macOS

macOS 11.x (Big Sur) and newer

Final Cut Pro

FCP 10.3.x and newer

• Installing Canister on macOS

• Installing Canister on Windows

Can't find what you need? Or just plain stuck? Reach out, we're happy to help: [email protected]

Office Hours

You can us about anything 24/7, and you'll likely get a fast reply if it's between 9 AM CET and 6 PM CET. If you email us outside those hours, we'll pick up your email in the morning. That means that if you're in the USA, you can expect a reply overnight.

We don't guarantee a reply within 24 hours on working days, but it has rarely happened that we were unable to send a reply within a fraction of that time. Our response time is typically under an hour, with 90% of emails responded to within 15 minutes.

Please don't email us to ask if we received your email if you didn't get a response within 24 hours, as that will only add to the response time, as we now have two emails waiting for a reply 😁

Evenings, Weekends, and Holidays

During evenings, weekends and holidays, we monitor our inboxes for issues we classify as blockers: things that prevent you from working, not being able to log in to one of our services, not receiving your shiny new license key, etc. Not a blocker? Your email gets snoozed until Monday morning — then you'll be the first.

During these hours, don't expect a reply within minutes. We're likely busy with things like living a life, putting kids to bed, talking to people who are not thinking about workflow, you get the gist 😉

Remember, support outside office hours is a courtesy, not a privilege.

Canister is so simple to use that most users don't need anything to get started. If you don't have a tape drive at hand, check out this video:

Final Cut Library Manager customers can receive a discounted upgrade for Arctic.

If you didn't receive your upgrade coupon when Arctic was released, email us –  – and we'll send you an upgrade discount.

From Canister for Mac 24.2, it's possible to manage library inventory without leaving the Canister interface.

The Library Manager is accessed via the hamburger menu:

Simply drag and drop between your Drive, tape slots, and Mail Slot:

Arctic scans the volumes connected to your Mac and displays a list of Final Cut Pro (FCP) Libraries (.fcpbundle files) it detects on those volumes.

Arctic can help you inspect, filter, and search the contents of your Libraries.

Arctic can also generate media reports to help you track which media was used in a Library.

Finally, Arctic enables you to clean your Library safely for:

Can't activate Arctic?

Final Cut Library Manager (FCLM) used a different license key format than Arctic:

• Arctic - ABCD-EFGH-IJKL...

Why is there a hand icon over a Library?

That Library is open and in use on another Mac. Hover over the hand icon to determine which Mac has that Library open.

Can I tell Arctic to rescan a Source for FCP Libraries?

Yes. Control-Click a Source, then choose Force scan for new libraries.

Why can’t I find something in Arctic’s scan results?

First, make sure all filters are enabled (purple, not gray).

Next, clear the 🔍 Search field, ensuring all search parameters are enabled (yellow, not gray).

Finally, Arctic stores its scan results in an internal database. On occasion, that database may become damaged. If this happens, you can safely reset Arctic’s database with these steps:

1. Quit Arctic.

2. Press and hold Option-Command while relaunching Arctic.

   • Once Arctic launches, release those keys.

3. Arctic will scan all Sources

Why do I need to reindex Spotlight?

If some Libraries are still missing from an Arctic scan, you may need to reindex Spotlight on your Mac.

How can I reset Arctic’s preferences?

If all else fails, you can reset Arctic’s preferences using this command in Terminal.app:

Why can't I activate Arctic?

You're likely trying to use a Final Cut Library Manager license key. Both apps use a license key in this format: ABCD-EFGH-IJKL…, but an Arctic license key contains seven groups of characters while an FCLM license has around twenty.

Confirm you're trying to activate Arctic instead of Final Cut Library Manager, then activate Arctic using the corresponding license key.

If you can’t locate your license key for Arctic, you an look it up online in the .

How can I migrate my existing Final Cut Library Manager data to Arctic?

1. Quit both Final Cut Library Manager and Arctic.

2. In Finder, head to Go > Go to Folder... (or Shift-Command-G).

3. In the dialog box that appears, copy/paste this path: ~/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Library Manager.

How do I uninstall Final Cut Library Manager?

In Finder, drag-and-drop Final Cut Library Manager.app from /Applications to the Trash, then empty your Trash.

To perform a comprehensive uninstall:

1. Download AppCleaner -

2. Drag-and-drop Final Cut Library Manager from /Applications to AppCleaner then click Remove.

3. In Finder, empty your Trash.

If needed, you can also use these steps to uninstall Arctic.

Need help?

When a source is too big for a single tape, Canister's Spanning engine comes in handy. This feature makes it quick and easy to Archive datasets that are larger than a single tape.

Getting Started

Adding new data to spanned tapes

It's likely that you won't fill up the last tape in a spanning set. Therefore, you can add anything you want to that last tape at a later time - no previously archived data will be affected. If the to-be-archived files fit, Canister will add it to the tape. If not, you'll reenter the Spanning flow described above.

Spanning Questions

Spanning is an advanced feature that tends to lead to a few workflow questions. Be sure to check the FAQs below before reaching out to support.

Do I need to preformat my tapes?

No, Canister will ask you to format at the relevant points in the Spanning workflow. Insert the next tape, then follow the prompts.

How should I name my tapes?

This comes up quite a bit; the best bet is to name each tape sequentially, for example:

1. Archive_pt1

2. Archive_pt2

3. Archive_pt3

Is there a tape/item limit when Spanning?

Canister doesn't enforce any limits, however Spanning is best used with dataset that requires between 2-4 tapes.

Why? Because Spanning requires Canister keeping the entire source index in memory, which is a heavy lift. Also, the chance of something going wrong on the hardware side of LTO increases exponentially the longer your LTO drive operates. As an upper limit we recommend Spanned Archives containing less than one million items.

How do I redo Spanning if something goes wrong?

As with all things LTO, hiccups happen. While with hard disks it's easy to redo something, due to LTO's linear nature, errors tend to be showstoppers - at least temporarily. With Spanning, the chance that a tape runs into an issue due to a hardware trouble is, of course, compounded.

Canister gets around this problem by using its Dupe Detection implementation to the fullest: in case an error happens with any tape during a spanning archive, simply start over. It's important to feed Canister the tapes in the order they were previously finished, then let Duplicate Detection skip items already existing on each part.

Can I incrementally update a Spanned Archive?

Although Canister supports Dupe Detection, due to LTO's linear nature, we don't recommend making incremental updates to a Spanned Archive. File changes are likely to end up distributed over multiple tapes, which will get complicated when retrieving.

Why does Canister leave free space at the end of each Spanning Part?

Splitting files between multiple tapes is not a standard LTFS feature. As a result, each tape is likely to have a small pocket of space at the end. Tape compression can also play a part here, so it's best to disable at the point of formatting for the best results.

Can I perform Simultaneous Spanning?

Canister for Mac does not support Spanning while creating simultaneous archives. Canister for Windows follows a different flow, which allows the next tape to be inserted for each drive.

Canister creates a range of log files for archival purposes, and console output for troubleshooting.

Transfer Logs

For each Transfer, whether it's an archive or retrieve, a Transfer Log is created.

Manifests

To create a manifest of a tape, containing paths and names of all files stored, use Create Manifest option in the LTO disk menu.

Canister's Console

Besides Transfer Logs, both Canister and LTFS events are recorded in the Console Log. This console output is essential to tackle issues with tapes, drives, and drivers.

Retrieving files from a tape is easy; you can either retrieve a full tape or cherry-pick contents to retrieve just a few files.

Select the Retrieve tab. If no tape is loaded, do so first:

Mount the tape:

To retrieve the tape in full select the tape icon, and a border will appear. Click Next and then select a destination, and continue.

To retrieve a specific file, folder, or a collection of files and folders, click the drive menu (three horizontal lines) and select Select Files...

By default, the full tape's contents are selected. Unselect the root of the tape to deselect everything, and then navigate to what you need to be retrieved.

Arctic 25.2

Support for Final Cut Pro 11.2

Before using a LTO, it needs to be formatted. When Canister detects a non-formatted tape it will prompt to format the tape.

Tape Initialization

Up to LTO-9, tapes do not require initialization. When inserting a new LTO-9 tape into a drive for the first time, the LTO drive will spool through the whole tape. This process can take considerable time. If you do no have this luxury, some vendors like Symply sell pre-initialized media.

If your drive is of an older generation that LTO-9, you can simply insert a tape and continue with formatting.

EditReady provides easy, powerful, and fast transcoding for video professionals.

Modern production pipelines often involve generating a wide mix of QuickTime, MXF, AVCHD, and HDV files. A single production may use a mix of "A-Camera" files in ProRes422, "B-Camera" footage in H.264, as well as archive footage in formats like Apple Intermediate Codec.

EditReady lets you take this mix of files and convert them into a single mezzanine format, offering your post-production pipeline simplicity, reliability, and performance.

EditReady can also generate high-quality proxy media so you can take your media with you on the road or

Clips can be added to EditReady by selecting Open under the File menu, or by dragging clips into the EditReady window. Your clips will appear with thumbnails in the EditReady window. You may toggle between List View and Thumbnail view using the selector in the toolbar.

If you'd like to convert all of your clips, simply click the Convert All button on the right. If you'd only like to convert some clips, you can select them by clicking the flag icon (or selecting Flag Clip from the Clip menu). Then click Convert Flagged.

The General Settings pane exposes a few common settings that can be used to customize how EditReady processes files. For most users, the default settings will be correct and should not be adjusted.

Parallel Job Count

This setting controls how many files are converted in parallel. By default, EditReady automatically configures itself based on your computer's capabilities and will attempt to fully utilize your Mac's processing power.

Reducing the job count may be helpful in reducing memory consumption on machines with very limited RAM, especially when working with very high-resolution (8K / 12K) footage.

For iconik customers, an .

Mistika Workflows users can integrate EditReady Server directly:

Canister itself doesn't have any requirements in terms of CPU and RAM, but LTFS does like ample resources.

Which versions of macOS and Windows are supported?

EditReady is available as a direct download from hedge.video/editready. After you've downloaded EditReady from our website, just drag and drop it into your /Applications folder, and it's installed.

Can any media be rewrapped?

Some video codecs can only exist within certain wrappers. And some wrappers only support certain video codecs. For example, MOV files can contain main historical codecs that are no longer in use, whereas MXF files are limited to a smaller, more modern set of codecs.

Is rewrapping lossless?

Yes, rewrapping does not decompress or recompress your video data. The default rewrap setting in EditReady does decompress your audio to a lossless (LPCM) format. Many editing applications don't deal well with compressed audio, so this makes your rewraps more broadly compatible. If you want to maintain your source audio in its compressed format, you can make a custom preset with Passthrough for both audio and video.

Can I rewrap AVC-Intra footage from MXF to MOV?

One thing to be aware of is that not all NLEs can handle all video codecs in all wrappers. When it comes to AVC-Intra in particular, the Adobe applications (like Premiere Pro) tend to work better with MXF than with MOV. Applications like Final Cut Pro tend to work fine with AVC-Intra rewrapped into MOV.

The Advanced Settings pane contains some options that should only be adjusted in response to very specific issues. Generally, you shouldn't make changes here unless our support staff have specifically instructed you. This panel's default is for all options to be unchecked.

Prefer Legacy Color Science for Premiere Pro

When transcoding xvYCC (extended-gamut YCbCr) footage to ProRes, Adobe Premiere Pro can experience color management glitches. While these issues are reduced in newer versions of Premiere Pro, enabling this option may correct color rendering issues if you're using a version from 2023 or earlier.

Ignore H.264/HEVC data levels

Video files can store their brightness information within a couple of different ranges. Historically, all video files were in what was called "video range". To allow for more dynamic range, some cameras allow you to instead record brightness information in "data" or "full" range. By default, EditReady will preserve data range video levels during the transcoding process. However, this can make video content look very high contrast if the playback application isn't taking that range into account. Checking this box will change how EditReady converts those files in those cases.

Disable A/V Synchronization

Cameras often write metadata to files that perform basic synchronization adjustments to account for differences between the frame and audio sample lengths. EditReady preserves these edits (called an edit list or ELST). In some cases, though, cameras incorrectly write ELST data, so it's better to ignore that metadata.

Maintain Source Audio Track Count

Audio is stored in tracks and channels within media files. An audio track stores at least one audio channel but may contain many more. Cameras often record audio with multiple single-channel (mono) tracks. However, converting files to a single track with multiple channels is often better for performance reasons. That's the default behavior for EditReady. Check this box to maintain the original track structure of your source format.

Users of EditReady 1.x, 2.x, or ClipWrap are entitled to discounted upgrades for EditReady. Just enter your key in the latest release of EditReady, and you'll be prompted with an upgrade link.

If you purchased ClipWrap from the Mac App Store, contact us for a discount coupon: [email protected]

Which OS versions does FoolCat currently support?

Looking for the Hedge documentation? Starting October 1, 2023, Hedge version 23.2 is now known as OffShoot.

You'll find OffShoot's documentation here.

Get a live overview of Canister transfers in progress – plus receive push notifications on completed transfers, wherever you are.

How to use

1. Go to Settings > Connect.

2. Toggle Enable Connect to ON.

3. Copy the Connect Code by clicking the clipboard icon.

4. Click Go to Connect ✨, or go to in your web browser.

1. Enter the Connect Code into the Connect site.

2. Start a transfer in Canister, and your transfers will appear on the Connect site.

Receive Notifications

Connect can send push notifications about completed Canister transfers to a network-connected device.

1. Once you log into , click the grey bell icon (i.e. the notification button).

2. Click Allow in the notifications popup on your device.

3. When the grey bell turns blue, Connect will send you notifications for completed transfers.

Enable Push Notifications from the Connect site on mobile devices

• iOS 16.4 and newer:

  1. Go to the

  2. Save Connect as a web app by tapping the share button in the iOS toolbar, scrolling to the bottom of the menu, and tapping Add to Home Screen.

Change connection name

By default, Connect will display the Computer Name.

The connection name can be changed in Canister > Settings > Connect > Computer Name.

Revoke access

Use the Revoke Access button in the settings panel to cancel all connections to the Connect site. A new Connect Code will be generated automatically.

On the Connect site, you can delete a connection to a device by hovering over the device listed under Connections, then clicking X next to it.

Connect Pro

Connect Pro allows your team to log in to the Connect site using the registered Canister email address. This allows multiple team members to follow the progress of each active LTO transfer, on each computer that's using your Canister license.

Archiving

Copying data to tape is called Archiving, as its goal is to be an independent copy of data that doesn't rely on other backups to be retrievable. Archiving with Canister is simple:

First, select the disk or folder you want to archive by either dragging in a folder from Finder/Explorer or by browsing to a Source Folder. Then continue, and mount a tape. Next, confirm the transfer(s).

Canister will order the files-to-be-archived logically so that they won't end up on your tape in a fragmented order.

Collections

Like with OffShoot, Canister allows you to combine folders and files into a Collection to be used as the source for your transfer.

To create a Collection, either multi-select files and folders in Canister's source browser, or simply drag and drop a selection from Finder/Explorer into the drop zone provided.

Collections can be further expanded by "Picking and Mixing" items in any order. Canister outputs the contents of each Collection to its .

Duplicate Detection

Canister automatically applies Duplicate Detection to all transfers. When a file is identical in name, size, and modification date, it is skipped. When a file has been changed, the already stored file will be renamed by appending its modification date and hidden. That means all previous versions of a file will always be available for retrieval at a later time.

Incremental Backups

As Canister comes with Duplicate Detection, it will detect what is new or has changed and only copy those files and folders to tape. Keep in mind that due to the linear nature of LTO, this will cause your data to be stored in different sections of the tape and thus will impact retrieval time as the tape head has to make a lot more movements to access a folder's contents across a tape.

Independent Transfers

Canister allows multiple LTO drives to be used independently of one another. That means Drive A can be Archiving, whilst Drive B handles a Retrieve.

Simultaneous Transfers

Canister can write to multiple drives at once. If the tapes used are of equal generation and thus speed, it will be as fast as writing to a single tape. However, there may be a bit of deviation as tape drives often have slightly different speeds.

Shoeshine Prevention

When selecting files to be archived, often files that appear to be consecutive and part of the same folder are not actually stored in consecutive order on disk. When working with LTO, the goal is to line up and write files in consecutive order to prevent shoe-shining upon retrieval. Canister handles this for you, ensuring files that live together in a folder will also live next to each other on your tape.

Illegal Characters

Many legacy systems use a deny-list of characters, severely complicating many workflows. To solve that without relying on a database and thus introducing vendor lock-in, Canister utilizes percent-encoding for all illegal and unsupported characters. You cannot only use any of the forbidden characters / * ? < > " | \ : but also use any internationalization in all file and folder names. Canister will know when it needs to replace them and when not to.

Upon retrieval, Canister automatically converts percent-encoded characters back to Unicode. If you make use of illegal characters heavily and plan to retrieve a Canister-made LTO with a different mechanism or app, it's easy to use a percent-decoding script after doing the retrieval.

Verification

By default, each archive is fully verified by reading back the files after being transferred. Verification can be skipped at any time by clicking the x button next to the progress bar.

By default, Canister uses XXH64BE for verification. For legacy workflows, it's also possible to use MD5. Or, disable verification altogether in Canister's Preferences.

Additionally, Canister for Windows has the ability to verify duplicates identified during the archiving process. This is a huge time saver when something goes wrong with your LTO drive. Simply set the same source and both Canister's Duplicate Detection and Verification engine will work together to ensure you get a Transfer Log with a complete set of checksums.

Choose files to Skip

Canister provides a simple way to skip files based on their extension. This option is located in Settings > General. System level junk eg. .DS_Store, thumbs.db are always ignored, so no need to add these by hand.

Compression

LTO drives offer built-in hardware compression. Compression is a property of a tape that is applied during the format process. Once set, it cannot be removed without erasing the tape. As the compression has zero to no overhead, this is enabled by default. Since compression happens in-device, there's is no feedback on the process, or on how much data is actually saved. If you need to disable compression, use the option.

Although touted as a big feature for LTO, don't expect any wonders from it. LTO compression only works well for text files and not at all for video or photo material, so never expect to be able to save more data to a tape than the bare capacity.

Encryption

Canister currently does not support hardware-based LTO encryption. If your data is of a sensitive nature, Encrypted Sparse Bundles are a practical solution, providing the bundle isn't bigger than the uncompressed capacity of a single tape.

How many LTO decks can I operate with a Canister license?

Canister supports multiple tape decks being connected to the same computer, and they can all be used at the same time.

I have multiple computers with each its own tape deck.

For multiple computers with each its own LTO deck, you'll need multiple activations. Adding additional activations to your license can be done in the .

How do I add Windows Support to my License?

Windows support can be added by simply Extending your existing Canister license in the .

I have a tape library, do I need Canister Pro?

Yes, Canister Pro is required to work with tape libraries. Support for tape libraries is currenly limited to macOS.

My license key won't activate the latest Canister

Chances are you have a license that starts with id and ends with ods or uks. This is a legacy license, and cannot be used with versions newer than 20.1. for an upgrade coupon or continue to use the now-legacy Canister .

EditReady supports any file in a QuickTime or MXF wrapper, plus a wide range of vendor-specific formats, including many RAW codecs:

• Apple Intermediate

• DNxHD (Op-Atom and OP1a)

• DNxHR (OP1A)

• DVCProHD

• H.264

• H.265 ("HEVC")

• ProRes

RAW codecs (requires a Pro license)

• ARRIRAW / ARRICORE

• Blackmagic RA

• Canon RAW

• Codex HDE

Chunked files

Due to FAT32's file size limit of 4GB, in the not-too-distant past, some cameras and recorders would split files into 4GB chunks. EditReady automatically detects these for all formats and stitches them together during transcoding.

New Blackmagic Design cameras

Blackmagic Design regularly releases new camera models and accompanying codec updates, requiring an EditReady update for each. That tends to take a bit of time, so if you find yourself in possession of the latest Blackmagic Camera and we haven't yet shipped an update for EditReady, we've made it possible to override EditReady's baked-in BRAW support by manually installing the on your computer. EditReady will default to using the newer version.

EditReady allows you to preview your files before conversion. To access the player, select the clip and choose Open Preview from the Clip menu, or press Command-3 on the keyboard.

Applying LUTs During Playback

Click the Add LUT icon to apply a LUT to your file during playback. This allows you to quickly preview any conversions you'd like to apply. For details on LUT support in EditReady, see .

Keep in mind that LUTs can be compute-intensive, particularly on 4K files. Slower computers (or computers with slower graphics cards) may have trouble with realtime playback.

EditReady has the ability to convert excerpts from clips, using our trimming feature. To mark in and out points on your clip, first open it in the player by double clicking on the clip thumbnail. In the player view, there are "in" and "out" buttons attached to the play controls. Use those to adjust your clip.

After marking "In" and "Out" points, a small scissors icon will appear on the clip thumbnail to indicate that it will be trimmed during conversion.

Get a live overview of conversions in progress – yours and others – plus receive push notifications on completed conversions wherever you are.

Requirements

1. EditReady 24.4 or newer

2. A modern web browser

How to use

1. Go to EditReady > Settings > Connect.

2. Toggle Enable Connect to ON.

3. Copy the Connect Code

1. Enter the Connect Code or request a magic link (requires an EditReady Pro license).

2. Start a conversion in EditReady, which will then automatically appear on the Connect website.

Connect Pro

With an EditReady Pro license, you don’t need to connect each computer using a Connect code. Instead, simply request a magic link with your license key or the email associated with your license. Once you’re logged in, all of your EditReady activations will automatically appear as connections.

FoolCat has two license types: Standard and Pro.

Generations

Every few years, the Ultrium Consortium (consisting of IBM, HP, Quantum, and tape manufacturers Sony and Fuji) releases a new version of LTO. These versions are known as generations. Each generation holds more TB per tape, and sometimes newer drives are also faster.

As any generation older than LTO-5 does not support LTFS, we don't take these into consideration.

Installers

The latest installer for Windows is available here:

Preflight Checks

Each time a tape is mounted, Canister will create a Catalog for it. This makes it easy to see what's on a tape without having to mount it first.

The LTO Archive drive

Occasionally, your LTO drive is going to have a bad day. Users that are eligible for updates and support should reach out to the Canister Support Team for assistance - we got you 👊

Connect is our companion app that gives you live insight and push notifications about the state and progress of your transfers, transcodes, and archiving.

Connect is available for all licenses that are eligible for updates and support. Pro licenses automatically send their data to Connect, while non-Pro licensees must manually hook up their computers to Connect in-app.

Dashboard

Connect offers an online dashboard, available at . Log in with either the email connected to your license key(s), or your license key itself.

One of the most powerful features in EditReady is the ability to view and edit the metadata contained in your files. You can access metadata for a clip by selecting the clip and then choosing Edit Metadata from the Clip menu, or by pressing Command-2 on your keyboard.

Browsing Metadata

Metadata may include camera settings like F-Stop, Iris, and Shutter, as well as items like Location

There are a number of ways in which EditReady can join clips, depending on the type of source you're working with.

Manually Joining Files

To manually join files, select the files you wish to join within EditReady, then select Join from the Clip menu. You may also split joins using the Split command in that menu.

EditReady will only allow you to join media if the files all have the same frame size and framerate. If there's a mismatch, the

EditReady includes powerful file naming features, so that you can keep track of all the files in your post-production pipeline.

The popup menu to the right of the Dest File Name label is pre-populated with a handful of options. For example, you may choose to have your output file names match the input file names, or you may wish to rename your output file names with an automatically incrementing number.

Customizing File Names

In addition to the presets, you can add additional values from your file's metadata to the file naming scheme.

Why is EditReady suddenly the default app for video files?

Occasionally, EditReady might become set as the default app for some types of video files. That means when you double-click on a file (like an MP4), it opens in EditReady instead of QuickTime Player.

To correct that, follow these steps.

1. Highlight any movie file in Finder.

Why can't I activate EditReady?

Legacy EditReady versions (2.72 and older) use a different key format than EditReady 22.1 and newer.

• EditReady 22.1 and newer - ABCD-EFGH-IJKL...

Mimiq enables Bin Locking for non-Avid storage. It's a standalone app for teams working with Avid Media Composer, enabling collaborative workflows on:

• SMB, NFS, and AFP shares on your NAS

• Cloud volumes, such as a LucidLink Filespaces and Suite Studios (Available in )

• (Available in

SMB, NFS, and AFP

With Mimiq, Bin Locking works out of the box on network shares that use the SMB (including DFS-backed SMB paths), AFP, and NFS protocols. These are typically NAS shares, but can also be a Mac or PC that shares drives or folders.

RAID, SSD, and SAN

Avid has strict expectations when it comes to permissions, which is not always obvious when working with SAN storage like StorNext. While there are multiple ways to skin this cat, here's a proven permissions model when using Stornext with Media Composer.

Folder Structure

In this folder structure example, the Project Folder is the folder you turn into a .

A small AppleScript App that creates an HTML page with links to all FoolCat reports.

• Supports Light and Dark mode theme

• Will also adjust the theme of the FoolCat reports

• Links and paths to local media are disabled/hidden

If run into Avid errors that you think are related to Mimiq, please email us a screenshot. Include which Mimiq version you are on, your Media Composer version and license type, and describe your media and storage. That ought to give us enough to go on.

Logs

To send us your log files, open the Mimiq app, click the hamburger, then Help > Collect log files for support. Save that log somewhere convenient (e.g. your Desktop) and email it to .

Fast, verified data transfers with metadata management for offload and ingest. Formerly known as Hedge, OffShoot is your ideal companion when managing media.

Getting started

Webhooks let you subscribe to events in Connect. When an event occurs, Connect sends a notification to your webhook endpoint that includes a JSON payload with the updated entity. You can use webhooks in several ways:

• Notify your colleagues when a transfer has finished

• Enrich your media asset management system (MAM) with transfer status

• Start downstream processing when files have been processed or transferred

Getting started

1. In your back end, create a webhook endpoint handler to receive POST requests with event data.

2. using your email or license key

3. Register your webhook endpoint

4. Securing your endpoint

1. Create a handler

Set up an HTTP or HTTPS endpoint function that can accept webhook requests with a POST method. If you’re still developing your endpoint, you can use something like to forward the webhook requests to your local development server (see local development).

1. Handles POST requests with a JSON payload consisting of an event object.

2. Quickly returns a successful status code (2xx) prior to any complex logic that might cause a timeout.

2. Log into Connect

Head on over to the with the email address or license key. Webhooks are only available for events originating from computers using a Pro license.

3. Register your secure webhook endpoint

After testing your webhook endpoint function and logging into Connect, you can now register your webhook endpoint’s accessible URL so Connect knows where to deliver events.

To create a new webhook endpoint in the Dashboard:

1. Open the settings modal by clicking the Settings button at the top

2. Fill in your full webhook endpoint URL and hit the Save button

4. Securing your endpoint

Coming soon.

Testing with local environments

Webhooks require public-facing URLs. If you're developing locally, you can expose your local development server to the internet using a service like :

1. Install .

2. Run your local server. Note the port your local server is running on.

3. Run hookdeck listen {PORT} connect --path {WEBHOOK_ENDPOINT_PATH}, where {PORT} is the port where your local server is running and {WEBHOOK_ENDPOINT_PATH} is the path to your webhook handler. For example:

Event Delivery behaviours

This section helps you understand different behaviours to expect regarding how Connect sends events to your webhook endpoint.

Respond to events

The server that you set to receive events from Connect should respond with an HTTP 200 status code within three seconds. This lets Connect know that you successfully received the message.

We can't guarantee the order of delivery for webhooks. They may be delivered in a different order to the order they're generated.

Automatic retries

Connect attempts to deliver events to your destination up to three times with an exponential backoff. Connect will retry three times, with a 10-second delay between the first and second attempts, and a 100-second delay for the third attempt.

EditReady has two license types: Standard and Pro.

EditReady is an integral part of a post-production workflow. To make the usage even more seamless, you can create custom presets that match your workflow needs. Begin by selecting the Custom preset in the preset dropdown.

Video Format

EditReady allows you convert to Apple ProRes, Avid DNxHD, and H.264. You may also choose to pass the input video directly to the output file (using the Passthrough option). This is helpful if you only need to adjust the audio track or metadata of your file.

Apple ProRes

Apple ProRes is a popular editing format, whether you're working with Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve.

EditReady allows you to choose from five different ProRes options: ProRes 422, 422 HQ, 422 LT, 422 Proxy, and 4444. The "right" choice will be different for each workflow. But, in general, if your source is already compressed (e.g. an h264 file from a GoPro camera), the standard ProRes 422 file will be fine.

Avid DNxHD

DNxHD is a popular editing format for workflows involving the Avid ecosystem. EditReady provides three DNxHD choices: Low, Medium, and High.

These choices may be confusing if you're used to seeing DNxHD listed with a variety of bitrates. EditReady selects the correct bitrate automatically, based on your input file's resolution and framerate.

For example, if your source is 1920x1080i60, the Low, Medium, and High settings correspond to DNxHD 100, 145 and 220, respectively. For a 1920x1080p24 file, the bitrates are 36, 80 and 176.

If you'd like to see a full chart of the bitrates used by DNxHD, take a look at the from Avid.

Avid DNxHR

Avid DNxHR is designed for larger-than-HD sources, like 2k and 4k. EditReady suppots DNxHR, but you'll need to create a custom preset in order to use it. Select Custom from the preset dropdown, then select the desired DNxHR codec from the Video Format dropdown. You can save that preset for reuse later by selecting Save Current Preset from the batch menu.

For details on the framerates, frame sizes, and bitrates that DNxHR supports, see the .

H.264

If you'd like to use EditReady for generating files for distribution, or for creating very small proxy files, the H.264 setting is a good option. This setting will automatically select a bitrate high enough to preserve the quality of your source footage without introducing substantial artifacts.

Audio Formats

EditReady includes three options for audio formats - Uncompressed, AAC, and Passthrough. Passthrough will preserve your source audio. This is useful if you only wish to change the video essence or metadata of your file.

Uncompressed (PCM)

Uncompressed PCM audio is the most common and interoperable method for working with audio on a computer. This is the recommended option for any editing platform.

AAC

AAC compressed audio is an ideal choice if you'll be creating H.264 compressed files for distribution.

None

Remove the audio entirely.

FoolCat generates camera reports, complete with thumbnails and extended metadata. Available on macOS and Windows.

Creating a Report

Drag and drop your camera footage onto FoolCat's main window, or click the + button to get started.

Labels

Change the report name by setting a Label: click the folder or disk name, and enter a new one to be used as the Report name. A label overrides the Report name setting in Preferences.​​

When done, the Report will look something like this:

Customization

FoolCat allows for a lot of customization of your Reports. Add a logo and other project information in the Report Preferences pane:

Thumbnail Creation

By default, FoolCat creates three thumbnails per clip; for the first, middle, and last frame. This amount can be changed in Preferences > Settings.

Report Location

The default location FoolCat saves Reports into is your Documents folder. You can also save an extra Report on the Source, which will be saved into the root of the folder or drive you set as a Source in FoolCat. Make sure that your source has write permissions for this setting to work properly; some camera cards are set to read-only.

Group PDFs in a separate folder

By default, FoolCat creates a folder for each report containing the HTML, thumbnails, and PDF. Alternatively, you can choose to automatically group the PDFs in a separate folder from the HTML report.

Automate Report creation, remotely set settings, and control licenses with the FoolCat API. You can also trigger custom scripts on specific events, start run custom processes or other apps, and integrate FoolCat into existing workflows.

Requirements

• FoolCat Pro license

• API: FoolCat 20.1 or newer

• Scripting: FoolCat 25.3 or newer

API

You can tell FoolCat to do something by calling the app URL: foolcat://. You can call this from any app or script that can open a URL.

Copy/paste the URL below in a web browser, press Enter, and EditReady will open.

You can also use a shell, copy/paste the command below, press Enter, and EditReady will open.

Activate

Deactivate

Create Report

Scripting

You can attach scripts (AppleScript or Python) to the following events:

• FoolCat Started

• Report Created

FoolCat Started

Fires once when launching FoolCat. Has no payload.

Report Created

Fires when a Report has been created, and has the following payload:

Python

When a Python script is executed, the event payload is passed as a JSON string in the first command-line argument (sys.argv[1]). You can parse it into a dictionary as follows:

AppleScript

When an AppleScript script is executed, the event payload is injected into the script by finding key names, e.g. "{FileConversionCompleted_status}" , and replacing them with values. You can test this as follows:

Event Log

All events and script execution results are recorded in the Event Log. You can find the log file at:

FoolCat aims to support any file in a QuickTime or MXF wrapper, plus a wide range of vendor-specific formats, including many RAW codecs:

• Apple Intermediate

• DNxHD (Op-Atom and OP1a)

• DNxHR (OP1A)

• DVCProHD

• H.264

• H.265 ("HEVC")

• ProRes

RAW codecs (requires a Pro license)

• ARRIRAW / ARRICORE

• Blackmagic RA

• Canon RAW

• Codex HDE

Browse a Source and select which folders you want to transfer, each with its own label and preset. Cherrypick folders and label them directly in the browser.

Requirements

• OffShoot 24.4 or newer

• A Pro License

How to use

1. Click the Disk Menu icon and select Source Folder > Ingest...

1. Select the folders you want to set as Sources.

2. Click the blue Set Sources button.

Every folder will become an independent Source. By default, OffShoot will add Sources to the transfer queue as a batch. This feature can be disabled in Settings > General > Batch-add Sources to transfer queue.

Setting Labels

To set Labels directly in the Ingest Browser, right-click a folder and choose Add Label... (shortcut: Command-Enter / Control-Enter)

Keyboard shortcuts

Automate conversions, remotely set settings, and control licenses with the EditReady API. You can also trigger custom scripts on specific events, and run custom processes, other apps, or integrate EditReady into an existing workflow.

Requirements

When I try to activate FoolCat (licensed or a trial), why am I told, “No virtual machine activations allowed.”?

Running FoolCat in a VM is a Pro feature.

Bin Locking stops others from overwriting your bins while you're working on them. It allows editors to collaborate, and was introduced by Avid in Media Composer.

With Bin Refresh, when changes occur on a bin locked by another editor, Media Composer will refresh a locked bin's state in your Project, exposing those changes. Bin Refresh also allows you to take command of a bin once it's no longer in use by another editor.

Mimiq offers both Bin Locking and Bin Refresh for a multitude of .

Lock States in Media Composer

Mimiq has two license types: Standard and Pro.

EditReady can converrt your source media into Avid codec-based MXFs to speed up and simplify your dailies (or rushes) workflow.

There are two types of MXF that Media Composer supports:

1. OP-Atom

2. OP1a

OP-Atom

With OP-Atom, there are separate MXFs for the individual video and audio streams. Media Composer then combines these into one Clip inside a Bin.

When Media Composer transcodes MXFs, it typically names these files like this on your filesystem:

• Video - V01.(Some Hexadecimal Numbers).MXF

• Audio - A01.(Some Hexadecimal Numbers).MXF

With EditReady, you can transcode your source media into DNxHD-based OP-Atom MXFs Media Composer will recognize as one Clip. It also uses the name of your source media for your transcoded MXFs so you can quickly identify them on your filesystem and in your Bin.

OP1a

OP1a MXFs contain all the video and audio streams captured by a camera or recording device in one container, which Media Composer will see as one Clip inside a Bin.

EditReady can transcode your source media into OP1a MXFs – DNxHD or DNxHR – you can use in an editorial workflow.

How to use

1. Transcode your source media to MXFs

1. In EditReady, add the clips you wish to transcode.

2. Transcode your source media to the MXF that's best for your workflow, OP-Atom or OP1a.

1. Click Convert All.

Your transcoded MXFs are now available in the Dest Folder: location, alongside the corresponding *.aaf files for each clip.

2. Copy the transcoded MXFs into one of Media Composer’s media folders

3. Launch Media Composer to index your media folders

The result of Media Composer’s indexing will be a msmMMOB.mdb file in each media folder:

• ../Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(Folder)

• ../Avid MediaFiles/UME/(Folder)

4. Use the associated *.aaf file to import a specific clip into a Bin

1. In Media Composer, create a new Bin.

2. In Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows), open the destination folder from your transcodes and locate the *.aaf file for the specific clip you want to import.

3. Drag and drop the *.aaf to your Bin.

5. (Optional ) Use the .MDB file to fill your Bin with Clips

1. In Media Composer, create a new Bin.

2. In Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows), open one of those media folders – MXF or UME – and locate the msmMMOB.mdb file.

3. Drag and drop the .MDB to your Bin.

You now have a Bin with the exported Clips - ready to use in Media Composer.

Questions

Should I rename the folders inside ../Avid MediaFiles/(MXF | UME)/?

Many teams do, but we strongly recommend leaving those folders named as-is.

If identifying those MXFs by filename is important to your workflow, EditReady uses your source media filenames for the transcoded file names so you can easily do so.

What if I add new MXFs to an existing ../Avid MediaFiles/(MXF | UME)/ folder?

If you haven’t renamed those folders to something Media Composer doesn’t expect, Media Composer will reindex that folder, resulting in a new msmMMOB.mdb file. You can drag and drop that MDB file on a new or existing Bin, which will update your Bin with new Clips created from your transcoded MXFs.

Can Media Composer really use OP1a MXFs as media in an editorial workflow?

Yes.

Avid released the Universal Media Engine (UME) to support OP1a MXFs natively in Media Composer 2019.6.

Since 2019, Avid has removed installers for Media Composer versions that do not support UME.

You can read more about the Universal Media Engine and Media Composer’s native OP1a support at Avid’s Knowledge Base:

1. Install and activate Mimiq.

2. Mount any eligible volumes.

3. Launch Mimiq.

5. .

Install and activate Mimiq

Download and install Mimiq:

• macOS -

• Windows -

Mount any eligible volumes

Connect any local storage to your computer, or mount the desired network shares – SMB, NFS, or AFP – using either Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows). Once those are mounted, any associated will be mounted as well.

Cloud volumes, such as LucidLink or Suite Studios, are connected using their respective apps.

Launch Mimiq

Once the desired volumes are mounted, launch Mimiq, which will be available as a helper app in the menu bar (macOS) or System Tray (Windows).

If you have read and write privileges on those volumes, click the Mimiq helper app, and a list of volumes that report a green 🟢 status will appear.

Launch Media Composer

Launch Media Composer, then create a shared Project (or upload and open one) on the desired volume.

When Media Composer prompts you with the non-Avid storage alert, click Yes.

Then you can start working.

Shared Bins opened from an eligible volume will display:

• The Team Member's Computer Name currently accessing it.

• A lock status indicator.

Confirm Bin Locking is Activated in Avid Media Composer

If you need to confirm Bin Locking is activated on your desired volumes, check these preferences and settings in Media Composer:

✅ macOS - Avid Media Composer > About Avid Media Composer > Hardware > Avid NEXIS Drives: (the volumes listed in Mimiq)

✅ Windows - Help > About Avid Media Composer > Hardware > Avid NEXIS Drives: (the volumes listed in Mimiq)

✅ Settings > Project > General > Enable Bin Sharing on 3rd party storage emulating Avid NEXIS/ISIS

Installation

When you attempt to add your first Workspace on macOS, Mimiq performs a Preflight Check to confirm macFUSE is installed and loaded on your Mac. If not, Mimiq will prompt you to install macFUSE.

macFUSE

macFUSE is a macOS kernel extension used to create virtual filesystems. It's built and maintained by Benjamin Fleischer (). Mimiq automatically downloads the correct macFUSE installer for your OS.

Newer systems running macOS 26 Tahoe require , or newer. Older systems, like Intel Macs, you might need to download an older version of macFUSE at .

Apple Silicon and Reduced Security

On Apple silicon, you'll first need to set your Mac's security policy to "Reduced Security" to be able to load signed kernel extensions. If you're on Intel, you can skip to .

1. Shut down your Apple silicon Mac.

2. Press and hold down the power button until your Mac boots. Your Mac will either send you directly into macOS' Recovery environment, or you'll see an Options button leading to that.

3. Log in with your user account and select the disk you want to use.

4. In the menu bar, go to Utilities

1. Click Security Policy...

1. Select Reduced Security, then enable: Allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers .

1. Click OK.

2. In the menu bar, select Shut Down.

3. Turn your Mac back on (press but don't hold the power button this time), then log in.

Install macFUSE

1. Click + Add Workspace. If Mimiq can't detect macFUSE on your Mac, Mimiq prompts you to install macFUSE first.

1. Click Install. Mimiq downloads a DMG with the macFUSE installer, then opens it for you.

2. In the mounted macFUSE DMG window, double-click Install macFUSE, then follow the prompts to complete installation.

Right before you complete macFUSE installation, a System Extension Blocked or System Extension Updated dialog will appear. Now you'll need to approve macFUSE to load in macOS.

Approving macFUSE in macOS

Confirm which version of macOS you're using with Mimiq, then follow these steps to approve macFUSE to load in macOS:

Once macFUSE is installed, you're ready to . ✅

Still no success?

Try loading the kernel extension manually in Terminal:

If that returns an error like system policy prevents loading and/or doesn't load macFUSE, your computer is very likely under IT management policies that prevent kernel extensions to load. Talk to your IT department first, they'll know what to do.

OffShoot has two license types: Standard and Pro.

I can't see any Enable Bin Sharing... features in Media Composer under Settings > General.

‌You're using a standard subscription of Media Composer. An Ultimate subscription or a Perpetual license is required for shared Project workflows:

‌ > Collaboration & control > Shared bins & projects

I already have a Hedge license, how do I get OffShoot?

If your license is eligible for updates until or beyond October 1, 2023, your license automatically becomes an OffShoot license. You can update your Hedge to OffShoot, and continue using your existing license key.

If your license is not eligible for updates on October 1, 2023, you'll need to extend your license to be able to update to OffShoot. You can do so in-app, or in the .

For teams who must continue working in macOS 10.14 Mojave and/or Avid Media Composer 2018 environments, we have a special build available: Mimiq 18.1

Requirements