the tracked container

VIZENG-33255

Superchannel XY center doesn't apply to a tracked object

VIZENG-33251

DVE placeholder isn't visible when scene is loaded in the Front or Back layer

VIZENG-33238

Clip gets flushed after GoTo Trio command

VIZENG-33228

Control channel Move command doesn't work as argument

VIZENG-33153

GET_PEER_INFO still shows clients which aren't connected to the Viz Engine anymore

VIZENG-32940

Reconnection of a Viz Engine to the GH in case of a cluster failover takes up to two minutes

VIZENG-32899

ESC key or CTRL + BACKSPACE doesn't work in conjunction with Navigator and/or 3DLineTracer Plugins

VIZENG-32796

Alpha gets ignored when importing .tiff image with alpha

VIZENG-32772

Custom shader Plugin isn't merged under the same geometry director inside stage

VIZENG-32681

Loading objects from UNC path switches "\" to "/" which causes a failure

VIZENG-32639

Text Kerning can lead to issues in animation

VIZENG-32628

Engine REST - POST commands return "Parse Error: The response has a duplicate "Content-Length" header

VIZENG-32617

Script function OnGeometryChanged doesn't work properly in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-32606

Scripting function This.Geometry.Orientation doesn't work in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-32571

Ability to select font family + variant without text

VIZENG-32438

Wrong command format for SYSTEM*MEMORY_ADVANCE GET

VIZENG-31969

Wrong distortion in the Unreal Engine Composite mesh with Stype distortion mode

VIZENG-31867

Internal image editor wrongly scale RGBA image

VIZENG-31610

Scaling a parent director ruins child directors with offsets (time displace)

Fixed Issues: Renderer

Key

Summary

VIZENG-33900

HDR: external ar double-lutted when color_lut_enabled is set to 1

VIZENG-33871

HDR: hlg composition wrong with alpha

VIZENG-33505

Center Shift doesn't affect Unreal Engine Planar Reflection

VIZENG-33455

Nvidia TDR error with VER scenes in wall setup - MERGE 5.3.2

VIZENG-33396

Mixing Depth Buffers doesn't work in Multi-Layer Virtual Studio render sequence

VIZENG-33340

Preview Engine Crash : Nvidia OpenGL Driver TDR has been detected. Error Code 7

VIZENG-33301

Viz Engine crashes when selecting light probes inside Global Ilumination

VIZENG-33274

Transition Logic broken, Animations not copied properly

VIZENG-33264

The Degree ° symbol Passed to Unreal through VizControlText is coming with wrong coding.

VIZENG-33261

TransitionLogic scene not working with TransitionLogicUseMergedGeometries = 0

VIZENG-33202

Issue with invalid data passed to Enlighten

VIZENG-33192

Enable/disable the Expert Plugin

VIZENG-33187

Unreal: ControlImage does not load images from URLs

VIZENG-32976

CallFunc_GetCompositeWorldData_ReturnValUnreal Engine error messages in Unreal Engine Editor when project is started with "selected viewport"

VIZENG-32969

Nvidia TDR error with VER scenes in wall setup

VIZENG-32816

EUBP_CompositorActorHelpers error inside Unreal

VIZENG-32738

Font flickers if Classic material is on the same container

VIZENG-32670

Unreal VDB doesn't work with Composite Mesh

VIZENG-32662

Layer Plugin loses its settings when merge/split into a geometry

VIZENG-32656

Center shift doesn't affect Unreal Engine planar reflection (UE5.5)

VIZENG-32617

Script function OnGeometryChanged doesn't work properly in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-32616

Text overlapping when using Razor text in texture mode

VIZENG-32606

Scripting function This.Geometry.Orientation doesn't work in Viz Engine Renderer

VIZENG-32593

Vertex Colors not working with Complex Polygon

VIZENG-32474

OPENGL error when loading a scene in SHM Out mode

VIZENG-32415

Render Scale affects to the Background AUX from Unreal Engine with Composite mesh.

VIZENG-32266

Material Shininess wrong in sample scene after Scene Conversion

VIZENG-32015

Dynamic Scene Plugin with Viz World scene - Abnormal behavior

VIZENG-31969

Wrong distortion in the Unreal Engine Composite mesh with Stype distortion mode

Fixed Issues: Video IO

Changes

Upcoming Changes

  • In the next version of Viz Engine, an upgrade to VGPU 17 is planned. Therefore:

    • NVIDIA Tesla M60 VGPU support will be removed.

    • Windows Server 2019 VGPU support will be removed.

  • In the next version of Viz Engine, support for SNMP will be completely removed.

Changes: Renderer

  • NVIDIA Kepler GPUs were set as deprecated (NVIDIA isn't supporting Kepler boards in newer driver versions anymore).

  • The final position and size of scaled image channels in DVE mode might change by 1 pixel after fixing rounding issues.

Changes: VideoIO

  • Improvements in the IO sequence made GPU direct obsolete. The setting was removed.

  • Support for SMPTE ST 2022-6 was removed in previous versions.

Note: X.mio3 IP is no longer supported. Matrox dropped the support in the latest 11.x driver versions.

Note: The Matrox channel mapping format has been updated in the configuration file. Old config files are migrated automatically during startup.

Known Issues

General

  • Saving a new scene with references that do not exist anymore fails. Those references need to be removed manually to save the scene.

  • Importing HDR images with special characters in its file name from a drive with 8dot3 disabled fails.

  • Transition Logic scenes require to have GeomAutoFree = 1 set in the Viz Config file. With inactive GeomAutoFree, system stability is not guaranteed.

  • Interactive Applications within a GFX channel only work in DVE mode in Fullscreen or if the GFX channel has an offset in Fullscreen. Scaled GFX channels or plug-ins that rely on screen coordinates (Graffiti) are not supported.

  • Bones and Skin live motion data tracking requires Tracking Hub 1.1.2 (released together with Viz Engine 3.11).

  • Viz Engine REST interface does not start if a user is Non-Admin (VIZENG-23386).

  • On Air output shows wrong field-of-view if AuxRenderer is enabled, PP in scene editor is disabled and Viz Engine is not in On Air mode.

  • Viz One Browser clip preview might fail on Viz One Versions >=7.0 

  • The Toggle plug-in can not handle the background loading of objects or scenes. 

  • Oversized snapshot requests (bigger than the configured output resolution) in the Classic Render Pipeline aren't supported. Use the Viz Engine Render Pipeline instead.

  • The clog command now includes all child processes. Upon abnormal end, all child processes are terminated before a restart is attempted (VIZENG-11361).

  • SNMP is deprecated by Microsoft. To use SNMP with Viz Engine 5.4.0, SNMP and VBScript must be manually installed as Windows Components before installing the Viz Engine. See also Upcoming Changes.

  • Scaling directors down can cause keyframes to be scaled down to 0.0. These values do not recover when scaling directors up again afterwards (VIZENG-31610).

Key

Summary

VIZENG-27515

AJA IO: Embedded Audio only available if SDI Input enabled

VIZENG-26244

AJA/ Bluefish: Switching frequency results in output frame buffer issue

VIZENG-33562

Allow round-trip conversion between dynamic and static geometries

VIZENG-32623

Assets flicker on video wall system

VIZENG-29680

Change Audio Backend on EAS

VIZENG-32400

Changing Spline types is not considered in Undo/Redo

VIZENG-28452

Consolidation of logging settings and configuration

VIZENG-27866

Enable individual volume control for tracks

VIZENG-21755

Execution logic is not applied to a template created from Transition Logic scene

VIZENG-31127

Experimental: Reduce overall in-to-out delay in Fast Texture Mode

VIZENG-33770

Garbage mask flickering on the camera switch with delay bigger than 2

VIZENG-25687

GFX Video Output not working

VIZENG-28344

GH Sync: support main/replication setup

VIZENG-33515

Importing multiple AE scenes at the same time fails

VIZENG-33807

Improve Text behavior when there is no content entered

VIZENG-30569

Improve Undo/Redo performance on larger GI scenes

VIZENG-24017

Improve VizEngine startup time

VIZENG-33803

Live input freezes inside the Superchannel A to B switch happens

VIZENG-29589

Maya 2024 doesn't support Viz Maya plugin

VIZENG-33992

Only send surfaces with alpha to the video board when alpha information is needed

VIZENG-31624

Optimize transform update

VIZENG-29001

Playback of audio clips without extension in VML Player

VIZENG-33414

Renderer: DVE placeholder not visible in Front or Back layer

VIZENG-31946

Renderer: opaque materials affects key in overlay sequence

VIZENG-21385

Stage: Startkeyframe gets set wrong when hitting keyframe button

VIZENG-33762

Stop points in NLE workflow are getting ignored when using Subscene TL

VIZENG-32399

Stop/Pause/Tags are not considered in Undo/Redo

VIZENG-29623

Text: global config for default font style

VIZENG-26964

Used lens distortion parameters not in sync with main scene

VIZENG-33601

VizEngine does not always switch back to GH main after main shutdown and startup

Installation

  • Do not use the C4D Version 15R2 patch file(s) unless you are using this version. Otherwise, it prevents Cinema 4D R16 from starting up.

  • When uninstalling Viz Engine, the installer might report that links could not be removed. Please check that none of the desktop.ini files of Windows have write protection. For example, Skype seems to change the permissions of some desktop.ini files with every update.

Windows 10

  • Right-clicking on the Taskbar icon of Viz Engine starts a new instance. Starting an additional VizGui process is prevented on Windows 10.

  • Error message "Windows Media Player Rich Preview Handler has stopped working while opening specific clips with Softclip x64". To fix open Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder options > View tab, and deselect Show preview handlers in the preview pane.

Videowall

  • It might happen that Viz Engine is running at half speed on videowall, but goes back to full speed if another window comes into focus. If so, start viz.exe -y -w, instead of the regular videowall mode viz.exe -n -w.

  • GFX channels with Alpha != 100% decrease render performance. On video wall setup, gfx_channels_antialiased = 0 should be turned off in the Viz Configuration section RENDER_OPTIONS.

  • Windows scaling can lead to unwanted side effects.

  • The maximum resolution on videowall setups is limited to 16392px by 16392px.

  • Enabling video output for audio setups is not recommended for performance reasons. It is recommended to grab the audio from one of the HDMI/DP outputs of the NVIDIA GPU and use an Audio embedder instead.

Configuration

  • Specifying a path in the configuration file including the # character is not supported. Such paths are cut before the # character.

Viz Engine Render Pipeline

  • Existing Scenes using Global Illumination might need a precompute again to enable debug views.

  • Background loading of external images (filesystem, network locations, etc.) is not supported. Images from Graphic Hub should be used.

  • Flexbox labels in Scene Editor do not support Unicode characters.

Classic Render Pipeline

  • Scene Transitions within GFX channels or Superchannels are not supported.

  • Soft Shadow intensity is currently not working together with Global Illumination.

  • We recommend using a warmup scene showing all needed assets once. Under certain circumstances, video and clip surfaces can show up red the first time being used.

  • Playing Audio clips on systems with no physical audio hardware available stops the renderer. You need to turn off audio in the configuration file.

  • On some systems with hybrid graphics, like laptops, the dynamic swapping must be disabled in the BIOS and the stronger GPU must be assigned as default.

  • Stencil-based shadows (Caster/Receiver) do not work on rotated geometry.

  • When changing CurlAuthUnsafe = 1, Viz One Browser does not work anymore.

  • VGA Fullscreen Output is only active if offscreen rendering is turned off. Setting offscreen=0 in section RENDER_OPTIONS enables fullscreen output.

  • Blending cubemapped images are not supported.

  • Cubemapping with Browser plug-in is not supported.

  • Fonts need to be re-imported to use new Pathrendering or Razor fonts technology.

  • Masks are not supported on Path rendered Fonts (VIZENG-13737).

  • Do not send other commands than IS_RENDERER_READY and database connection commands before this command returns 1, otherwise the renderer and video output might not be initialized.

  • If you encounter stability issues with an NVIDIA driver or issues during driver installation, uninstall the old NVIDIA driver completely, delete the folder C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Installer2, install the new driver and select Custom installation, then check-mark the perform clean installation option and finish the installation.

  • Enabling background loading might decrease the render performance by up to 15 frames per second. This is due to OpenGL requirements.

  • M-Zone keyer only works with HD when rendering with full frames.

  • Decreased render performance in HD since Viz Engine 3.5.0 when the ringing filter is activated. Before Viz Engine version 3.5.1 there was no ringing filter for HD. Turn off the ringing filter via configuration or scene-setting to get the same performance.

  • Sporadic NVIDIA driver error The NVIDIA OpenGL driver lost connection with the display driver and is unable to continue. which in turn causes Viz Engine to freeze. Make sure that the driver profile Workstation App > Dynamic Streaming is selected. Always use the recommended NVIDIA driver for your GPU.

  • Possible performance problems with scenes imported from Viz Engine 2.x. Check the following settings (applies to old 2.x scenes only):

    • Image Combining should be set to Multi Texturing in the Render options in the configuration (or flag combine_with_multitex = 1 in the configuration file) to avoid inefficient image combining.

    • Set Key Render Mode to Single Pass in the rendering options in the configuration. The Key Render Mode can also be set on scene level. Available options are:

      • Config (inherit the setting from the configuration).

      • Single Pass (fill and key are rendered in a single pass).

      • Double Pass (fill and key are rendered in separate rendering passes).
        Key rendering results differ between these options for compatibility reasons.

  • Use Single Pass scenes imported from Viz Engine 2.x and Double Pass for Viz Engine 3.x scenes.

  • The configuration flag exec_all_animations in the section RENDER_OPTIONS should be set to 0 if it is not necessary to execute hidden animations.

  • Turn off the VGA preview in On Air mode to avoid performance drops due to multiple rendering of the scene (applies only to video version of Viz Engine).

  • Hide containers that are not required for the current animation.

  • Re-import fonts directly with the Viz Engine.

  • Grid picking currently only works for Cube and Cylinder geometry.

  • The behavior of scripts with cyclic dependencies to other scripts is undefined. Avoid cyclic dependencies.

  • Bad performance when using multiple dynamic scenes, even if they are set inactive. To avoid unnecessary updates, change the Update mode in Dynamic Scenes to Auto instead of Always.

  • CLR LOAD command can crash Viz if not used correctly. Required function signature: static int pwzMethodName(String pwzArgument).

  • Alpha setting for DVEs is not correctly supported when a scene is used nested using a GFX channel (VIZENG-10212).

  • Glow plug-in drops performance when used on multiple containers and rendered within a GFX channel or viewport tile (Classic pipeline) (VIZENG-11342).

  • Scene transitions do not work when dynamic images from different folders are involved. Dynamic images always need to be stored directly in the root folder dynamic and references must point there. Dynamic images in a subfolder of the dynamic folder or any other folder are not found.

  • Font option "lighted" has no effect on fonts rendered with type "vector" (VIZENG-18941)

  • 16-bit PNG images are not rendered properly when imported with compression.

Unreal Integration

  • Unreal Engine 5.x with Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) enabled can lead to flicker issues when used in combination with NVIDIA Driver 528.89. Changing to FXAA solves the issue.

  • Due to a technical limitation in Unreal Engine 5.6, this version is not yet supported by Vizrt Media Plugin.

Post Renderer

  • Because of performance issues rendering fullscreen sequences in UHD is not supported.

  • Ghosting effect in post-rendered interlaced video: Make sure that the Flicker Filter is set to 0 in the post-rendering options of the Video Render plug-in.

  • Post-rendering does not work properly if onair_no_videoout flag = 1 (Videowall mode).

  • Post-rendering does not work properly if TriCaster integration is active and the output format is set to User Defined or Fullscreen.

  • DVCPRO expects 720x480 in NTSC resolution. Please set the correct output width in AVIRenderer.

  • The alpha channel cannot be rendered with Intel Indeo 5.10 codec. This codec is not supported.

  • Viz Engine might crash if certain VfW codecs are used on non-Matrox installations in Post Render Mode.

Matrox

  • Enable Hardware DVE/(Fast Texture Mode) is only available for two instances.

  • The configuration ClipIn[n].UseV210 and ClipIn1. ContainsAlpha are mutually exclusive and should not be enabled at the same time.

  • The overall delay is one field higher than in previous versions using IO3 This is caused by the required A/B buffer of IO 4.

  • A program output channel needs to be defined. Pure preview or Cleanfeed is not supported.

  • HDR output on UHD 2SI requires at least a Quadro P6000 GPU.

  • Large Canvas setups require a RTX5000 Ada or higher.

  • Mixing different frame rates with clips processed by a M.264 board is not supported and causes jittering.

  • Upgrading the FPGA can cause a PCI error during the boot process on certain systems. Unattended upgrading of the FPGA is not recommended.

  • Watchdog is only supported in 50/60M and 60Hz frequencies.

  • When using 3G formats (1080p/UHD) or the Zero-Frame-Delay Mixer, auto-sensing of the sync signal is not supported due to incompatible H-/V-phases, that are set in the process.

  • Instead, either Tri-Level or Blackburst must be used together with correct H-/V-Phase. This might result in a missing key signal (VIZENG-11708).

  • For dual channel systems, please perform the following steps after enabling the watchdog to ensure the correct state is written to the Matrox Board:

    1. Start Channel 1.

    2. Wait until channel has started up and topology has been written.

    3. Start Channel 2.

    4. Wait until channel has started up and topology has been written.

    5. Exit channel 2.

    6. Exit channel 1.

    7. Start channel 1.

    8. Wait until channel has started up and topology has been written.

    9. Start channel 2.

  • ClipOut channel does not work when Matrox0.VideoOut1.FrameBufferDelay is set to zero (VIZENG-16373).

  • UHD Clip Playback with M264 S1/S2/S3 alone requires color conversion on the shader level. (VIZENG-20700).

  • Two Sample Interleave (2SI) clips played as DVE are not supported.

  • Cutting of Audio tracks should not be done at all, as this results in a crackling noise. Always use a cross-fade to change audio sources.

  • Monitoring live, clip and genlock status via SNMP is not supported (SNMP was deprecated and is no longer supported by Microsoft).

  • Certain M4V clips may cause Viz Engine to lock and flood the console with errors when being played in a loop.

  • Running interlaced AVC-Intra 100 clips on M.264 boards may lead to instabilities when played non-stop over several hours.

  • Always verify the Destination Connector when changing/adding configurations of output channels.

X.mio3 Boards

  • If the Viz instance is closed unexpectedly, the X.mio3 topology might become unusable. To reset the topology, enable ResetTopology in the config file, restart Viz, close it and start Viz again.

  • Turning on the Cleanfeed Feature increases the delay by one frame.

  • It is not recommended to change the frame group of any input signal while Viz Engine is running.

  • Only two DVE UHD inputs are supported at 50Hz. For 60M formats, only two texture inputs are supported.

  • Animating UHD DVE scaling might result in jittering. You need to increase the VideoDelayDVE setting to 2.

  • Texture delay with PAL/NTSC, and Enable Hardware DVE is five fields instead of four fields. (VIZENG-16955).

  • When using watchdog together with a clean feed, the watchdog triggers on the clean feed connector rather than the program output (VIZENG-16589).

X.mio5 Boards

  • Standard Definition (PAL and NTSC) resolutions are not supported by X.mio5 IP boards according to the SMPTE ST 2110 standard.

  • Streampunk ledger RDS does not list the Matrox X.mio5 nodes. This is due to some old NMOS APIs that are partially deprecated.

  • Riedel Explorer fails listing the X.mio5 nodes. Riedel Explorer automatically selects NMOS API Version 1.3 instead of 1.2. It is possible to select the used API version manually if you switch to static mode and/or enable version downgrade in the Riedel Explorer.

The X.mio5 board has been tested to support up to 12 Inputs (1080i 50 and 60M) on a 10GbE network. 

DSX.core

After the installation of the DSX-core client version of the driver perform the following steps:

  1. Unregister mvfDsxCore.dll.

    1. Click Start > Run (or use the Windows command line: Search > CMD > (Right click) Run as Administrator)

    2. Type REGSVR32 /U "C:\Program Files\Matrox DSX-TopologyUtils\System64\mvfDsxCore.dll" and press ENTER.

  2. Shut down http://X.info in the task manager (mveXinfo.exe).

  3. Delete mvfDsxCore.dll from the folder C:\Program Files\Matrox DSX-TopologyUtils\System64\.

  4. Start http://X.info (mveXinfo.exe).

Other Video Boards

  • When Viz Engine is in On Air mode, there might be audio distortions using Bluefish cards (VIZENG-8853).

  • Bluefish Supernova S+ cards can only be used in a Virtual Set Environment if the board is synced to Blackburst/Trilevel.

NDI

Security Updates Windows 11 – KB5063878 and Windows 10 – KB5063709 can lead to traffic drops in NDI output.

NVIDIA

  • When the computer is running out of virtual page size and the user keeps ignoring the low memory warnings in the console, the NVIDIA driver may cause Viz Engine to crash. 

  • The NVIDIA driver doesn't recognize other GPUs under certain circumstances in combination with video wall mosaic installations. Remove and reinstall the driver.

Graphic Hub

  • Communication with the Graphic Hub Server might fail if virtual network adapters are active. Please disable all virtual adapters or increase the timeout.

  • If the connection to the naming server fails, please verify the communication port in the config file (Port 19396).

Adaptive Scene Design

  • WindowMask plug-in prevents Flexbox labels from being picked.

Audio

  • Unplugging a USB microphone from the machine while EAS is enabled freezes Viz Engine without the possibility to recover (VIZENG-29571).

Supported Hardware and Software

This software has been tested to run on:

  • Windows 11 (LTSC 2402)

  • Windows 10 (LTSC 21H2) & (LTSC 1809)(1)

  • Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019

(1) Unreal Engine requires a newer Windows 10 version than 1809. UE Integration was successfully tested with 21H2

Note: Only English language Operating System(s) are supported.

Supported Systems

System

Lenovo P3 Ultra

Lenovo P620

Lenovo SR655 V3

DELL R7920

HP Z8 G5 Fury

HP Z8 G4

HP Z4 Rack G5

HP Z4 G4

HP ZCentral 4R

Supported GPUs

Blackwell GPUs

Ada Lovelace GPUs

Ampere GPUs

Turing GPUs

Volta GPUs

Pascal GPUs

Maxwell GPUs

Kepler GPUs (1)

RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell

RTX 6000 Ada

RTX A6000

RTX 6000

GV100

Quadro P6000

Quadro M6000

Quadro K6000

RTX 5000 Ada

RTX A5500

RTX 5000

Quadro P5200

Quadro M4000

Quadro K5000

RTX 4500 Ada

RTX A5000

RTX 4000

Quadro P4200

Quadro M2000

Quadro K5200

RTX 4000 Ada SFF

RTX A4500

RTX 3000

Quadro P4000

Quadro K4000

RTX 2000 Ada

RTX A4000

T1000

Quadro P3200

Quadro K4200

RTX A2000

Quadro P2200

Quadro K2000

RTX A3000 (mobile)

Quadro P2000

Quadro K2200

RTX A2000 (mobile)

Quadro P1000

RTX A1000 (mobile)

Orange entries are recommended for rendering photo-realistic graphics on the Viz Engine Pipeline.

(1) Kepler GPUs require an older driver version (473.47). Supported on the Classic Render Pipeline for backward compatibility only.

Supported Video Boards

Video Board

Configuration

Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd

Matrox X.mio5/X2 SDI

Up to four 12G SDI input with up to four SDI 12G SDI outputs
variable configuration from 12in0out to 0in12out

Matrox X.mio5/8 SDI

Up to four 12G SDI input with up to four SDI 12G SDI outputs
variable configuration from 8in0out to 0in8out

Matrox X.mio5 IP

Up to 32 ST 2110 inputs and 32 ST 2110 outputs depending on used SFPs and resolution

Matrox X.mio3 Full Height

Various input/output configurations from 48 to 84

Matrox X.mio3 12G

Two 12G inputs, two 12G outputs

Matrox M.264 S1/S2/S3/S4

H.264 Encoder/Decoder board

Matrox DSX LE 5L /4

Various input/output configurations from 04 to 40, all in 12G

Matrox DSX LE 4 /8

Various input/output configurations from 08 to 80

Matrox DSX LE 4 /4

Various input/output configurations from 04 to 40

Matrox DSX LE 4 IP

Various input/output configurations from 04 to 40

BlueFish Technologies

Bluefish Epoch Neutron

Two video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

Bluefish Epoch 4K Supernova

Two video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

Bluefish Epoch Supernova S+

Two video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

Bluefish Kronos K8

Four video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

AJA Video Systems, Inc.

AJA IO4K Plus

Two video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

AJA Kona 4

Two video inputs, two video outputs (fill & key)

Please refer to the Viz Engine Administrator Guide for which drivers and driver settings to use.

Build Information

Platform Toolset: Visual Studio 2022 (v143)
Windows SDK Version: 10.0.22621

Documentation

Info: Starting with Viz Artist/Viz Engine 5.4.0, the installer no longer installs an offline documentation.

Documentation for Viz Engine, Viz Artist and Viz Plugins is available online on the Vizrt Documentation Center:

Installation and Support

Installation

The installation wizard guides you through the installation process. Make sure to close any running Viz application prior to the installation. In order to run Viz Artist or Viz Engine independent of a database server, you need to install the Viz Graphic Hub database software locally.

Support

Support is available at the Vizrt Support Portal.